Career to date
Uhura - whose name means 'freedom' in Swahili - served aboard the original Enterprise under the command of Captain Kirk in the post of communications officer. An extremely skilled technician, Uhura was promoted to Commander and served at Starfleet Command on Earth after the Enterprise returned home.


Cast notes
William Shatner's memoirs reveal that Nichelle Nicholls, who played Uhura, held a long-term (and unvoiced) grudge against the scene-stealing, scenery-chewing captain. As it turned out, so did James Doohan, who played Scotty. And Walter Koenig (Chekhov). Trek cynics might propose that Nicholls' place in the cast was assured by the fact that she had had an affair with series creator Gene Roddenberry prior to the show's launch. Still, Star Trek really wouldn't be the same without her.

Reputation
The Uhura character, though given little real prominence in the show and only given marginal exposure in the Trek movies, is nevertheless recognised as an essential staple of Trek lore. Nicholls was rightly peeved that Uhura was basically a glorified switchboard operator, albeit a switchboard operator with the silkiest voice in the Alpha Quadrant.

The actress once revealed that, considering leaving the show in 1967, no less a figure than Martin Luther King had advised her to stay, because she represented a great role model for black people on a primetime TV show. As part of the Trek alumni, and a reminder of what Gene Roddenberry had originally envisioned for the show, Uhura maintains an unimpeachable gravitas. Just don't watch the episodes where she bursts into song (Charlie X, The Conscience of the King) or you may be put off.

Finest Hour Kissing William Shatner in the episode 'Plato's Stepchildren'. (The kiss is - as is often asserted - the first interracial kiss on US TV, but it essentially takes place off-screen, because of the network's concerns about upsetting viewers in the southern states). Also, catch Uhura on top form fending off a lusty alternate-reality version of Mr Sulu in the classic original series episode 'Mirror, Mirror'.

Low points:
Performing an 'erotic' fan dance in the worst of the Trek films, Star Trek V: the Final Frontier. Erotic?

Future prospects
After Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, Nichelle Nicholls retired from Star Trek. However she is still active on the fan convention circuit, and one last appearance on Voyager or the fifth Trek series - currently 'in development' - shouldn't be ruled out.

Random trivia
Nichelle Nicholls is a talented musician and singer. She has recorded dozens of her own albums, some of which are still available at car boot sales across the UK.

Key Episodes
The Naked Time; Mirror, Mirror; The Changeling; Plato's Stepchildren.