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Nichelle Nichols (born Grace Dell Nichols on December 28, 1932) is an American actress, singer and voice artist. She sang with Duke Ellington and Lionel Hampton before turning to acting. Her most famous role is that of communications officer Lieutenant Uhura aboard the USS ''Enterprise'' in the popular ''Star Trek'' television series (1966–1969), as well as the succeeding motion pictures, where her character was eventually promoted in Starfleet to the rank of commander. Multiple novel series have stated that she rose to at least Captain. Nichols' ''Star Trek'' character, one of the first African American female characters on American television not portrayed as a servant,〔 was groundbreaking in U.S. society at the time. Civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. personally praised her work on the show and asked her to remain when she considered leaving the series.〔〔 ==Early life== Nichols was born in Robbins, Illinois, near Chicago, to Samuel Earl Nichols, a factory worker who was both the town mayor of Robbins and its chief magistrate, and his wife Lishia (Parks) Nichols.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Nichelle Nichols Biography (1933-) )〕 Later, the family moved into an apartment in Chicago. She studied in Chicago as well as New York and Los Angeles. Her break came in an appearance in ''Kicks and Co.'', Oscar Brown's highly touted, but ill-fated 1961 musical.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Kicks and Co. Original Broadway Cast – 1961 Broadway )〕 In a thinly veiled satire of ''Playboy'' magazine, she played Hazel Sharpe, a voluptuous campus queen who was being tempted by the devil and ''Orgy Magazine'' to become "Orgy Maiden of the Month". Although the play closed after its brief try-out in Chicago, in an ironic twist, she attracted the attention of Hugh Hefner, the publisher of ''Playboy'', who was so impressed with her appearance that he booked her immediately at his Chicago Playboy Club. While still in Chicago, she performed at the "Blue Angel", and in New York, Nichols appeared at that city's Blue Angel as a dancer and singer. She also appeared in the role of Carmen for a Chicago stock company production of ''Carmen Jones'' and performed in a New York production of ''Porgy and Bess''. Between acting and singing engagements, Nichols did occasional modeling work. In January 1967, Nichols also was featured on the cover of ''Ebony'' magazine, and had two feature articles in the publication in five years. Nichols toured the United States, Canada and Europe as a singer with the Duke Ellington and Lionel Hampton bands. On the West Coast, she appeared in ''The Roar of the Greasepaint – The Smell of the Crowd'', ''For My People'', and garnered high praise for her performance in the James Baldwin play ''Blues for Mister Charlie''. Prior to being cast as Lieutenant Uhura in ''Star Trek'', Nichols was a guest actress on television producer Gene Roddenberry's first series ''The Lieutenant'' (1964) in an episode, "To Set It Right", which dealt with racial prejudice.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=LIEUTENANT, THE: TO SET IT RIGHT (TV) )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Nichelle Nichols」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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