In the first episode of the original Star Trek series, Nichelle Nichols is an American actress, singer, and voice artist known as Lieutenant Uhura. Nichelle Nichols has accumulated a sizeable fortune via her years of hard work in the entertainment industry, as a musician, and as a philanthropist.
Nichelle Nichols Net Worth
As of 2022, Nichelle Nichols net worth is $8 million. As an actress, she saved enough money for this one-time payment. In 2016, Nichols was presented with “The Life Career Award” by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Films.
She may make $10,000 to $50,000 for speaking, depending on the conference size and her effort. These gatherings earned Nichols hundreds of thousands of dollars a year until she retired due to health difficulties.
Early years and Childhood
On December 28, 1932, African-American parents in Robbins, Illinois, gave birth to Nichelle Nichols. She grew up with the name Grace Dell Nichols. Her father, Samuel Earl Nichols, worked in industry and also served in the government. Her mom’s name was Lishia Nichols.
After her family relocated to Chicago as a child, she enrolled at the “School of the Art Institute of Chicago”. Her dream was always to be a musician, so she eventually moved to Los Angeles and New York to further her studies.
Education
Nichols attended Englewood High School for all four years of high school. Nichols also attended schools in New York and Los Angeles.
Professional Path of Nichelle Nichols
Nichols was hired by Hugh Hefner, proprietor of “Playboy,” following her performance as a leader in the Oscar Brown musical “Kicks and Co.” in 1961.
New York audiences also witnessed her in “Porgy and Bess” and “Carmen Jones” performances. Her first film role was as Bessie in the 1959 Sidney Poitier and Dorothy Dandridge rendition of “Porgy and Bess,” where she danced.
It premiered on NBC on September 8, 1966, and ended its run in 1969 after airing for 79 episodes.
Nichelle pondered quitting the programme during the first season to pursue a career on Broadway, but Dr Martin Luther King, Jr. convinced her to remain by saying, “You just cannot leave; this is a critical role.
When Nichols and co-star William Shatner kissed in the “Star Trek” episode “Plato’s Stepchildren” from 1968, it was the first interracial kiss on a scripted American television series.
The box office smashes “Snow Dogs,” which starred Nichelle and made $115 million in 2002.
In May 2019, she announced that she would no longer be making convention appearances but would instead go on a “farewell tour” in 2020. Nichelle Nichols had planned her last performance for May 2020 at the Farewell Convention in Burbank, California. The COVID-19 viral outbreak, however, forced organisers to call off the event.
Honours and Awards
Among Nichols’ many awards, she was nominated for Best Supporting Actress Oscar for “Star Trek: The Motion Picture” and won a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2016. The Internet Film & Television Association recognised her contributions by inducting her into its Hall of Fame in 2015. “Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home” earned her an NAACP Image Award in 1987 and “The Young and the Restless” a Daytime Emmy in 2017.
TV Land nominated Nichols and her “Star Trek” co-star William Shatner for Most Memorable Kiss in 2006 and TV Moment That Became Huge News in 2007. In 2018, Comic-Con International awarded Nichelle the Inkpot Award. In 2010, Los Angeles Mission College gave her an honorary degree. Nichelle received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1992.
Real Estate
Some of Nichelle Nichols’s assets include real estate, motor vehicles, and shares of stock. She spent $110,000 in 1983 to purchase a house in Woodland Hills, a San Fernando Valley community near the Santa Monica Mountains in Los Angeles. Nichelle’s son sold the house to Baron Construction and Remodeling Co. in August 2021 for around $2.2 million.
Personal Life
In the 1960s, Nichelle dated the future “Star Trek” director Gene Roddenberry. Nichols sang “Gene” as part of the ceremony marking Roddenberry’s burial in 1991. In 1951, Foster Johnson and Nichelle split up. His birth year is 1951. They officially split up in 1972.
She tweeted about her 2012 meeting with then-President Obama.
I was the object of Obama’s childhood infatuation, he added. He gladly confirmed what I had suspected. During a recent interview, President Obama revealed he is a Trek fan. Amazing!” A mild stroke in 2015 landed Nichelle in the hospital; a dementia diagnosis three years later sealed her fate.
In August 2020, Nichelle’s manager/caretaker was sued by Nichelle’s son, Nichols, for “financial elder abuse.””Bell intentionally stole Ms Nichols’ money by syphoning revenues from her convention appearances and misappropriating funds from her bank accounts,” the complaint states. In 2020, Kyle took Nichelle under his care and moved her to New Mexico.
With the cancellation of “Star Trek,” Nichols started actively seeking women and people of colour to join the space programme. Drs. Sally Ride, Judith Resnik, Ronald McNair, and Guion Bluford were among the people she enlisted. In the 1980s, Nichelle became a governor of the National Honor Society.
FAQs
Is Nichelle Nichols under conservatorship?
Nichols, who played Lt. Nyota Uhura on the original Star Trek, has been under conservatorship granted by her son Kyle Johnson since 2018. A case of dementia has allegedly struck her.
Uhura, portrayed by Nichols in the original series and its sequels, got the part she desired in the movies. The only catch was that it would cut her time shooting Star Trek, so she left the programme to pursue her true passion.
In Star Trek, did Nichelle Nichols use a wig?
The actress, Nichelle Nichols’ wig disappeared, too. Justman states that Nichols “says that she returned it” after she had borrowed it after finishing work.
Final words
Nichelle Nichols has put a lot of time and effort into her career, as seen by her impressive net worth. Many have found inspiration in her work as an entertainer and activist for social and humanitarian concerns. Her wealth may continue to increase as she works to further her profession and contribute to worthy causes.
