<Tr> <Th> Children </Th> <Td> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Website </Th> <Td> uhura.com </Td> </Tr> <P> Nichelle Nichols (born Grace Dell Nichols; December 28, 1932) is an American actress, singer, and voice artist . She sang with Duke Ellington and Lionel Hampton before turning to acting . Nichols played communications officer Lieutenant (later, Commander) Uhura aboard the USS Enterprise in the Star Trek television series (1966--1969), as well as the succeeding motion pictures . Nichols's role was groundbreaking as one of the first African American female characters on American television not portrayed as a servant . She also worked to recruit diverse astronauts to NASA, including women and ethnic minorities . </P> <P> Grace Dell Nichols was born in Robbins, Illinois, near Chicago, to Samuel Earl Nichols, a factory worker who was elected both town mayor of Robbins and its chief magistrate, and his wife, Lishia (Parks) Nichols . 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 . 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 booked her for 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 . </P>

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