“Nichols was born Grace Dell Nichols near Chicago in 1932. (Unhappy with Grace, she took the name Nichelle when she was a teenager.) Her grandfather was a White Southerner who married a Black woman, causing a rift in his family.
Blessed with a four-octave vocal range, Nichols was performing in local clubs by the time she was 14. Among the performers she met was Duke Ellington, who later took her on tour. She also worked extensively in Chicago clubs and in theater.
She moved to Los Angeles in the early ’60s and landed a role in a Gene Roddenberry series, ‘The Lieutenant.’ A number of Star Trek veterans, including Leonard Nimoy, Walter Koenig and Majel Barrett, also worked on the show.”
Nichelle never did any screen nudity, but she wore a mighty sexy outfit in a 1974 film called Truck Turner:
According to Celebrity Sleuth magazine, she also posed for this nude photoshoot:
So I wonder if Uhura was more aesthetically “acceptable” to the mainstream at that time because she was only part black.
At least I have never heard of anyone accusing her of not being black enough. Like how the Rev. Jesse Jackson treated a CNN interviewer once (“you don’t count”).
I absolutely love the small scene in Star Trek “The Balance of Terror” where Kirk orders Uhura to take over navigation, and she quietly turns off her station and sits down next to Sulu (who’s at the helm). No ceremony, no big deal, just doing her job.
I doubt that.
I read a lot about celebrities, and I never knew that she was a quarter white until I read her obit, so I’m guessing that very few people knew.