Nichelle Nichols

Nichelle's parents were Samuel Earl Nichols (born 1894) and Lishia Mae (Parks) Nichols (born 1905). Her father was a factory worker who was elected town mayor of Robbins Illinois (a suburb of Chicago) as well as the chief magistrate and her mother was a homemaker. Nichelle had 5 siblings (she was the third child). Her siblings were Thelma, Thomas, Marian, and 2 more brothers. Her sibling Thomas was a member of the "Heaven's Gate" cult and was among the 39 cult members who killed themselves in Rancho Santa Fe in 1997. In the 1940 federal census, Nichelle (then known as Grace) was 7 years old and living in Chicago with her parents, Samuel (46) and Leshia (35) (sic) and siblings Thelma (19), Samuel Jr (11), Frank, 9, and Thomas (1). Dad Samuel was a chemist at a chemical company. Nichelle married Charles Johnson in 1951 and they had son Kyle, born in 1951. They divorced the same year. She married Duke Mondy in 1968 and divorced in 1972. They had no children. The power of Nichell's role on the original Star Trek television show is demonstrated by the following anecdote related by the actress Whoopi Goldberg. She told the show's creator, Gene Roddenberry, when he asked why she wanted to play Guinan on Star Trek: The Next Generation: " When they met, Gene asked Whoopi to answer one question. Why did she want to be Guinan on Star Trek? Whoopi explained. "It's all Nichelle Nichols fault. When I was about twelve years old and was watching TV one day, I tuned into Star Trek, and I saw her. I screamed and my family came running. I said, "Look y'all! There's a black woman on TV and she ain't no maid!" To read more about Nichelle's impactful life, read Nichelle Nichols: Obituary