Silver City, N.M.– No more can Uhura communicate. The ground breaking actor who originated the role of Nyota Uhura, the Communications Officer on The Original Series (Tos) “Star Trek,” passed away on July 30th at her home in New Mexico. Nichelle Nichols was 89. Photographer Joe Arce of HollywoodChicago.com took this Exclusive Portrait in Chicago in 2018.

Nichelle Nichols was born Grace Dell Nichols in Robbins, Illinois. Her family was living in Chicago when she began her career, where she appeared in “Kicks and Co.,” a musical that never got out of the Windy City … but it did get the attention of Hugh Hefner, who booked Nichols in his Chicago Playboy Club. She also appeared on TV in Gene Roddenberry’s “The Lieutenant” (1964), and the eventual producer of “Star Trek” remembered the actress when he cast her as Nyota Uhura (the first name came later in the canon) in 1966. She...