Nichelle Nichols has a net worth of 500 thousand dollars. She is an American actress, singer, producer, and book. Nichols is most recognized for her role as Lieutenant Uhura on the first season of “Star Trek” (1966–1969), which she reprised in six sequels. Nichelle was a big hit at conventions later in her career.
Depending on the scale of the conference and her commitment, she may make $10,000 to $50,000. Nichols was earning hundreds of thousands of dollars every year from these gatherings before being forced to retire due to health difficulties. Nichelle has appeared in over 60 films and television shows, including “Snow Dogs” (2002) and “Are We There Yet?” (2005), as well as “The Young and the Restless” (2016).
Nichols produced the films “Lady Magdalene’s” (2008) and “Unbelievable!!!!!” (2020), as well as the documentary “Woman in Motion,” on her NASA work. She has voiced characters in several animated films, including “Gargoyles” (1994), “Batman: The Animated Series” (1994), “Futurama” (2000; 2002), and “The Simpsons” (2004).
Nichelle is also a published author, having written the biography “Beyond Uhura: Star Trek and Other Memories” in 1994, as well as the science-fiction novels “Saturn’s Child” (1995) and “Saturna’s Quest” (1996). (2002). She’s also published two albums, “Down to Earth” in 1967 and “Out of This World” in 1991.
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Early Years
Nichelle Nichols was born Grace Dell Nichols in the Chicago suburb of Robbins, Illinois, on December 28, 1932. Her mother Salish, her father Samuel, and younger brother Thomas raised her. Her father was the mayor and chief magistrate of Robbins and worked at a factory. Unfortunately, Nichelle’s brother, a member of the Heaven’s Gate sect, died in a mass suicide in March 1997.
Nichols began her career in show business as a dancer with Duke Ellington’s band when she was 16 years old. Ellington requested her to perform for him and was so taken with her that he decided she should be the band’s lead singer.
Private Life
Nichelle was in a love connection with Gene Roddenberry, the inventor of “Star Trek,” in the 1960s, and she claims they broke up before the series premiered. Roddenberry died in 1991, and Nichols sang “Gene,” a song she co-wrote, at his funeral. In 1951, Nichelle married dancer Foster Johnson, but the couple divorced the following year. Kyle was born to the couple on August 14, 1951. In 1968, Nichols married Duke Mondy, and the couple divorced in 1972.
She went to the White House in 2012 to meet with President Barack Obama, and she tweeted about it “Pres Obama was quoted months ago as stating he had a crush on me when he was younger. When I inquired about it, he enthusiastically verified it! President Barack Obama also acknowledged to me that he is a Trekker! What a fantastic idea!” Nichelle was admitted to the hospital in June 2015 after suffering a small stroke, and she was diagnosed with dementia in 2018.
Nichols’ son sued Gilbert Bell, Nichelle’s manager/caretaker, in August 2020, saying that he had committed “financial elder abuse.” Bell “actively misappropriated Ms. Nichols’ revenue by siphoning cash from Ms. Nichols’ appearances at conventions, illegally dispersing the money Ms. Nichols received, and misappropriating funds from Ms. Nichols’ financial accounts,” according to the lawsuit. Kyle relocated Nichelle to New Mexico in November 2020 and is now her primary caregiver.
Nichols began working with NASA after “Star Trek” ended to attract women and minorities to become astronauts. Dr. Sally Ride, Air Force Colonel Guion Bluford, Dr. Judith Resnik, and Dr. Ronald McNair were among the candidates she recruited. Nichelle joined the board of governors of the National Space Society in the mid-1980s.
She went on board the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy Boeing 747SP in 2015 for an eight-hour NASA mission to study the atmospheres of Saturn and Mars. In Palmdale, California, in September 1976, Nichols and other “Star Trek” cast members attended the dedication ceremony for Enterprise, the first space shuttle.
Nichelle visited Johnson Space Center in 2010 to tour Mission Control and the space shuttle simulator, and NASA named Asteroid 68410 “Nichols” in 2001 in honor of her work as “a global ambassador for NASA, a recruiter of astronauts, and an inspirer of millions as a science fiction author,” as well as her role on “Star Trek.”
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Career
Hugh Hefner, owner of “Playboy,” engaged Nichols to appear at the Chicago Playboy Club after she starred in the Oscar Brown musical “Kicks and Co.” in 1961. She also appeared in a New York production of “Porgy and Bess” and played the main role in a Chicago production of “Carmen Jones.” Her first film job was as a dancer in “Porgy and Bess,” a 1959 film adaptation starring Sidney Poitier and Dorothy Dandridge.
Nichelle then went on to star in the films “Tarzan’s Deadly Silence” (1966), “Made in Paris” (1966), “Mister Buddwing” (1966), and “Doctor, You’ve Got to Be Kidding!” (1967), as well as adorn the cover of “Ebony” magazine in January 1967. She appeared in a guest role on Gene Roddenberry’s “The Lieutenant” in 1964, and two years later, he cast Nichols in the role that would transform her life: Lieutenant Uhura on the science-fiction series “Star Trek.”
The show debuted on September 8, 1966, on NBC, and ran for 79 episodes before being discontinued in 1969. During the first season, Nichelle considered leaving the show to pursue a career on Broadway, but Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. persuaded her to stay, telling her, “You simply cannot resign; this is a crucial position. It is for this reason that we are marching. We never expected to see this on television.”
Nichols and co-star William Shatner made history when they shared the first interracial kiss on a scripted US TV series in the 1968 “Star Trek” episode “Plato’s Stepchildren.” Nichelle reprised her role as Uhura in the films “Star Trek: The Motion Picture” (1979), “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan” (1982), “Star Trek III: The Search for Spock” (1984), “Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home” (1986), “Star Trek V: The Final Frontier” (1989), and “Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country” (1991), as well as the television show “Star Trek: The Animated Series” (1973), (1994). After “Star Trek” was canceled, Nichols starred in the films “Truck Turner” (1974), “The Supernaturals” (1986), and “The Adventures of Captain Zoom in Outer Space” (1995), as well as the the television movie “Antony and Cleopatra” (1984).
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Nichelle featured in the big office success “Snow Dogs,” which grossed $115 million in 2002, and then again in 2005 in “Are We There Yet?” ($97.9 million). She appeared in the films “Tru Loved” (2008), “The Torturer” (2008), “This Bitter Earth” (2012), “Renegades” (2016), “American Nightmares” (2018), and “Surge of Dawn” (2018). (2019). Nichols also had a recurring role as Lucinda Winters on “The Young and the Restless” in 2016, and guest-starred on “Renegades,” “Downward Dog,” and “Star Trek: Renegades” (not as Uhura) the following year, as well as appearing in the TV movie “Sharknado 5: Global Swarming.” She stated in May 2019 that she would be retiring from convention appearances and embarking on a “farewell tour” for the following year. The Nichelle Nichols Farewell Convention in Burbank, California, was supposed to be her final performance in May 2020, but it was postponed owing to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Honors and Awards
Nichols was nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Oscar in 1980 for “Star Trek: The Motion Picture,” and she got a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Films in 2016. She was admitted into the Online Film & Television Association Hall of Fame in 2015, and she received a Millennium Award for “Star Trek” from Germany’s Golden Camera awards in 1999.
In 2017, Nichelle was nominated for a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Special Guest Performer in a Drama Series for “The Young and the Restless,” and in 1987, she was nominated for an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture for “Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.” Nichols and William Shatner, her “Star Trek” co-star, have been nominated for two TV Land Awards: Most Memorable Kiss in 2006 and TV Moment That Became Headline News in 2007.
Nichelle earned the Inkpot Award from Comic-Con International in 2018 and an honorary degree from Los Angeles Mission College in 2010. Nichelle was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1992.
Does Nichelle Nichols Have Dementia?
Nichelle Nichols, a dementia sufferer, is embroiled in a ‘heartbreaking’ three-way conservatorship dispute with her son and her former manager, who is accused of ‘exploiting her.’
Property Management
Nichelle purchased a property in Woodland Hills, California for $110,000 in 1983. Nichelle’s son sold the house to Baron Construction & Remodeling Co. for roughly $2.2 million in August 2021.
Nichelle Nichols Net Worth
In the years 2020-2021, her net worth increased dramatically. So, at the age of 89, how much is Nichelle Nichols worth? Nichelle Nichols makes the majority of her money as a successful actress. She is an American citizen. Nichelle Nichols’ net worth, money, salary, income, and assets have all been calculated.