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Star Trek's Nichelle Nichols Hospitalised In LA After Stroke

Posted by timothy on from the but-we-said-to-live-long-and-prosper dept.

WheezyJoe writes: The Register tells us that Nichelle Nichols, who played the lovely Lt. Uhura, communications officer of the original starship Enterprise (original series and animated series), has been hospitalized after a mild stroke. She is reported to have undergone a CAT scan and MRI, and was awake and eating as of Thursday evening. Nichols has shown minor signs of loss of mobility but otherwise no signs of paralysis.

40 comments

  1. Don't worry by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    She can still communicate using a series of beeps.

    1. Re:Don't worry by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

      Fuck Off and Die ...

  2. Oblig by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

    Officials attempted to contact Dr. Leonard McCoy who rebuffed the situation saying "I'm a doctor man, not a veterinarian!"

    1. Re:Oblig by MobileTatsu-NJG · · Score: 1

      Captain Kirk would call you a double dumb-ass.

      --

      "I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)

    2. Re:Oblig by mrchaotica · · Score: 2

      <Chekov>In Soviet San Francisco, Admiral Kirk would call a "double dumb-ass on you!"</Chekov>

      --

      "[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz

  3. Sad by present_arms · · Score: 2

    I hope she recovers well and they got to it quickly.

    --
    http://chimpbox.us
  4. hope she gets well to get out of the hospital by k6mfw · · Score: 2

    as hospital food is typically terrible. I was fortunate enough to attend when Nichelle did a presentation at Ames Research Center, everyone seeking autographs later and she signed them all. And I got to get a photo with her (I was holding my communications piece, a Bendix King handheld).

    --
    mfwright@batnet.com
    1. Re:hope she gets well to get out of the hospital by Hartree · · Score: 2

      I met her at a space development conference in Chicago back in the 1980s. She's very much a fan of space exploration.

      She's one wonderful lady. I wish her a speedy and complete recovery.

  5. Being picked just because of her race... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

    hurt real African American actors for a generation. She was an embarrassment, and she made the rest of us look bad.

    1. Re:Being picked just because of her race... by rmdingler · · Score: 2
      No, Dick, in order to be a real African American Actor,

      you'd have actually had to be working in the field.

      So, looking bad? Maybe that's just your thing.

      --
      Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.

      Ernest Hemingway

    2. Re:Being picked just because of her race... by MobileTatsu-NJG · · Score: 1

      Doctor King didn't agree with you.

      --

      "I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)

    3. Re:Being picked just because of her race... by tompaulco · · Score: 2

      No, Dick, in order to be a real African American Actor, you'd have actually had to be working in the field.

      This raises a question. Why is there a different standard for referring to someone's heritage depending on their skin tone? A person with dark skin who 10 generations ago had an ancestor from Africa is an African American. A person (like me) who's ancestors came from Czechoslovakia two generations ago is just an American. In fact, a person of light skin whose ancestors had come from Africa two generations back would probably also just be referred to as an American. I suspect that if I found someone with dark skin who had immigrated from Czechoslovakia two generations back, they would also be referred to as an African American even if the last ancestor to have come from Africa was 50 or more generations ago.
      Where is the line drawn? My ancestors came out of Africa no more than 3,000 generations ago, and more than likely far less. They were decidedly dark skinned, and hairy besides. And yet, I am just an American.
      So what is up with referring to a race by their regional background, especially given that the regional background may be both inaccurate and almost certainly not recent?

      --
      If you are not allowed to question your government then the government has answered your question.
    4. Re:Being picked just because of her race... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      hurt real African American actors for a generation. She was an embarrassment, and she made the rest of us look bad.

      Whoopie Goldberg is of a decidedly different opinion. From the wikipedia article (which also corresponds to what I have heard her say in interviews). 'According to an anecdote told by Nichelle Nichols in the documentary film Trekkies (1997), a young Goldberg was watching Star Trek, and upon seeing Nichols' character Uhura, exclaimed, "Momma! There's a black lady on TV and she ain't no maid!" This spawned lifelong fandom of Star Trek for Goldberg, who would eventually ask for and receive a recurring guest-starring role on Star Trek: The Next Generation.'

    5. Re:Being picked just because of her race... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Africans have been working in the field all over America for a long time and they complained about it.

    6. Re:Being picked just because of her race... by jcr · · Score: 2

      Martin Luther King didn't share your opinion. Get over yourself.

      -jcr

      --
      The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
    7. Re:Being picked just because of her race... by gtall · · Score: 1

      Pudden'Head Wilson. That's the title of a Mark Twain short book which investigates some of the prejudices around being a fraction African-American. It was a very snarky book for its time, it still is.

    8. Re:Being picked just because of her race... by tehcyder · · Score: 1

      Why is there a different standard for referring to someone's heritage depending on their skin tone?

      Have you really never come across the concept of "racism"?

      --
      To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
  6. Nichelle Nichols, who played the lovely Lt. Uhura by The+Grim+Reefer · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Nichelle Nichols, who played the lovely Lt. Uhura

    Lovely? That's a bit of an understatement. She was down right sexy as hell in her day.

    I wish her a speedy and full recovery.

  7. Best wishes to you Nichelle by surfdaddy · · Score: 3

    She was groundbreaking as one of the earliest actors on a multiracial show - controversial in the day. ...live long and prosper.

    1. Re:Best wishes to you Nichelle by Livius · · Score: 4, Insightful

      And they sneaked her into a role where the casual viewer would think she was just a switchboard operator, but in fact she would have had one of the highest security clearances on the entire ship.

    2. Re:Best wishes to you Nichelle by amiga3D · · Score: 1

      She had a lot of good parts in many episodes. It was the first time I remember a black woman playing something besides a maid.

    3. Re:Best wishes to you Nichelle by tompaulco · · Score: 1

      She was groundbreaking as one of the earliest actors on a multiracial show - controversial in the day. ...live long and prosper.

      Also ground breaking in that she didn't play a sterotypical role for her races, while the other racial roles did play a stereotypical role for their race.

      --
      If you are not allowed to question your government then the government has answered your question.
    4. Re:Best wishes to you Nichelle by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      while the other racial roles did play a stereotypical role for their race.

      True, Andorians pretty much got nothing but Andorian roles, and there were no parts for an Orion slave girl that wasn't a crazy green slut.
      But if you were Vulcan, you could stick around. Call it progress.

  8. Re: Nichelle Nichols, who played the lovely Lt. Uh by garyisabusyguy · · Score: 1

    Damn right!

    --
    Wherever You Go, There You Are
  9. The Shatner lich feeds again by taustin · · Score: 3, Funny

    Given how active Shatner is, in his 80s, still competing in horse shows and all, I'm more and more certain he's some kind of undead, feeding on the souls of his former co-stars.

    1. Re:The Shatner lich feeds again by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Given how active Shatner is, in his 80s, still competing in horse shows and all, I'm more and more certain he's some kind of undead, feeding on the souls of his former co-stars.

      And here I was, thinking I was the only one suspecting this! Apparently, Shatner does more than just suck the life out of a show...

    2. Re:The Shatner lich feeds again by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Given how active Shatner is, in his 80s, still competing in horse shows and all, I'm more and more certain he's some kind of undead, feeding on the souls of his former co-stars.

      And here I was, thinking I was the only one suspecting this! Apparently, Shatner does more than just suck the life out of a show...

      Actually he just has a business that funds a lot of medical experiments that keep him young, but the funding money is kind of drying up. He has a Lingerie
        shop that is not doing so well, I think it is the name that is the problem. It is called "Shatner Pants".

    3. Re:The Shatner lich feeds again by antdude · · Score: 1

      Yeah, I bet he will outlive all of his ST:TOS actors and maybe his fans too. :O

      --
      Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
  10. Re: Nichelle Nichols, who played the lovely Lt. Uh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

    > She was down right sexy as hell in her day.

    Your sarcasm is disgusting. She had a stroke. Mocking her like that right now is just cruel.

  11. Re: Nichelle Nichols, who played the lovely Lt. Uh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

    Wow, that is just plain mean. Making fun of her looks like that when she is probably dying is so mean. She has always been very awkward and unpleasant looking. She made a perfect weird looking alien-like nonhuman thing in Star Trek, but sarcastically calling her "lovely" is going to far.

  12. Get well soon by msobkow · · Score: 1

    Get well soon. You're far too young and energetic to be taken from us all yet!

    --
    I do not fail; I succeed at finding out what does not work.
  13. Terrible news by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    I hope she manages to Klingon.

  14. "Healing frequencies open, Captain",,, by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    -nt

  15. Wow, the moderators are racist by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

    Defending the harm she did is attacking other black actors. It's disgusting to see that someone hates blacks so much that they praise the harm that she did.

  16. Re: Nichelle Nichols, who played the lovely Lt. Uh by amiga3D · · Score: 0

    I never thought of her as a beauty but she's definitely not awkward or unpleasant looking. Her face is actually very pretty and she had a nice figure. At least a 7.

  17. StarTalk: Neil deGrasse Tyson interviews Nichelle by TheRealHocusLocus · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Pure gold.

    2011-07-10: Startalk: NASA and Nichelle Nichols
    Through her ground-breaking role as Star Trek's Chief Communications Officer Lt. Uhura, Nichelle Nichols became a passionate advocate to get women and minorities involved in real-world space exploration. Many were inspired to become astronauts thanks to her efforts, including NASA's current administrator, General Charles Bolden. While she continues working through various endeavors to get young people excited about space, she hopes that the power of Star Trek will inspire us to keep pushing the boundaries of the final frontier.

    2011-07-11: StarTalk: A Conversation with Nichelle Nichols
    Some might know Nichelle Nichols best from Star Trek, but this actress, singer, dancer and space advocate has much to say beyond her role in TV's exploration of the final frontier. In this exclusive interview, she talks about how science fiction and Star Trek --- and specifically her ground-breaking role as Chief Communications Officer Lt. Uhura --- not only impacted her life, but also had an influence on society over space and time.

    --
    <blink>down the rabbit hole</blink>
  18. Re: Nichelle Nichols, who played the lovely Lt. Uh by MobileTatsu-NJG · · Score: 1

    He was complimenting her and you know it.

    --

    "I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)

  19. Re: Nichelle Nichols, who played the lovely Lt. Uh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I wish her a speedy and full recovery.

    She is evidently making good progress already!

  20. Re: Nichelle Nichols, who played the lovely Lt. Uh by WheezyJoe · · Score: 2

    She was a 10! Like that time in "Paradise Syndrome" when a spored-up Uhura turns around and tells Kirk that all communications are... "out".
    Pure sugar. I'd beam right into that.

    --
    Take it easy, Charlie, I've got an Angle...
  21. Re: Nichelle Nichols, who played the lovely Lt. Uh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

    > She was a 10

    That nasty sarcasm is nasty. Just becuase you think she is disgusting and needs to die, you should spout thatr. You Republicans are disgusting. You people heed to need to die. Evewr fucking one ofg you n 3ed sot dei3. Fuck you and youer kdind. ahe is ugly, and your nasty making fun of her ios disgustingfing. n Fuck y7ou ajnde y bour Republicanh kind. Fuck you. She is disgu7sting. Youar emaking fund oov eher.