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She then toured the United States and Canada with the bands of Duke Ellington and Lionel Hampton. Nichols began her professional career as a singer and dancer in Chicago.

From age 12, she studied dance at the Chicago Ballet Academy. The family later moved into an apartment in the Woodlawn neighborhood of Chicago, where Nichols attended Englewood High School, graduating in 1951. Disliking her name, Nichols asked her parents for a new one they suggested Nichelle, which they said meant 'victorious maiden' (from Nike and the suffix -elle). Grace Dell Nichols was born the third of six children on December 28, 1932, in Robbins, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, to Samuel Earl Nichols, a factory worker who was elected both town mayor of Robbins in 1929 and its chief magistrate, and his wife, Lishia (Parks) Nichols, a homemaker. As an actor, she appeared on stage, in television and in film.

īorn in the Chicago suburb of Robbins, she trained in dance, and began her career as a dancer, singer and model in Chicago. From 1977 to 2015, she volunteered her time to promote NASA's programs and recruit diverse astronauts, including some of the first female and ethnic minority astronauts. Nichelle Nichols ( / n ɪ ˈ ʃ ɛ l/, born Grace Dell Nichols Decem– July 30, 2022) was an American actress, singer and dancer whose portrayal of Uhura in Star Trek and its film sequels was groundbreaking for African American actresses on American television.

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