Nyota Uhura: The Woman In Red

I'll go ahead and say it right up front; I loved Nichelle Nichols as Uhura. I still do.

I became a Star Trek fanantic about the same time I hit puberty... so it's probably no coincidence that I very quickly took notice of the egyptian-eyed beauty back there behind Captain Kirk in almost every bridge shot. The way she moved, her dulcet voice, those gorgeous legs posed oh-so-sexily as she swiveled... yes, just about the first real crush I had was on Uhura. I'm sure many a red-blooded white boy like me had their first real taste for race relations after laying eyes on this red-mini-skirted babe!

As time passed my admiration and long-distance love for this petite, intelligent, curvy-figured goddess only grew. Every time she was in the scene, my eyes were on her. And when she got a chance to shine, I reveled in it. Hearing her sing "Beyond Antares," which I had on my trusty cassette tape, sent me into a daze, and I played it till the tape was almost worn out.

How she moved! Every motion to flick a switch, to touch her earpiece, to turn and report, was like watching an artist at work. When she walked to the turbo-lift, it was like a dance. Her grace, style and charm was evident in the slightest action.

Oh, sure... Kirk and Spock were my heroes, and still are. But there was something special about Uhura, and I always wished she had been given more to do. The rare episodes that she went on a landing party were always a treat; and there was none better than "Mirror, Mirror." This lovely lady shone when she was thrown into a hostile environment among familiar strangers. And that bare-midriff dress! It was the only time we got to see those chiseled dancer's abs, and that skirt really plunged, showing part of her body in a style that female singers today are only now emulating.

One of the greatest mistakes made in the original series was the constant marginalizing of the secondary characters, especially Uhura, since she was the lone female in the regular crew of seven. As much has been made about her contributions at the time, how much more they could have been had a certain star not constantly suggested cuts in the lines of the secondary actors. Her talent and charm were largely wasted, left to be mere window dressing in the background.

There's more to come soon; I have a People magazine article on Nichelle published in the 80's that I'll post next.

Below are some various photos and screen captures that your eyes will thank me for.
(Screen capture source: Trekcore)

From "Arena":

From "The Changeling":



From "The Man Trap":

From "Charlie X":


From "Conscience Of The King":


And my all-time favorite episode, "Mirror, Mirror":

Brittney, eat your heart out!

Even nearly 16 years later during "The Search For Spock," she is still one hot mama.

For more Uhura (and really, who can get enough?) click on the "Uhura" tag on the right side of this page.

Nimoy's screen test for the first pilot

Not yet even sporting the ears which would give him so much trouble, Leonard is tested for the role of Spock, These series of photos were reproduced in an issue of the excellent fan magazine "Enterprise Incidents," of which you will be seeing more of here very soon.

The woman in the shot is an unidentified actress, in the shot to show the contrast between fair skin and Nimoy's darker makeup, to see how it looked in black-and-white, since most TVs were still black-and-white in those days.

From the Blooper Vaults: Adam Nimoy visits the set and pulls a joke on pop!

"Daddy, can I have a Sehlat for my birthday? Ple-e-e-e-ease?
I promise I'll feed him and clean up after him!"

The Star Trek Pinball Machine

(Click on all images to view large-sized.)

Back in the laste 70's, Bally created a Star Trek pinball machine, which boasted terrific artwork. I remember just standing and gazing at it as I waited in the corner convenience store for the bus to arrive... I never played it, I didn't care for pinball, but the back panel painting made me salivate.

Below are some close-up images of the various parts of the machine. Put in a quarter and score!

In 1979 the machine was updated by the same artist with new ships, uniforms and characters, based on the original art. The back panel art is what was mainly affected... almost everything on the rest of the machine stayed the same, except for changing the generic crew-woman to Illia. This is the one seen the most and remembered fondly by fans of the time. First is the original flyer advertising it to store owners...

And the new, updated artwork, still on of the coolest images of the original crew ever painted. Dynamic and exciting! How I wish they would have sold posters of just that artwork...

And below ia a picture of the playing field...

Below is an ad from Starlog Issue #24 for their contest to win the ST pinball machine, plus other prizes.

Unrelated: Below is a drawing I did that got published in the New Eye Studios catalog during a fan art contest. It was actually the first one they ran.

The new midshipmen find out that James Tiberius Kirk lives up to his name.

"All About Star Trek Fan Clubs" magazine

(Click on images to view full-size.)

Issue #1

In 1977 a magazine appeared that only ran six issues. Made by fans for fans, "All About Star Trek Fanclubs" was mainly filled with photos of the stars as taken at conventions, fan creations and artwork, Trek news events, etc. The publication, while an admirable effort, seemed a little more amatuerish than most widely-published efforts, as if a local fan club suddenly found a national distribution for their fan magazine. It also seemed slanted toward the teeny-bopper fangirls; for example, who but them would hang a poster of Leonard as a young boy, featured in one issue, on their wall? But there was enough of interest to me that I bought every issue, and still have them.

Issue #2

Issue #3


Issue #4

Issue #5


Issue #6




The Shat, from one of the photo spreads in an issue of the mag, in an expressive mood a couple of years before the first movie.

Another Funky Winkerbean strip, the last one in the buildup to ST:TMP, published on Dec. 10, 1979.

The computer in the strip got to see it before I did. My stepdad was watching like a hawk for any opportunity I might take to go see the movie, but I fooled him, acting cool about it and waiting until January to see it, after the heat was off. I finally saw it with a minimal crowd in a small theater in the first week of January 1980. As usual for me, I smuggled in my boxy Radio Shack tape deck under my coat, and taped the whole thing for playback later.

After reading a book on Pon-Farr, the crew assures Spock they will all help in any way possible.

Photo Caption Fun! Got a funny caption for this photo? Leave it in the Comments area for all of us to enjoy... but do try to keep it from being too raunchy.

1979 Movie Stars ST:TMP article

I clipped these pages from the January 1980 edition of "Movie Stars" magazine. It actually came out in December of 1979, just before the movie. My Trek-sensors were on maximum power and I found articles and news items everywhere!

I think McCoy's being affected by the Deltan pheremones... his palms are starting to sweat.

Another Funky Winkerbean strip , from 12-8-79.

As a humorous aside, my stepdad was particularly on edge during that Christmas season. Star Trek was everywhere, and it raised his blood pressure to see it so successful in the public eye and so prominent. Star Trek was two four-letter words in our house because of my love for it, and suddenly, it was on TV commercials, in the newspaper, on the radio, etc. His knowing that I was enjoying it all made his life a little more miserable, and when we were both in the room when a TV spot played, the tension level rose dramatically, as if I had something to do with it. His fingers would involuntarily tighten around the edges of the newspaper page, and I would act as if nothing special was on, all the time trying not to watch the TV too closely. He couldn't even escape it in the funny page, as you can see from the comic strip above!

In space, no-one can hear you scream like a little girl...

Too late, Spock realized that you should never unzip your fly in the vacuum of outer space.

Photo Caption Fun! Have a funny idea? Leave your own caption for this photo in the comments area. (Btw, this unusual and somewhat alarming photo came from here.)