Forever linked to her trailblazing role as the sexy Lt. Uhura on the original Star Trek series, Nichelle Nichols’s show-business career began in her teens when she was discovered by jazz legend Duke Ellington, who brought her on tour with him as a singer and dancer. In the 1960s the 35-23-37 knockout worked as a glamor model and made appearances on shows like The Lieutenant and Tarzan before she was cast as the first black lead actress on television in Star Trek. Once she was on the show, Nichelle continued to break barriers, sharing TV’s first interracial kiss with the Esperanto-speaking Ukrainian-Canadian Jewish actor William Shatner. In 1966 she was ready to leave the show because of the racist death threats that were constantly sent to her but was persuaded by civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. to stay on the show. Nichelle continues to act, recently appearing in a string of Heroes episodes, has authored several books, and worked as an astronaut recruiter for NASA. The only thing Nichelle hasn’t done, unfortunately, is uncloak her photon torpedoes.