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Nichelle Nichols, who broke barriers for Black women in Hollywood when she played communications officer Lt. Uhura on the original 鈥淪tar Trek鈥� television series, has died at the age of 89.

Her son Kyle Johnson said Nichols died Saturday in Silver City, New Mexico.

鈥淟ast night, my mother, Nichelle Nichols, succumbed to natural causes and passed away. Her light however, like the ancient galaxies now being seen for the first time, will remain for us and future generations to enjoy, learn from, and draw inspiration,鈥� Johnson wrote on her official Facebook page Sunday. 鈥淗ers was a life well lived and as such a model for us all."

Her role in the 1966-69 series as Lt. Uhura earned Nichols a lifelong position of honor with the series鈥� rabid fans, known as Trekkers and Trekkies. It also earned her accolades for breaking stereotypes that had limited Black women to acting roles as servants and included an interracial onscreen kiss with co-star William Shatner that was unheard of at the time.

鈥淚 shall have more to say about the trailblazing, incomparable Nichelle Nichols, who shared the bridge with us as Lt. Uhura of the USS Enterprise, and who passed today at age 89,鈥� George Takei wrote on Twitter. 鈥淔or today, my heart is heavy, my eyes shining like the stars you now rest among, my dearest friend."

Takei played Sulu in the original 鈥淪tar Trek鈥� series alongside Nichols. But her impact was felt beyond her immediate co-stars, and many others in the 鈥淪tar Trek鈥� world also tweeted their condolences.

Celia Rose Gooding, who currently plays Uhura in 鈥淪tar Trek: Strange New Worlds,鈥� wrote on Twitter that Nichols 鈥渕ade room for so many of us. She was the reminder that not only can we reach the stars, but our influence is essential to their survival. Forget shaking the table, she built it.鈥�

鈥淪tar Trek: Voyager鈥� alum Kate Mulgrew tweeted, 鈥淣ichelle Nichols was The First. She was a trailblazer who navigated a very challenging trail with grit, grace, and a gorgeous fire we are not likely to see again.鈥�

Like other original cast members, Nichols also appeared in six big-screen spinoffs starting in 1979 with 鈥淪tar Trek: The Motion Picture鈥� and frequented 鈥淪tar Trek鈥� fan conventions. She also served for many years as a NASA recruiter, helping bring minorities and women into the astronaut corps.

More recently, she had a recurring role on television鈥檚 鈥淗eroes,鈥� playing the great-aunt of a young boy with mystical powers.

The original 鈥淪tar Trek鈥� premiered on NBC on Sept. 8, 1966. Its multicultural, multiracial cast was creator Gene Roddenberry鈥檚 message to viewers that in the far-off future 鈥� the 23rd century 鈥� human diversity would be fully accepted.

鈥淚 think many people took it into their hearts ... that what was being said on TV at that time was a reason to celebrate,鈥� Nichols said in 1992 when a 鈥淪tar Trek鈥� exhibit was on view at the Smithsonian Institution.

She often recalled how Martin Luther King Jr. was a fan of the show and praised her role. She met him at a civil rights gathering in 1967, at a time when she had decided not to return for the show鈥檚 second season.

鈥淲hen I told him I was going to miss my co-stars and I was leaving the show, he became very serious and said, 'You cannot do that,鈥欌�� she told The Tulsa (Okla.) World in a 2008 interview.

鈥�'You鈥檝e changed the face of television forever, and therefore, you鈥檝e changed the minds of people,'鈥� she said the civil rights leader told her.

鈥淭hat foresight Dr. King had was a lightning bolt in my life,鈥� Nichols said.

During the show鈥檚 third season, Nichols鈥� character and Shatner鈥檚 Capt. James Kirk shared what was described as the first interracial kiss to be broadcast on a U.S. television series. In the episode, 鈥淧lato鈥檚 Stepchildren,鈥� their characters, who always maintained a platonic relationship, were forced into the kiss by aliens who were controlling their actions.

The kiss 鈥渟uggested that there was a future where these issues were not such a big deal,鈥� Eric Deggans, a television critic for National Public Radio, told The Associated Press in 2018. 鈥淭he characters themselves were not freaking out because a Black woman was kissing a white man ... In this utopian-like future, we solved this issue. We鈥檙e beyond it. That was a wonderful message to send.鈥�

Worried about reaction from Southern television stations, showrunners wanted to film a second take of the scene where the kiss happened off-screen. But Nichols said in her book, 鈥淏eyond Uhura: Star Trek and Other Memories,鈥� that she and Shatner deliberately flubbed lines to force the original take to be used.

Despite concerns, the episode aired without blowback. In fact, it got the most 鈥渇an mail that Paramount had ever gotten on 鈥楽tar Trek鈥� for one episode,鈥� Nichols said in a 2010 interview with the Archive of American Television.

Born Grace Dell Nichols in Robbins, Illinois, Nichols hated being called 鈥淕racie,鈥� which everyone insisted on, she said in the 2010 interview. When she was a teen her mother told her she had wanted to name her Michelle, but thought she ought to have alliterative initials like Marilyn Monroe, whom Nichols loved. Hence, 鈥淣ichelle.鈥�

Nichols first worked professionally as a singer and dancer in Chicago at age 14, moving on to New York nightclubs and working for a time with the Duke Ellington and Lionel Hampton bands before coming to Hollywood for her film debut in 1959鈥檚 鈥淧orgy and Bess,鈥� the first of several small film and TV roles that led up to her 鈥淪tar Trek鈥� stardom.

Nichols was known as being unafraid to stand up to Shatner on the set when others complained that he was stealing scenes and camera time. They later learned she had a strong supporter in the show鈥檚 creator.

In her 1994 book, 鈥淏eyond Uhura,鈥� she said she met Roddenberry when she guest starred on his show 鈥淭he Lieutenant,鈥� and the two had an affair a couple of years before 鈥淪tar Trek鈥� began. The two remained lifelong close friends.

Another fan of Nichols and the show was future astronaut Mae Jemison, who became the first black woman in space when she flew aboard the shuttle Endeavour in 1992.

In an AP interview before her flight, Jemison said she watched Nichols on 鈥淪tar Trek鈥� all the time, adding she loved the show. Jemison eventually got to meet Nichols.

Nichols was a regular at 鈥淪tar Trek鈥� conventions and events into her 80s, but her schedule became limited starting in 2018 when her son announced that she was suffering from advanced dementia.

Nichols was placed under a court conservatorship in the control of her son Johnson, who said her mental decline made her unable to manage her affairs or make public appearances.

Some, including Nichols鈥� managers and her friend, film producer and actor Angelique Fawcett, objected to the conservatorship and sought more access to Nichols and to records of Johnson鈥檚 financial and other moves on her behalf. Her name was at times invoked at courthouse rallies that sought the freeing of Britney Spears from her own conservatorship.

But the court consistently sided with Johnson, and over the objections of Fawcett allowed him to move Nichols to New Mexico, where she lived with him in her final years.

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Associated Press Entertainment Writer Andrew Dalton contributed from Los Angeles. Former AP Writer Polly Anderson contributed biographical material to this report.