Ten Humanitarian Sci-Fi Stars of the 60s-70s Quiz

Answer: Nichelle Nichols

Nichelle Nichols portrayed communications officer Lt. Nyota Uhura, whose name means "star freedom" in Swahili (roughly), in the original "Star Trek" series and in the first six cinematic features. Uhura was a significant member of the multicultural crew and one of the first black characters portrayed in an non-servile position on U.S. television. She nearly quit over lack of lines, but Martin Luther King, Jr. encouraged her to persevere.

It is not surprising that she drew on this character to do good work, and it also had long been Nichols' belief that for healing rifts in the human race, humanity must seek knowledge. She volunteered for NASA from 1977 to 2015 to help recruit people of color and women, and to that end she created and ran a program called Women in Motion. Famous recruits include Dr. Sally Ride (1951-2012), America's first woman astronaut, and Col. Guion Bulford, the first African-American astronaut, to name but a few. Nichols also actively worked for The Technology Access Foundation, which equips young students of color for success at university and in careers in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics). She also supported the Planetary Society, co-founded by Carl Sagan "to empower the world's citizens to advance space exploration" (their mission statement). In 2015 she co-launched a large philanthropic endeavor in social media, StarPower, to benefit an assortment of social causes.

Unfortunately, Nichols' younger brother Thomas was part of the Heaven's Gate cult and committed suicide with his comrades on the arrival of the Hale-Bopp comet in 1997. In 2018, Nichols developed dementia and retired from social activism and humanitarian work. The International Astronomical Union named an asteroid "68410 Nichols" to honor her work as a global ambassador for space exploration and for the advancement of knowledge.

Answer: Wesley Eure

Wesley Eure was known to a generation of kids as the elder sibling in Sid & Marty Krofft's fantasy/sci-fi program, "Land of the Lost" (1974-76), and from 1974 to 1981 he played Michael Horton on "Days of Our Lives". He later hosted game shows and children's shows, produced and acted in plays, and wrote books.

A shiny necklace Wesley wore on "Land of the Lost" betrayed a secret he was desperate to keep for most of his life, for it was a gift from a boyfriend. The strain of trying to remain closeted took an enormous toll. When former domestic partner Richard Chamberlain was outed by the tabloids, Wesley became terrified, and he knew he couldn't survive scandal the way a superstar like Chamberlain could. "Then I had to lie," Wesley told reporter Michael Jenson at Aftelton.com, "and not tell the truth for so long. It did affect my career. I did lose jobs [including his role on "Days of Our Lives"]. I was a victim of homophobia and all the sadness that came with that."

Becoming an activist for AIDS not only helped the LGBT community, it also helped Wesley heal his own wounds. "Then the AIDS crisis came," he told Jenson, "and God bless this community. It was one of the most, not only energizing, but mobilizing forces that brought this community together." He also avowed, "We have to thank the lesbians so much, because they were the forefront [of AIDS activism]...they took over."

For many years, Wesley hosted the LalaPOOLooza HIV/AIDS fundraiser in Palm Springs, California. He also supported the March of Dimes, the Special Olympics, a children's charity called Variety, various breast-cancer charities, and Project Angel Food (a Meals-on-Wheels for the sick). He even helped his mother achieve self-actualization (and strike a blow for gender and age equality) by supporting her through law school when she was in her 50s!

Answer: Lynda Carter

The character of Wonder Woman was envisioned in 1940 by psychologist Charles Moulton, his wife Elizabeth, writer Olive Byrne, and artist Harry G. Peter as "a new kind of superhero, one who would triumph not with fists or firepower, but with love."[*] In the 1970s TV show, the Amazon subdued mad scientists, evil inventors, and nefarious spies. Played by Lynda Carter, Wonder Woman showed a wide range of powers and skills beyond bullets-and-bracelets and her Golden Lasso, including lots of cool gadgets and machines like her Invisible Plane and a feisty computer named IRAC.

A supporter of the Susan G. Komen Foundation for breast cancer research, Carter co-founded the National Race for the Cure. Her social causes also included reproductive rights, women's rights and health equality, and LGBT rights. She served as Grand Marshal at Gay Pride in Washington, D.C. in 2013 and as the Grand Marshal for the 2010 AIDS Walk. Father Martin's Ashley Treatment Center and God's Love We Deliver charities have also benefitted from her public-spiritedness.

Committed to improving public health, Carter worked for United Palsy and the Heart Truth, a campaign for women's awareness of, prevention of, and recovery from of heart disease. A recovering alcoholic herself, Carter has also been publicly active in helping others heal from this pervasive disease.


[*]Marguerite Lambe, "Who Was Wonder Woman?", 'Bostonia', Fall 2001.

Answer: Vincent Price

Appearances on TV include the punny Egghead on "Batman" and a maniacal professor in "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea", to give just a sample of his mad-scientist mayhem. In 1971 he was also the host of international Canadian TV hit "The Hilarious House of Frightenstein". His horror and science fiction films from earlier decades were played over and over again in local and syndicated late-night programs that were common in the 1960-70s.

Wanting to uplift the common man and woman through art, he donated his collection to a free art museum in East Los Angeles that was also committed to preserving and building community. "Art is excitement", Price once said, "which if we can't create ourselves, we can at least, through love of it, make available to others." He also had a unique partnership with Sears, which sold original oil paintings by masters as well works by contemporary artists for $10-$3000, prices affordable to working- and middle-class Americans of the 1960s.

For decades Vincent Price also lent his distinctive voice to speeches and statements against injustice, prejudice, and other social ills. Daring for his time, he publicly supported both his lesbian daughter Victoria and his bisexual (and third) wife Cora Browne, and he denounced singer Anita Bryant's widespread anti-LGBT crusade in the 1970s. In 1950, Price gave a powerful monologue at the conclusion of the "Author Of Murder" episode of "The Saint" -- a speech which found renewed life on the Internet. He spoke out against the poison of racial and religious hatred, and offered the antidote: "by actively accepting or rejecting people on their individual worth, and by speaking up against prejudice and for understanding. Remember, freedom and prejudice can't exist side by side. If you choose freedom, fight prejudice."

Answer: George Takei

George Takei is most famous for portraying Hideki Sulu, an ensign in the original "Star Trek" TV series (1966-69) and a captain by the end of the six-movie cinematic series, "Star Trek I-VI" (1979-1991). His appearance as a sinewy sword-fighter in the episode "The Naked Time" became one of the iconic stills of the closing credits of the original series.

As a boy, Takei was interred in a camp during WWII along with other Japanese-Americans, in swampland surrounded by barbed wire. Takei went through a process of healing by facing a problem head-on, through talking and writing about his experiences, including the graphic novel "They Called Us Enemy" and the Broadway show "Allegiance".

Takei has worked tirelessly for US-Japanese relations. This includes his work with the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles and the Japanese American Citizens League, the oldest and largest Asian American civil-rights and charitable organization in the USA. The museum honored Takei with the Distinguished Medal of Honor for Lifetime Achievement and Public Service in 2015 In acknowledgement for his meritorious service, the government of Japan conferred upon Takei in 2004 the Order of the Rising Sun.

Two other areas to which Takei has devoted himself are the LGBT community and the immigrant community. Organizations that have benefitted from his philanthropy, publicity, and energy include the Human Rights Campaign, the Family Equality Council, the American Foundation for Equal Rights, and the Roddenberry Foundation. In May 2014, Takei earned GLAAD Vito Russo Award, given to an openly LGBT celebrity who has made a significant difference in promoting equality.

Answer: Eartha Kitt

Dancer, singer, actress -- Eartha Kitt had a career in entertainment long before and long after "Batman", but to a generation of viewers she will always be the Catwoman, with a distinctive and stirring guttural purrrrr, and the only African-American (or mixed-race) villain on that iconic show. She became the second Black woman, after Nichelle Nichols as Uhura on "Star Trek", to be regularly featured on a major network series.

Throughout her career Kitt participated in the civil rights movement. Because she herself was abandoned by her parents, the entertainer also worked with troubled and at-risk inner-city youths. To this end she established the Kittsville Youth Foundation. She testified before Congress on behalf of grassroots organizations like "Rebels With a Cause", young people seeking to clean up the streets and build recreation areas. Eartha Kitt was committed to world peace, and spoke openly that juvenile crime was partly an act of resistance against being drafted to serve in Vietnam.

Like Progressive-Era social reformer, public philosopher, and suffragist Jane Addams, Eartha Kitt belonged to the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF). Jane Addams was vilified the press for speaking out against "the Great War" and called "the most dangerous woman in America". When Eartha Kitt spoke out against the Vietnam War and its particular effect on the black community at a White House luncheon, the press and the CIA nearly destroyed her. She was said to have made a "rude interruption" and was called a "sadistic nymphomaniac" who made Lady Bird Johnson cry. (The First Lady would deny in her diary that she had tears in her eyes.) Kitt was banned from the White House and effectively blacklisted from American entertainment, and the CIA began to monitor her, as they had monitored Martin Luther King, Jr. Just as Addams was eventually recognized for her pacifist work, however, Kitt was ultimately recognized for her efforts for peace and social justice (and how they intersect). She persevered in her humanitarian work abroad, including anti-apartheid efforts in South Africa, and ultimately was invited back to the White House in 1978.

In later years, she continued to work for peace and social justice, and she spoke out for marriage equality as a basic civil right. She was also a UNICEF advocate for homeless children.

Answer: Lindsay Wagner

"The Bionic Woman" (1976-78), an NBC/ABC spin-off of "The Six Million-Dollar Man" (1973-78), starred Lindsay Wagner as tennis-pro-turned-cyborg Jaime Sommers who used her bionic superpowers to take on secret and risky government missions and save the world. Short-lived yet enormously popular worldwide, the show was the only sci-fi TV series to hit the #1 spot in the UK ratings in the 20th century!

Instead of going on to star in big-budget cinematic films or long-running televisions series, Lindsay Wagner decided to invest her star-power into making made-for-TV movies about important social issues, including violence against women. On this issue she made many appearances and devoted a lot of time and money. As she explained in a news interview, "The strength of 'The Bionic Woman' gave me a lot of power to go in and do things that people couldn't do before on TV."

Always interested in optimizing health, longevity, and tranquility for herself and her fellow human beings, Lindsay Wagner became an advocate for veganism and whole-foods eating at a time when even in California it was difficult to do so. Beginning as early as age 20, she studied holistic health and integrated Eastern and Western modalities and became a figure in self-help industry and healing arts. Eventually she developed a series of workshops, retreats, and techniques called "Quiet the Mind & Open the Heart", to help clients heal old wounds and correct faulty perceptions. In her words, "I have learned that we have the power to change our perspective and have a happier more satisfying experience of life."

Answer: Erin Grey

Colonel Wilma Deering in Glen Larson's "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century" (1979-81) was a brave, smart, no-nonsense defender of the Earth who (at least in the first season) would not decline to give orders and corrections to the brash title hero (unlike earlier incarnations of the character). Erin Grey expressed on the podcast "The Future and You" that she believed her portrayal of the Colonel inspired girls to secure careers in the military.

Erin Grey dedicated herself to individual transformation and social change. She became an avid practitioner and teacher of T'ai Chi Qi Gong -- keys to good health which she has stated embody the tenets by which she lives, including active awareness. To help others find physical and spiritual healing through these ancient Chinese arts, she has produced several videos, including a TED Talk called "The Woo Way" (2014).

Erin Grey became a spokesperson for the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence after suffering the indignities of being a battered wife having to flee to a women's shelter. In a 2012 interview with WFLX in West Palm Beach, Florida, she described the "muted senses" of an abuse victim: "This is part of the reason why women have trouble getting out.... There's a form of amnesia that comes in because the pain is so horrendous.... So...you blank out. And a couple hours later, you come out of it. And everything's just fine." After her experience, she became committed to helping other women break the cycle of violence, to stop being an enabler or being co-dependent, and to adhere to her motto "freedom is the will to be responsible for yourself".

Answer: Ross Martin

The "Wild, Wild West" combined the Western, super-spy, fantasy, and science fiction genres into an action-packed romp dubbed "James Bond on horseback". Ross Agents Artemus Gordon (Ross Martin) and Jim West (Robert Conrad) battled a host of fantastic villains, especially a recurring mad scientist named Dr. Loveless (Michael Dunn). Agent Gordon in particular was a mechanical and make-up genius whose gadgets and disguises often saved the day.

Ross Martin was much more than an actor. He mastered multiple languages, earned degrees in business and law, played tennis and other sports, and collected and donated art to the public. He was almost better known for his good works than for his thespian credits!

Sometimes the twain would meet. For his role as the asthmatic murderer in "Experiment in Terror" (1962) -- a thriller co-starring Lee Remick and directed by Blake Edwards (with music by Henry Mancini) -- he had to research the disease. Thus began his association with CARIH (Children's Asthma Research Institute and Hospital in Denver), and among other capacities he served as Chairman of their Theatre Arts Department for many years. CARIH also received proceeds from his celebrity tennis tournaments. Ross also volunteered as a mentor at the Hollywood Boys' Club (now Boys' and Girls' Club of Hollywood).

Martin Ross also worked for the benefit of worldwide Jewry and the State of Israel. In 1969, B'nai B'rith named Martin Man of Year. In the 1970s, he participated in a fundraiser with Sammy Davis Jr and comedian Pat Henry to raise half a million dollars for the State of Israel.

In November 1980, Ross played for the Cancer Immunization Center of UCLA on the game show "Card Sharks". It is now the Simms/Mann-UCLA Center for Integrative Oncology, which offers holistic programs and services free of charge to the community. This educated man wanted to educated the world, so he also raised funds and donated his time to his alma mater the City College of New York, the first *free* public institution of higher education in the USA.

Answer: Leonard Nimoy

On the original "Star Trek" series (1966-69), Leonard Nimoy stole the show from William Shatner (as Captian Kirk) as the half-human, half-Vulcan, all-intelligent Science Officer Mr. Spock. Trying to move away from that iconic character, he took a role as a magician and master of disguise in "Mission: Impossible". To that end, he published an autobiography called "I Am Not Spock" in 1975 -- though he would take all back in "I Am Spock" (1995). Nimoy also provided the narration for the American documentary TV series, "In Search of..." (1977-82), exploring the unexplained, the mysterious, and the paranormal.

A champion for world peace, Nimoy spoke at anti-Vietnam War rallies
and campaigned for George McGovern (a presidential candidate who was opposed to the Vietnam War). Asked whether it was appropriate for an actor to make political speeches, Nimoy said, "Well, I think it's about as fair as Ronald Reagan running for governor of California based on the fact that he's done some movies."

Despite his success as an actor, eventually he left the profession (more or less) to devote himself to photography and to charitable and social causes. Active in the Jewish community as well, Nimoy helped to keep the Yiddish language alive and devoted his time and energy to the worldwide Jewish community.

In 2000, Nimoy received an honorary doctorate from Antioch University in Ohio, awarded for his work in Holocaust remembrance and conserving the environment. Former co-star Walter Koenig (Chekhov) revealed in 2014 that Nimoy personally advocated for (and got) equal pay for Nichelle Nichols (Lt. Uhura) during their time on "Star Trek" (1966-69).

In 2003 the TV star and his wife began the Nimoy Foundation, which recognizes and supports the work of artists and also distributes grants to social causes. Lenoard Nimoy also supported the American Foundation for Equal Rights (an NGO dedicated to marriage equality in California), the American Cancer Society, and many other causes and charities up until his death from COPD in 2015.