15. Whoopi Goldberg; Guinan, TNG
In some ways, what Whoopi Goldberg did was carry the torch once held by Nichelle Nichols, a black female character on The Next Generation’s USS Enterprise. Goldberg’s character, Guinan, was less central to the story, but audiences enjoyed her enough for a movie reprisal. Goldberg never needed Star Trek for her career, having enjoyed plenty of success as a comedic actress in movies like Sister Act, and Jumping Jack Flash. She was also in the huge cinematic success, Ghost. Goldberg went on to become one of the hosts of the talk show The View.