Lt. Uhura Prepares to Sign Off

Tuckerfan · Aug 22, 2019

Her final public appearance is scheduled for next year.

Details on Nichelle Nichols’ Farewell Celebration

After nearly fifty years, legendary Star Trek actress Nichelle Nichols has decided to retire from public convention appearances. With her farewell tour currently underway, Nichols will headline her final appearance at the Nichelle Nichols Farewell Celebration in Burbank, Calif. next May.

The event will take place May 1–3 at the Marriot Burbank Hotel. In addition to the traditional photo ops and autograph signings, the event will also include a Friday night party and Saturday night banquet and Original Series luncheon with Nichols in attendance.

Nichelle Nichols is best known for her role as Uhura on Star Trek: The Original Series and in six feature films. Last May, it was revealed by her son Kyle Johnson that Nichols was suffering from dementia, causing severe short-term memory loss. Since then, the 86 year-old actress has kept up a busy schedule, appearing at multiple events throughout the U.S., including Star Trek Las Vegas earlier this month.

In addition to Nichols herself, the guestlist for the Farewell Celebration includes her fellow Original Series castmate Walter Koenig (Pavel Chekov), The Next Generation‘s Marina Sirtis (Deanna Troi), Original Series guest stars Michael Forest (Apollo), Bobby Clark (the Gorn), Tanya Lemani (Kara), Sean Kenney (Christopher Pike), Gary Lockwood (Gary Mitchell), Voyager‘s Tim Russ (Tuvok), Enterprise guest star Gary Graham (Soval), along with Discovery executive producer Rod Roddenberry, film critic Scott Mantz, Star Trek historian Larry Nemecek, Jimmy Doohan’s son Chris Doohan, Battlestar Galactica‘s Herbert Jefferson Jr. (Boomer), production designer Rick Sternbach, visual effects artist Doug Drexler, Original Series writers Dorothy ‘D.C.’ Fontana and David Gerrold, along with Star Trek experts Michael and Denise Okuda.

Weekend admission tickets start at $75 and are available at uhura.space.
Click to expand...

Ten Lubak · Aug 23, 2019

Steal Your Face · Aug 23, 2019

Lanzman · Aug 23, 2019

We Are Borg · Aug 23, 2019

That's too bad.

Not sure why they're making a big fuss about it, though. And charging $75 a ticket, which only gets you in the door. Prices go as high as $500 for other tickets.

Several other Trek actors that have sadly passed on didn't make this kind of a fuss. (Although I'd probably expect this kind of hoopla coming from the Shat.)

I wonder if Nichols' family or agents are trying to squeeze every last nickel from her.

But to Ms. Nichols herself, I wish her nothing but the best.

Dayton Kitchens · Aug 23, 2019

Sad. I agreed with Starlog that Nichols was one of the most important women in science fiction mainly due to her involvement and promotion of the U.S. space program. Two of the astronauts who died aboard Challenger were ones that she personally helped recruit for NASA.

Minsc&Boo · Aug 23, 2019

RickDeckard · Aug 23, 2019

We Are Borg said: ↑

And charging $75 a ticket, which only gets you in the door. Prices go as high as $500 for other tickets.
Click to expand...

Who the hell pays those prices?

Dayton Kitchens · Aug 23, 2019

RickDeckard said: ↑

We Are Borg said: ↑

And charging $75 a ticket, which only gets you in the door. Prices go as high as $500 for other tickets.
Click to expand...

Who the hell pays those prices?
Click to expand...

Americans

Forbin · Aug 23, 2019

Dayton Kitchens said: ↑

Sad. I agreed with Starlog that Nichols was one of the most important women in science fiction mainly due to her involvement and promotion of the U.S. space program. Two of the astronauts who died aboard Challenger were ones that she personally helped recruit for NASA.
Click to expand...

"A charming murderess."
-Abe Lincoln

Fisherman's Worf · Aug 23, 2019

RickDeckard said: ↑

Who the hell pays those prices?
Click to expand...

Tuckerfan · Aug 19, 2020

We Are Borg vs. USS Crazy Horse said: ↑

That's too bad.

Not sure why they're making a big fuss about it, though. And charging $75 a ticket, which only gets you in the door. Prices go as high as $500 for other tickets.

Several other Trek actors that have sadly passed on didn't make this kind of a fuss. (Although I'd probably expect this kind of hoopla coming from the Shat.)

I wonder if Nichols' family or agents are trying to squeeze every last nickel from her.

But to Ms. Nichols herself, I wish her nothing but the best.
Click to expand...

Shit looks to be bad.

Nichelle Nichols' Family Turns to GoFundMe in an Ongoing Legal Battle With Her Manager

Star Trek star Nichelle Nichols is one of the most influential sci-fi actors of the 20th century, but the actress who played Uhura remains the focus of a legal battle over her finances, career, and well-being—one which continues to escalate, as more members of her family have stepped in to help.

“It’s positively devastating. I would like to see her made whole again. She’s my big sister. I’m just proud of her. For all of these years, she’s been our rock and our family after our parents died. She has been our matriarch,” Nichols’ younger sister Marian Smothers told io9 over the phone. “This is very devastating to us. I had to do something, we had to do something.”

According to a court document posted on a new GoFundMe page, Nichols’ son and legal conservator (as of January 2019) Kyle Johnson filed a countersuit against Gilbert Bell, the actress’s disputed manager who’s lived in the guesthouse on her property for about a decade. Among other items, the lawsuit alleges financial elder abuse, negligence, and unjust enrichment—including keeping cash from fans given at convention appearances, harming her reputation, and setting a monthly rent for himself of $300 on Nichols’ guesthouse even though it could “command rents exceeding $2,500 [to] $3,500.00 per month.” The lawsuit also includes an injunction, filed on behalf of Nichols, to have Bell cease contact and leave her property.

We reached out for comment to all parties, as of yet we’ve not heard back from Nichols’ and Johnson’s legal representation or Bell.

Speaking with io9 over the phone, Johnson said he’s been living with his mother as a full-time caregiver since August 2018 and having Bell also living on the property has been “unpleasant.” He said the lawsuit’s goal is to get “justice” and hopes the discovery process will bring Bell’s alleged actions to light—whether it’s ones they feel they already know about or others that have yet to surface.

“What’s happened to my mother has been rather extreme, and I can’t be limited to a single thing. Indeed, having filed the suit, we’re eager to begin our discovery process to uncover that—which not only we’re aware of generally and then are seeking specifics, but what else there might be that we are not aware of,” Johnson said. “Those are kind of, you know, lurking, lingering anxieties, that there’s more stuff to find out than we even had an inkling of now. I don’t know what that might be, but that is a concern. But hopefully, as they say, sunlight is the best disinfectant.”

The GoFundMe was created by Smothers to help fund Johnson’s legal battle and is seeking $100,000 for the countersuit and fighting a previous suit brought by Bell. Smothers told us that every living member of Nichols’ immediate and extended family has come together to support this countersuit and that she started the GoFundMe to help with legal costs because Bell allegedly drained Nichols’ finances. The GoFundMe claims that Bell has “taken financial advantage of Nichelle to the tune of well over a million dollars.” When asked how that number was reached, Smothers wouldn’t go into details but insinuated that Bell had pocketed some of her appearance fees.

The legal battle between Johnson and Bell has been going on for several years, with Nichols seemingly trapped in the middle. After evidence was presented in late 2018, the courts granted Johnson permanent conservatorship over Nichols’ estate and signed off on a dementia diagnosis in early 2019. This current countersuit comes one year after Bell filed his own lawsuit against Johnson, claiming Nichols’ son was trying to kick Bell and Nichols out of their homes so he could sell the property and put Nichols in an assisted living facility.

“Kyle has been trying to put her in a nursing home for eight years now,” Bell told Express in 2018. “He wants to put her away and sell her home. But Nichelle made me promise many years ago, ‘Whatever you do, please don’t put me in a nursing home’. And I told her I wouldn’t.”

Smothers denied Bell’s claim to us, saying that Bell would tell Nichols this as a way to keep her afraid of letting Johnson have access to her finances. Johnson also dismissed them, calling them “unreliable.” Smother noted that the idea of putting Nichols in a nursing home was “the furthest thing from Kyle’s mind” and that their goal is to keep the house—but that the situation might be complicated given how Bell has allegedly impacted her finances.

“That’s how he managed to get such complete control over her. It’s the constant—Kyle wants to do this to you. Kyle wants to take this away from you,” Smothers said. “He understood that that was how he was going to be able to stay close to her and destroy Kyle’s relationship with his mother.”

Despite her reported medical condition, Nichols continued to make appearances in films and at conventions for years. Smothers said this was one of the things that outraged the family the most because it was putting her health at risk, and she confronted Bell about it on several occasions. Those appearances slowed down after Johnson was granted conservatorship. Nichols was set to officially retire this May with the star-studded Nichelle Nichols Farewell Celebration, but the event was delayed due to the pandemic.

When asked the hardest part about the experience, Johnson talked about the pain of watching his mother’s health decline. He noted how it’s a shared experience, one that millions of people have gone through, and that it’s equally painful for anyone who’s been through it with a parent of a loved one. Even though things are hard now, Johnson praised his mother and said he wouldn’t change anything about how he grew up.

“My mother, I think is quite unique. I would never have traded my childhood and upbringing for anything other than what I experienced with my mother. I think that her vision and her insight, the decisions that she made as a young mother, were quite extraordinary, and how she envisioned the person that I would become by the decisions that she made about my upbringing,” he said. “I feel that she did exactly the right thing, and that I am the child that she raised. So in that sense, I remain extraordinarily grateful for that time. I’m her kid, she’s my mom. I guess she did a great job. I am quite pleased with the person that I am, and I think in large part due to her influence in making me that person.”
Click to expand...

The Original Faceman · Aug 20, 2020

She needs money?

Tuckerfan · Jan 4, 2021

Tuckerfan said: ↑

We Are Borg vs. USS Crazy Horse said: ↑

That's too bad.

Not sure why they're making a big fuss about it, though. And charging $75 a ticket, which only gets you in the door. Prices go as high as $500 for other tickets.

Several other Trek actors that have sadly passed on didn't make this kind of a fuss. (Although I'd probably expect this kind of hoopla coming from the Shat.)

I wonder if Nichols' family or agents are trying to squeeze every last nickel from her.

But to Ms. Nichols herself, I wish her nothing but the best.
Click to expand...

Shit looks to be bad.

Nichelle Nichols' Family Turns to GoFundMe in an Ongoing Legal Battle With Her Manager

Star Trek star Nichelle Nichols is one of the most influential sci-fi actors of the 20th century, but the actress who played Uhura remains the focus of a legal battle over her finances, career, and well-being—one which continues to escalate, as more members of her family have stepped in to help.

“It’s positively devastating. I would like to see her made whole again. She’s my big sister. I’m just proud of her. For all of these years, she’s been our rock and our family after our parents died. She has been our matriarch,” Nichols’ younger sister Marian Smothers told io9 over the phone. “This is very devastating to us. I had to do something, we had to do something.”

According to a court document posted on a new GoFundMe page, Nichols’ son and legal conservator (as of January 2019) Kyle Johnson filed a countersuit against Gilbert Bell, the actress’s disputed manager who’s lived in the guesthouse on her property for about a decade. Among other items, the lawsuit alleges financial elder abuse, negligence, and unjust enrichment—including keeping cash from fans given at convention appearances, harming her reputation, and setting a monthly rent for himself of $300 on Nichols’ guesthouse even though it could “command rents exceeding $2,500 [to] $3,500.00 per month.” The lawsuit also includes an injunction, filed on behalf of Nichols, to have Bell cease contact and leave her property.

We reached out for comment to all parties, as of yet we’ve not heard back from Nichols’ and Johnson’s legal representation or Bell.

Speaking with io9 over the phone, Johnson said he’s been living with his mother as a full-time caregiver since August 2018 and having Bell also living on the property has been “unpleasant.” He said the lawsuit’s goal is to get “justice” and hopes the discovery process will bring Bell’s alleged actions to light—whether it’s ones they feel they already know about or others that have yet to surface.

“What’s happened to my mother has been rather extreme, and I can’t be limited to a single thing. Indeed, having filed the suit, we’re eager to begin our discovery process to uncover that—which not only we’re aware of generally and then are seeking specifics, but what else there might be that we are not aware of,” Johnson said. “Those are kind of, you know, lurking, lingering anxieties, that there’s more stuff to find out than we even had an inkling of now. I don’t know what that might be, but that is a concern. But hopefully, as they say, sunlight is the best disinfectant.”

The GoFundMe was created by Smothers to help fund Johnson’s legal battle and is seeking $100,000 for the countersuit and fighting a previous suit brought by Bell. Smothers told us that every living member of Nichols’ immediate and extended family has come together to support this countersuit and that she started the GoFundMe to help with legal costs because Bell allegedly drained Nichols’ finances. The GoFundMe claims that Bell has “taken financial advantage of Nichelle to the tune of well over a million dollars.” When asked how that number was reached, Smothers wouldn’t go into details but insinuated that Bell had pocketed some of her appearance fees.

The legal battle between Johnson and Bell has been going on for several years, with Nichols seemingly trapped in the middle. After evidence was presented in late 2018, the courts granted Johnson permanent conservatorship over Nichols’ estate and signed off on a dementia diagnosis in early 2019. This current countersuit comes one year after Bell filed his own lawsuit against Johnson, claiming Nichols’ son was trying to kick Bell and Nichols out of their homes so he could sell the property and put Nichols in an assisted living facility.

“Kyle has been trying to put her in a nursing home for eight years now,” Bell told Express in 2018. “He wants to put her away and sell her home. But Nichelle made me promise many years ago, ‘Whatever you do, please don’t put me in a nursing home’. And I told her I wouldn’t.”

Smothers denied Bell’s claim to us, saying that Bell would tell Nichols this as a way to keep her afraid of letting Johnson have access to her finances. Johnson also dismissed them, calling them “unreliable.” Smother noted that the idea of putting Nichols in a nursing home was “the furthest thing from Kyle’s mind” and that their goal is to keep the house—but that the situation might be complicated given how Bell has allegedly impacted her finances.

“That’s how he managed to get such complete control over her. It’s the constant—Kyle wants to do this to you. Kyle wants to take this away from you,” Smothers said. “He understood that that was how he was going to be able to stay close to her and destroy Kyle’s relationship with his mother.”

Despite her reported medical condition, Nichols continued to make appearances in films and at conventions for years. Smothers said this was one of the things that outraged the family the most because it was putting her health at risk, and she confronted Bell about it on several occasions. Those appearances slowed down after Johnson was granted conservatorship. Nichols was set to officially retire this May with the star-studded Nichelle Nichols Farewell Celebration, but the event was delayed due to the pandemic.

When asked the hardest part about the experience, Johnson talked about the pain of watching his mother’s health decline. He noted how it’s a shared experience, one that millions of people have gone through, and that it’s equally painful for anyone who’s been through it with a parent of a loved one. Even though things are hard now, Johnson praised his mother and said he wouldn’t change anything about how he grew up.

“My mother, I think is quite unique. I would never have traded my childhood and upbringing for anything other than what I experienced with my mother. I think that her vision and her insight, the decisions that she made as a young mother, were quite extraordinary, and how she envisioned the person that I would become by the decisions that she made about my upbringing,” he said. “I feel that she did exactly the right thing, and that I am the child that she raised. So in that sense, I remain extraordinarily grateful for that time. I’m her kid, she’s my mom. I guess she did a great job. I am quite pleased with the person that I am, and I think in large part due to her influence in making me that person.”
Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Saw an update today that the family is halfway to their goal.

Tuckerfan · May 29, 2021

Log in or Sign up

Lt. Uhura Prepares to Sign Off

Tuckerfan BMF

Ten Lubak Salty Dog

Steal Your Face Anti-Federalist

Lanzman Vast, Cool and Unsympathetic Formerly Important

We Are Borg Republican Democrat

Dayton Kitchens Banned

Minsc&Boo Fresh Meat

RickDeckard Socialist

Dayton Kitchens Banned

Forbin Do you feel fluffy, punk?

Fisherman's Worf I am the Seaman, I am the Walrus, Qu-Qu-Qapla'!

Tuckerfan BMF

The Original Faceman Lasagna Artist

Tuckerfan BMF

Tuckerfan BMF

Log in or Sign up

Lt. Uhura Prepares to Sign Off

Tuckerfan BMF

Ten Lubak Salty Dog

Steal Your Face Anti-Federalist

Lanzman Vast, Cool and Unsympathetic Formerly Important

We Are Borg Republican Democrat

Dayton Kitchens Banned

Minsc&Boo Fresh Meat

RickDeckard Socialist

Dayton Kitchens Banned

Forbin Do you feel fluffy, punk?

Fisherman's Worf I am the Seaman, I am the Walrus, Qu-Qu-Qapla'!

Tuckerfan BMF

The Original Faceman Lasagna Artist

Tuckerfan BMF

Tuckerfan BMF

Useful Searches