Star Trek actress Nichelle Nichols is in court fighting for her right to continue working, as her family want her to stop because of her age and poor health.



Nichelle, 85, who played Lt Uhura in the long-running franchise, suffers from dementia and has released an emotional video to make her case to the court’s hearing - which will take place later this month - to see if she should be assigned a permanent guardian, after being placed under four temporary conservators in May.

The emotional footage was shot in 2013 by her producer friend Angelique Fawcette, who said that Nichelle wanted to “protect herself” and prove that she should still be allowed to attend Comic-Cons and other conventions around the world so that she would still receive an income to help pay off her mortgages.

(Image: Wire Image)





In the clip, Nichelle, who owns two properties worth $2million, says: “Many times my relatives think I’m working too hard, or shouldn’t be doing this after all these years.



“My beautiful son, Kyle, says, ‘Mom, you have to,’ - of course he never stops working. He says, ‘Mom, you’ve got to get some rest.’



“And I appreciate that.



“But I was on my way out of town again, and he doesn’t live in the same town. He doesn’t live in Hollywood of Beverly Hills.



“He sees me on travel as overwork. I think he thinks Star Trek, the movie for which I’m most known, is not a blessing to me.



“[But] They all know who I am, what I am and why I love all of them as much as they love all of me.”



Nichols, who attended Comic-Con in San Diego last month, where she was honoured with a lifetime achievement award, adds: “It’s funny that my son, who works his little tail off with his work, thinks that I should be letting up.



“And I say to him, ‘Kyle, when you pay my bills, you will be able to tell me what to do. You don’t pay my bills.’



“And he says, ‘Well, if you didn’t travel so much,’ or something like that. ‘You shouldn’t be.’

(Image: Moviestore/REX/Shutterstock)



“I said, ‘You cannot tell me what I can and cannot be as a human being, any more than you can tell a woman what she can and cannot be or do, a man which mountain he can climb.’



“Well, I said, ‘When you pay all my bills and all my luxuries that I have enjoyed in life, maybe I’ll let you say one thing in my life. But you don’t pay for my life. You don’t own me and I don’t try to own you.'"

She said that she loves going to do the Star Trek events: “I go out to speak at Star Trek conventions and the people, the fans, are so appreciative and they all have questions.

(Image: Getty Images)





“Wherever they Trek, that’s mine now, for me to enjoy.”



In May, an LA Superior Court judge granted a petition from her son to sign over control of Nichelle’s assets to four temporary conservators due to her memory loss.



Johnson’s lawyer, Jeffrey Marvan, told the judge he was concerned Nichelle’s manager, Gilbert Bell, had deeded one of her two properties to himself.

He also said $259,000 in funds from Star Trek conventions in 2015 had disappeared from Nichelle’s account.



The next hearing, which will determine whether permanent conservators are assigned, is scheduled for August 16.



Angelique is releasing the video to the media to ensure it is seen by the judge and plans to show it to Star Trek fans to rally support this week.