Benefactor Gee Nicholl dies at 86

Supported Academy's screenwriting program

Gladys E. (Gee) Nicholl, a long-time benefactor of media-related activities and the widow of television writer-producer Don Nicholl, died Jan. 6 in Santa Barbara, Calif. after a short illness. She was 86.

She is best known for her support of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' Don and Gee Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting Program.

Born on in England, Nicholl danced in the Indian Ballet Company in London and also acted on stage and modeled on occasion. In the 1950s she wrote a gossip column for the London-based pop music tabloid Record Mirror and drew upon that experience in writing the story upon which her husband based his screenplay for the rock 'n' roll feature "The Golden Disc." When Don Nicholl was hired by Norman Lear to join the staff of "All in the Family," the Nicholls relocated from London to Los Angeles.

After her husband's death in 1980, Gee Nicholl, knowing that Don had long spoken of helping new writers get started, provided funding first for grants for students in the screenwriting program at Stanford University and then for the Academy's Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting Program.

A memorial service will be held at 12:30 p.m. on Jan. 30 at Forest Lawn Cemetery, Hollywood Hills.