R. I. P.
Leonard Nimoy died this morning of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Like many others, no doubt. I shall always remember him as Mr. Spock. I saw him once in a play in Chicago, A Visit to a Small Planet, and while the character was nothing like Spock (he was played by Jerry Lewis in the film version), he was still Spock to me, and perhaps to many others in the audience.
I still can't hear anybody say "fascinating" without thinking of Mr. Spock.
I also saw him when he joined the cast of Mission Impossible, as Paris, the master of disguise. It made no difference. He was still a Vulcan. And, the director?, somebody? played on that also. In one episode of MI, Nimoy was in the lobby of a large hotel. He glances over to a stairway leading up to the next floor, and a puzzled look appears on his face. The camera pans over to the stairs, and we see William Shatner climbing the stairs. Then Shatner looks around and sees Nimoy, and he too looks puzzled, as if he should know him but can't quite place him.
Fortunately we have him on film, and it's been many years since I last watched Star Trek. Perhaps now would be a good time to resurrect some happy memories.
I was fortunate enough to see Nimoy twice. Once he gave a talk. It was in an auditorium and it was dark. He quipped something, I forget the exact words, to the effect that he knew how to make the room light up. Then he gave his signature hand gesture as he said Spock's famous "Live Long and Prosper." Flash cameras went off all over the auditorium.
ReplyDeleteThe other time I saw him was in a production of Fiddler on the Roof. Wonderful.
For my money, Spock was the heart and soul of Star Trek, so I respond to LN's passing with sincere sadness.
ReplyDeleteAnd in a way it is sad when an actor becomes so completely identified a character. Well, for the actor it is both a blessing and a curse.
And, BTW, Sheldon Cooper (the character on The Big Bang Theory sitcom) will be devastated when he hears the news; to Sheldon, Spock/LN has been like a god.
Sad news. He will be missed.
ReplyDeletemadamevauquer,
ReplyDelete"Fiddler on the Roof"? Sounds like a strange play for him to be in. Could you see him as an inhabitant of a small Jewish shtetl in Russia or Poland?
You never think about that or Spock while watching - and he can sing!
DeleteI meant to add - what is always jarring to me is seeing Nimoy on TV in a western.
Deletemadamevauquer,
DeleteIn a Western? I have seen him a a low-level thug in a Perry Mason TV episode, but not in a Western, except, of course, for the ST version of the OK Corral gunfight, if I remember correctly.
RTD,
ReplyDeleteI agree--Spock made Star Trek stand out among SF programs and films. I suspect Nimoy recognized the two-fold nature of that linkage also--as the titles of his two part autobiography will testify--the first is "I am not Spock" and the second title is "I am Spock."
Cheryl,
ReplyDeleteYes, he will be. For some reason he always struck me as being the wisest of the cast, in real life as well as in the show. Perhaps that's just a carryover from the scripts, but I often thought that if I had a chance to meet and talk with one of them, I would choose Nimoy.