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Leonard Nimoy Turns 80
ZosX writes "Leonard Nimoy, whom we all fondly remember as Spock, has turned 80 today. StarTrek.com has posted a three-part interview with Nimoy. He talks about shooting the original series ('it was explained to me that they were concerned that the character looked devilish'), moving to the silver screen ('The feeling was, after that first movie, there was something to be done with Star Trek, that the first movie hadn't done what was available to be done'), and passing the torch to the new rebooted cast ('I think the alternate universe was necessary.') Thanks for the memories, Mr. Nimoy! May you live long and prosper!"
What is it with the cast of Star Trek all celebrating birthdays? It's like it's an annual occurrence or something!
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For being the face of Vulcans, All those groovy spaced out 60's go go records and for all that voiceover work through the years. Especially Civ4. Thanks for doing what you do!
No, but I think he's the guy who wrote, "The Hobbit"
Can you be Even More Awesome?!
I decided to "skip a year" of Fringe with an eye towards one day buying the DVD. At the time he seemed interested in playing William Bell for a few episodes, but apparently things didn't work out.
Well, what's amusing is that in the most recent (?) episode, his character sort of makes a "comeback", although not with Nimoy. Yet I must say that the person who is "doing" the Bell character definitely seems to be attempting to also emulate Nimoy's speech and mannerisms. Details left slim to avoid spoilers...
I only post comments when someone on the internet is wrong.
"...character way too seriously!"
Responses:
1. So did we, that's why he's where he is.
1. And we put him there. So what does that make us?
Wrote it? I only knew that he sang it.
Working...
Spooky.
Or... Spocky!
Pretty good is actually pretty bad.
Yeah, that's exactly why his first autobiography was entitled I Am Not Spock.
Leonard Nimoy has always been very very clear that he has a life outside of his career, and a career outside of Mr Spock. So while he created a highly beloved character, it's not like he's actually a Vulcan.
I am officially gone from
As a semi-professional photographer I find it interesting that nimoy took up photography and directing. You guys should really google for some of his work. Its pretty interesting to say the least. He does have an online gallery:
http://www.rmichelson.com/Artist_Pages/Nimoy/pages/Leonard-Nimoy-Gallery.html
Oh and thanks soulskill for filling out the summary a bit.
zosxavius photography
OH....NSFW BTW!
zosxavius photography
http://www.coolscifi.com/gallery/showimage.php?i=872&c=34
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
As a semi-professional photographer I find it interesting that nimoy took up photography and directing.
As a professional photographer, I find the "semi-professional" title offensive. It's like all the "engineering technicians" who claim to be engineers, college "professors" that don't have their PhDs, and garbagemen claiming to be "sanitation engineers". Actually, it's worse. It's like the kids who have changed a battery in their iphone and now claim to be computer repair specialists.
Honestly. I *hate* how society has come to a point where everyone believes themselves to be super-special.
In other words, you're an arrogant elitist.
The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
You mad bro? You're probably not half the photographer Nimoy is and that's why you're all pissy, grow up kid!
Quinto was very good, but Karl Urban as Bones stole most of the scenes he was in. I also thought he had better chemistry with Chris Pine than DeForest Kelley had with Shatner. Their friendship had a plausible basis in the script too; Starfleet is just a place for Bones to go; like Kirk he's not so enamored of it. On the other hand he's older and been through the emotional mill, and so is a kind of mentor to Kirk. That was very well done, I thought.
We're much more used to ensemble casting today, but back in the day TV shows were more like star vehicles. Having two strong characters flanking the star really helped the show stand out. I wonder if that might behind some of the bad feelings of some of the cast towards Shatner. Nimoy regularly got pretty good scripts for somebody who wasn't a star, and Kelley had a few. It's easy to imagine terrific scripts for any of the regular characters, but while the show made use of minor characters for color and humor, the really good scripts stop at the big three. Later Star Trek shows went further with spreading the stories around; I wonder if that isn't why the star characters are perceived by some fans as less dynamic.
Anyhow, happy birthday to Leonard Nimoy, who took what might have been a silly part and turned it into something special. Not many actors fashion an enduring cultural legacy, but he did it in a mere three TV seasons -- 79 performances in all.
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Don't forget the third in the series! - I Am Also Scotty
i didnt realize he had done other work. this 'star trek' certainly sounds a little outside my normal fare, but i am willing to do a trial run.
You are conveniently leaving out his other autobiography - I Am Spock.
That is... Contradictory... It is not... Logical... Mister Spock... Explain...
How can I believe you when you tell me what I don't want to hear?
He wrote and hosted the series "In Search Of..." from 1976-1982
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074007/
" Lost civilizations, extraterrestrials, myths and monsters, missing persons, magic and witchcraft, unexplained phenomena. "In Search Of..." cameras are traveling the world, seeking out these great mysteries. This program was the result of the work of scientists, researchers and a group of highly-skilled technicians."
Many of these episodes were pure awesome for us kids that grew up just missing the first run of OST, but still getting to hear him wax poetic about alien visitors and way off the beaten path "science".
~~~ Trust me, I'm a professional! ~~~
Nimoy's okay, but I miss James "Scotty" Doohan. I saw Nimoy in person back in 1988 when he did a talk in Alabama. It was an interesting talk, but he didn't do autographs or anything, which was a bit disappointing. I saw Jimmy Doohan a few years later, and not only did he have an autograph session, but he actually scheduled a second impromptu one for people who couldn't make the first one, and was telling us stories the whole time. It was awesome. One of my prize possessions is an autographed copy of Mr. Scott's Guide to the Enterprise. Not so much because the signature, but because of the memories that go along with what was happening at the time I got it.
Jimmy Doohan also happens to be a genuine war hero. He took part in the Normandy invasion at Juno Beach. He took out two snipers. He also took six bullets from friendly fire, including one in the chest and one that blew off a finger.
Photography schmotography. Know what Jimmy Doohan was doing when he was 80 years old? Having a baby girl (Sarah Doohan), that's what. If Leonard Nimoy could duplicate that feat, his family would have a boy with a great great aunt that's younger than he is.
... It was directed by J.J. Abrams and it was called "Lens Flare"
It had Leonard Nimoy in it if I recall correctly.
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BMO
Not really. As I recall, he despised the character for some time afterward, because that's all anyone cared about. Eventually, like with Patrick Steward, he came to embrace it.
I, for one, am going to be pretty broken up when he passes. I have a list of old dudes that are going to be hard for me to handle the passing of and he's near the top.
Few people get to create the lasting icon that he did.
Okay, so the interviewer lauds Star Trek IV as "the most successful of the TOS features on several levels." I don't get it, and I never have. Maybe someone else can explain it to me?
Sure, it was amusing, with the colorful metaphors and the nuclear wessels and the nerve pinch on the bus and "hello computer" and all that. But it didn't seem like a strong story to me: the premise of aliens killing us because we let the whales die was one of the worst gratuitous insertions of present-day political issues into any Star Trek medium (second, perhaps, only to Riker getting busy with that androgynous alien that one time); the whole redemption of Kirk for his court-martial offense under the sham pretense of demoting him to the job he really wanted seemed like a Voyager-worthy push of the magic reset button solving everyone's problems during the last five minutes of the episode; and without an Enterprise, it didn't feel much like Star Trek.
So what was it that validated this movie for some folks? Maybe I just need a new perspective.
I never understood that shit either. I'd love to ask him "What are you nuts?" Here is a guy that has created a character that will live on long past his expiration date, that is beloved by practically the whole damned planet, and he has the nerve to bitch about it? You know how many performers would KILL just for a tenth of the recognition he got for Spock? Whereas most performers if they are very very VERY lucky get the briefest of tastes he got to enjoy the ride for something like 40 years, and unlike those that just keep hitting the snooze button on their 15 minutes of fame he has just become MORE beloved as time went on.
So seriously Nimoy you got more than 95% of actors ever get. Enjoy your immortality and be happy on you birthday, because very few of us will truly be remembered outside of our close circles when we are gone, but "Live long and prosper' will be said centuries from now. Hell just look at your late friends Doohan and Kelley, who are no longer with us but damned near everyone on the planet hears their voice and pictures their face if you say "She can't take it much more Captain!" or "I'm a doctor Jim, not a ___". So be happy, so few ever get to enjoy that kind of recognition.
ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
Shatner might have received/stolen most of the credit and glory, but I'm sure I'm not the only one who believes Leonard Nimoy was the true star of the OST franchise. Among everyone trekkie'ish I know, Zachary Quinto's performance as the new Spock is the thing that has attracted the most attention in the rebooted Star Trek. I haven't heard any concern for the new Kirk.
I'm all for giving credit where credit is due, but the problem with what you're saying is that Star Trek didn't have a 'star'. It had Kirk, Spock, and McCoy. Remove any of those characters and you don't have a show anymore.
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Yeah, Nimoy is a really well rounded guy. I mean, he's a professional photographer and a poet and an actor (dramatic actor, theater actor), writer, singer. It's entirely understandable that he would be unhappy with the one character overshadowing everything else. Especially since it was a three year show that took years to really take off and even longer to truly be a renowned hit.
Also, he likes to take photos of . . . uh . . . rubenesque ladies.
http://www.rmichelson.com/artist_pages/nimoy/pages/MaxBeaut.htm
Also, he signs his damn twitter posts with LLAP, now. How can that not give you kind of a fuzzy feeling?
I like Shatner, too. For different reasons. These two men made the most of their careers in very different ways, but in the end they both came to accept the roles they played and the main reason people came to love them so much. I think that says a lot.
Leonard Nimoy did an excellent role of "Paris" in the original "Mission: Impossible" series, from, um, way back when. Most of Slashdotters were probably swimming around in their dad's balls at that time . . . whatever . . . For any folks who only know Leonard Nimoy as "Mr. Spock", it's worth a look to see that old series.
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I never really liked the original Star Trek series. But I remember Leonard Nimoy fondly as the voice of Seaman.
It was a really fun game, and his voice acting was pretty good and believable, even creepy at times. Too bad the sequel was never released in English.
- Otaku no naka no otaku, otaking da!!!
Nimoy as a psychic race car driving detective: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068248/. A friend of mine bought it and (after we found a VCR) we enjoyed it. Nimoy does a good job no matter what, it seems.
I'm on the fence about the reboot. We've had a ton of material from the old universe--something like 29 seasons and 10 movies, not to mention a massive number of books. Expanding on the original 5 year mission seems like a pretty good direction. The past didn't work out (Enterprise), the future (post-TNG-era) doesn't seem that interesting because the Federation would probably become overpowered, and the present (TNG-era) has been done, a lot. TOS was cut short and this could be a chance to see what we missed from a time period many people liked. It would probably have been very constraining to do a second TOS series while respecting the mounds of material from that era and TNG. Enterprise had to do that and wasn't terribly successful. I hope they don't turn the franchise into another sci-fi action series, though.
But, I am annoyed they blew up Romulus in the old universe and Vulcan in the new one. They should have left the old one alone and confined all major changes to the new universe, making clear that the two run in parallel so the new universe doesn't "overwrite" the old one.
Alright, on my informal scale of body types, there's: anorexic, bony but healthy, athletic, average, chubby, a little too chubby, obese, and "man the harpoons". Personally, I find myself often attracted to women who fall into the 'athletic' through 'chubby' on my scale, and a nice face goes miles on making "a little too chubby" more attractive, which is unfortunate, because many such women tend to be deficient in this area.
These ladies, however? Captain Ahab could turn up at any moment, seeking retribution for mistaking his appendage as an exceptionally large chicken leg. Also, in spite of being a fattie, the one has the rather rare trait of having far too much in common with a washboard road. Flat *and* lumpy, that is; I might even spy some tire tracks.
Have at it, brother.
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Parent should be modded funny not insightful!
I just spent the last 10minutes trying to buy a copy of "I Am Also Scotty",