An appreciation of the late, great actor, who was born 92 years ago…
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UPDATED 3/26/23: Leonard Nimoy was born 92 years ago, on March 26, 1931. This first ran in slightly different form when Nimoy died in 2015 but it still very much resonates today. William Shatner turned 90 earlier this week. For 13 GREAT CAPTAIN KIRK MOMENTS, click here. — Dan
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I came to Star Trek relatively late. While it had been a syndication staple for almost two decades, I didn’t really discover the show until my college years in the mid-’80s.
I’d seen a couple of the movies but they were primarily diversions. The show, I thought, was a bore, something my father put on TV while I played with my Batman Megos over on the floor.
But something clicked in that summer of 1986, when I would stay up late every night watching Star Trek on Channel 11 in New York. By the time I was back at school that fall, I might as well have been at Starfleet Academy, such was my devotion.
I was, and remain, a Kirk guy. His decisiveness, combined with a certain recklessness, appealed to me. Besides, I’m a connoisseur of cheeze, and William Shatner is a master of the form.
On my very best days, Kirk is who I am, or at least I like to think so. And despite many attempts, Spock is who I could never be — cooler, smarter, more dignified. To this day, in my 50s, I’m amused whenever I counsel someone else to let cooler heads prevail.
“I never thought,” I’ll say to myself, “that I’d ever find myself being Mr. Spock.”
Leonard Nimoy died today. I knew it was coming but I put it out of my head. And when I learned of it, it was a gut punch — far more painful than I would have thought, when you consider that we never met.
But as my friend Cliff put it to me today, in essence: I never knew Leonard Nimoy. But I knew Spock.
Even Mirror Spock knew the score.
Spock was a great friend. He was the angel on your shoulder who urged you to do the right thing when you didn’t always want to. The guy who did his best to watch your back and keep you out of trouble. The guy who you could always count on — even if he pissed you off from time to time when he acted like he was the smartest guy in the room. (Because, you’d think grudgingly, he was.)
The greatest moment in all of Star Trek lore is one that gets me every single time I see it. No surprise, it’s the final sequence of Wrath of Khan, after Kirk rushes to the engine room when he realizes his friend and first officer has sacrificed himself for the needs of the many.
As Spock rises from the floor, before he turns to Kirk, he does one small thing that says so much: He pulls his tunic down, neatly into place. If he is going to face his commanding officer — his friend — one last time, he will do so with grace.
It’s Leonard Nimoy’s finest moment as an actor and he isn’t even looking at the camera.
Later, at Spock’s memorial, Kirk eulogizes his half-Vulcan comrade.
Staring at the camera and into the distance at the same time, the captain of the U.S.S. Enterprise for so many missions says, his voice restrained with emotion, “Of my friend, I can only say this: Of all the souls I have encountered in my travels, his was the most… human.”
It’s William Shatner’s finest moment as an actor.
It was Spock who brought it out in both of them.
But it’s a testament to Leonard Nimoy that it’s Spock we think of today.
If only …
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MORE
— The STAR TREK Top 13 Episode Countdown. Click here.
— STAR TREK MEGOS: The Final Frontier of Fantastical Fun. Click here.
March 3, 2015
Well said. I couldn’t agree more too. Loved when you said you didn’t know Leonard Nimoy, but you knew Spock. I think that’s the way most of us feel. Mr. Nimoy was obviously a very talented and humble man, but Spock was my strength, my hero, my friend. I loved the strength in both characters though, as I too am a Kirk fan.
March 3, 2015
Thank you, Julie. That’s a lovely comment.
September 9, 2016
I couldn,t have said it any better .I met Leonard Nimoy way back at a Convention and he was adorable and very soft spoken and went out of his way to thank me for a drawing I had done for him .That scene you spoke of from the Wrath of Khan I saw it in the theater and was balling my eyes out along with other people there .And when Leonard Nimoy died so did I .I almost went into a mourning depression period myself .I felt like and still do feel like something is missing in my heart ,He was a gift given to us and his role of Spock will never be forgotten and his other gifts i,m sure are just as good as everything he has done in his lifetime .He is greatly missed and appreciated. Love you Leonard Nimoy /Spock
September 8, 2016
Beautifully said. I fell in love with Spock when I was 6 years old. Today I’m 47 and I watch Spock and Kirk and the crew every chance I get. It’s all memorized by now but to me it’s like sitting down with old friends. It’s comforting. It’s my happy place. Thanks to Mr Nimoy, mr shatner and the crew I will always have this to remind me that we can be better, we can get better. There is always hope. Boldly go.
September 8, 2016
Thank you. Beautifully said yourself.
August 29, 2024
I fell in love with Spock when I was 6 too! I am 64 today and cherish the memory of both Spock and Nimoy, two beautiful sides of the same loving person.
March 26, 2021
Leonard Nimoy was a true genius with his talent.
March 29, 2021
It is because of respectful memorials like this, Leonard Nimoy continues to live on and prospers in our human hearts and minds. His portrayal of Spock acted as a mirror to show humanity its essence.