Nimoy: Award Brings Closure
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Leonard Nimoy will be appearing with the Boston Pops this weekend, and that appearance will probably be the last Pops appearance for the actor.
An award to be presented to Nimoy after that, on June 7, will bring an end to the actor’s long career.
Nimoy spoke about the role that made him famous, and what attracted him to the role of Spock. “I took the job primarily because the character had great potential,” he said. “The character had an inner life, and you didn’t get a lot of that in TV back then. He had a mixed heritage and was conflicted about that. And my belief has always been that an actor brings something of his own to a part.
“Also, it was steady work,” said Nimoy, who had “ten years of odd jobs” before he could finally support himself; including driving a taxi, selling life insurance, and cleaning fish tanks. “It was the first contract I got that ran for several months so I was pretty excited about that.”
Nimoy is appearing with the Boston Pops for Out of This World, which takes place Friday and Saturday at Symphony Hall in Boston. Nimoy said that he was “99.7 percent sure this will be my last Boston performance.”
After that comes the Governor’s Award presentation from the Boston chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, due to take place June 7. The award will “give me a sense of closure,” said Nimoy. “They give the award for an extended body of work and the durability and scope of that work, so I really am honored. I’ve been nominated five times and I’ve never held an Emmy in my hands so I’m looking forward to that at age eighty-three.”
Although he is pretty much retired, Nimoy appears at Trek conventions; but these days does so via Skype. He appeared via Skype at Away Mission in Florida in April, and will be appearing via Skype at Shore Leave 36 in Baltimore this August.
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My husband and I have tickets to the Friday Pops performance; we’re looking forward to it.
And congratulations to Mr. Nimoy on the special Emmy; it’s certainly well deserved! It takes a really excellent actor to be able to convey so much through Spock’s subtle responses, and of course we all know that Mr. Nimoy himself came up with the neck pinch and the Vulcan salute, things that added a great deal of richness to the character. Plus, the infamous Third Season of Star Trek would have been considerably worse without Mr. Nimoy’s fighting Freiburger to keep Spock in character.
Mr. Quinto does a nice job with what they give him to play, but the writers and director have ensured that New Spock isn’t really Vulcan, which means he isn’t really Spock to me. So Mr. Nimoy will always be Spock to me. Of course, Mr. Nimoy has played a lot of other characters and done them very well, but Spock is iconic for a reason — he inspires us and expresses so much of what so many of us feel. I’ll never stop loving Spock, which means Mr. Nimoy will always have a soft spot in my heart.
Mr. Nimoy, you’ve already lived long AND prospered, but here’s hoping you keep doing so for a long time!
A giant.
Legend. End of.
My husband and I attended the Friday performance, and Mr. Nimoy was lots of fun. He was very playful with the conductor, and we were relieved to see that he appeared to be in good health in spite of the COPD.
Mr. Nimoy read some prepared text before each piece, talking about the
context of the music and also talked a bit to the conductor, Sarah Hicks. He’s still got
it, folks. There were some funny lines, some moving lines, and some
informative lines, and Mr. Nimoy did them all beautifully. There were
some lines that seemed as if they were far too long for a normal person
to say in one breath, but a trained actor who’s played the Enterprise’s
Science Officer laughs at info dump lines. 🙂 Mr. Nimoy was charming
and funny, and even if I’d had amnesia and had forgotten that I love
him, I think I would have fallen for him all over again.
The music started off with the theme from the Star Trek’s
Original Series. Hearing it played by a full orchestra, with Mr. Nimoy
sitting right there, I started crying. Admittedly, I’m usually a sap,
but this took me by surprise. I’ve heard the Star Trek theme HOW many
hundreds of times? But hearing it played by a full orchestra, I was
gone by the time they played the first four notes.
Ah…yes, but is he to be regarded even more highly than Jacqueline Susann and Harold Robbins?
Heh, I was wondering if anyone would pick up on that. 😀