Leonard: My Fifty-Year Friendship with a Remarkable Man Hardcover – February 16, 2016

Leonard Nimoy and William Shatner first crossed paths as actors on the set of The Man from U.N.C.L.E. Little did they know that their next roles, in a new science fiction television series, would shape their lives in ways no one could have anticipated. In seventy-nine television episodes and six feature films, they grew to know each other more than most friends could ever imagine.

Over the course of half a century, Shatner and Nimoy saw each other through personal and professional highs and lows. In this powerfully emotional book, Shatner tells the story of a man who was his friend for five decades, recounting anecdotes and untold stories of their lives on and off set, as well as gathering stories from others who knew Nimoy well, to present a full picture of a rich life.

As much a biography of Nimoy as a story of their friendship, Leonard is a uniquely heartfelt book written by one legendary actor in celebration of another.

Source: http://www.amazon.com

Dr. Spock, Z''L: Live Long And Prosper

In 1986 Leonard Nimoy interrupted an extremely hectic day of post-production of the latest Trekkie epic, “Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home,” to welcome me to the Paramount lot in Los Angeles. Besides continuing his role as Dr. Spock, he was also director of the film. On his desk I noticed a book, “Hannah Senesh: Her Life and Diary,” with an introduction by Abba Eban.

He kept his proud Jewish identity strong over the years. “I feel very good being connected with it, with the culture and education. I have tried, whenever possible, to work in projects that have some sense of Jewish identity.”

The year before I met him, Nimoy, a heavy smoker in his younger years, broke the habit. “I wasn’t happy about being a smoker,” he said. “I was short of breath. I decided it was time to quit.”

Yet his smoking led to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, an incurable malady that ultimately struck him down at age 83 on Feb. 27, when he died at home in the Bel-Air section of Los Angeles.

Nimoy found huge success in Hollywood, but he told me the biggest mistake in his career was going to the West Coast instead of Broadway after leaving Boston College at age 18. He accepted an offer to work at the Pasadena Playhouse.

“It was not a good idea,” he said. “The Pasadena Playhouse was on its last legs when I got there in 1949. I wasn’t very happy with the place.”

He felt that all those lean years of his career could have been avoided had he gone straight to New York for a richer theatrical grounding. But the palm trees swaying on the sunny boulevards enticed him to stay in L.A. After years of struggle, he finally rocketed to the top of the Hollywood galaxy on the Starship Enterprise.

Read more at http://www.thejewishweek.com/features/tim-boxer/dr-spock-zl-live-long-and-prosper#21dXvmjG0yLfjMU8.99

Leonard Nimoy, 83, longtime supporter of the Center for the Art of Performance at UCLA

With his death Friday, a planned April 10 artist talk in Royce Hall has been cancelled. Refunds are available.

Jessica Wolf | February 27, 2015

Leonard Nimoy, known worldwide as Spock from “Star Trek,” died today at age 83 of end-stage chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. He was also a director, author, poet, photographer and philanthropist with ties to UCLA.

Nimoy and his wife, Susan Bay Nimoy, have been longstanding supporters of the Hammer Museum at UCLA and of UCLA’s performing arts presenting organization, the Center for the Art of Performance at UCLA (CAP UCLA). They have been major supporters of the center’s Artist-In-Residence and Artist Fellow programs.

This April CAP UCLA presents Vincent, performed by acclaimed French actor Jean-Michel Richaud, an intimate theater work about Vincent Van Gogh written (and originally performed) by Nimoy in the late 1970s. A planned April 10 artist talk in Royce Hall between Leonard Nimoy and Kristy Edmunds, artistic and executive director of CAP UCLA, has been cancelled. Refunds are available by calling the UCLA Central Ticket Office at 310-825-2101. Ticketholders may also choose to forgo a refund and contribute the ticket funds to the Center’s Artist-in-Residence program in Leonard Nimoy’s name.

“Through his works of art, works of philanthropy and advocacy, Leonard Nimoy leaves behind a legacy of profound impact,” Edmunds said. “Leonard and Susan have shown an extraordinary belief in the public arts at UCLA. And as contributors to CAP UCLA’s residency and fellow programs have specifically shown support for an artist’s practice and process, not just the resulting work. This helps sustain artistic inquiry, which is critical for great art to ever come to light.”

Nimoy was born in Boston and came to California at age of 18 to study acting. In 1949 he co-founded Orchard Gables Repertory Company, billed as “the first professional theater in Hollywood.” Highlights of the company’s two-year tenure included a successful run of “Dr. Faustus” starring Nimoy in the title role. He studied photography with Robert Heinecken at UCLA Extension in 1971. (...)

Star Trek's George Takei Remembers Leonard Nimoy: 'He Was Integrity'

George TakeiDecember 16, 2015 8:00 am

I first met Leonard as, simply, a brilliant actor. He was starring in a small stage production of Jean Genet’s Deathwatch in Los Angeles in 1960. He played a political prisoner—a man who was scholarly and wise—and he was absolutely compelling. Then, a few years later, we were cast on Star Trek and I got a whole new appreciation of him: Leonard was also an activist. We would sit side by side on set and talk politics.

When Star Trek was turned into an animated series, he refused to voice Spock unless Nichelle Nichols and I were also hired to play our characters. He said, “Star Trek is about diversity, coming together and working in concert as a team, and the two people who most represent diversity are Nichelle and George. If they’re not a part of this, then I don’t think I’d be interested in doing it either.” He knew what Star Trek stood for and had the guts to stand behind that too. Leonard was integrity.

Source: http://www.tvinsider.com

As Mr. Spock on TV’s “Star Trek,” Leonard Nimoy could be seen every week doing the whole seeking out new life forms and new civilizations thing.

But when the show was canceled in early 1969, Nimoy soon found himself in another place that — at first glance — might seem strange: onstage at the Music Hall.

In April that year, Nimoy was a featured performer at Sheriff C.V. “Buster” Kern’s 16th annual Night of Stars show. Now there’s two names I never thought I’d see in the same sentence.

Houston Chronicle TV-radio Editor Ann Hodges got to interview Nimoy during rehearsals. At the time, he was singing “The Sun Will Rise.” (You can hear it in all its pop glory here.)

In an April 26 article, Hodges said he was trying it out for the first time before the Houston audience. The song would eventually show up on his 1970 album, “The New World of Leonard Nimoy.”

As Nimoy told Hodges:

“I’m not interested in doing night clubs,” he shrugged. “That takes a very special kind of training, and I haven’t got it. I’ve been offered jobs in Las Vegas and at the Latin Quarter in New York. I’ve turned them down. This is different. These people out here are coming here as my friends from TV. I feel comfortable with them.”

Nimoy is nicely complimentary about what television has done for his image, and right now he’s mulling over the direction his career should take now that Star Trek has run its course on NBC.

[…]

“I don’t really know what the fan reaction has been. I haven’t heard from the producers about the mail, but I’ve had some letters myself — fans saying they’re writing CBS or ABC to try to pick up the show. I don’t expect anything to happen, though.”

Four years later, Nimoy would lend his voice to “Star Trek: The Animated Series.”

Source: http://blog.chron.com

.SCV Newsmaker of the Week:  LEONARD NIMOY

Actor, Photographer, Author of “Shekhina: A Photographic Exploration of the Feminine Aspect of God” 

Taped Oct. 21, 2006, at Congregation Beth Shalom in Santa Clarita, Calif.

Televised November 19, 2006

A Transcript of the Interview is here: http://scvtv.com/2015/02/27/leonard-nimoy-10-21-2006/

Text from Nichelle Nichols’ biography “Beyond Uhura” 

[..] Grace Lee [Whitney], George [Takei], Jimmy [Doohan], Dee [Deforest Kelley], and the rest of us trudged across the lot, talking about Leonard like a dog. We were all so jealous of him for having a bike [..] 

One day Bill [William Shatner] got together with us and the crew and decided to string Leonard’s bike up from the soundstage rafters. For several days Leonard stalked the set in a snit of righteous indignation. “Can you imagine?” he’d ask anyone who would listen, “My bike! Somebody stole my bike!“ 

What Leonard failed to notice was that every time he mentioned it, we would glance up at the ceiling, scratching our heads, while commiserating with him. 

"Wow, that’s just terrible,” I’d answer, looking up. “Leonard, I just can’t imagine.” [..]

One time we were all standing with Leonard, all looking straight up, when it finally struck him: Why were we all looking up? Slowly, Leonard’s gaze drifted upward. Spotting his beloved bicycle dangling from cables overhead, Leonard spluttered, “I can’t believe this! I really cannot believe this!" 

We all cracked up. I’m not sure Leonard ever truly forgave us. Years later, when we started shooting the first Star Trek movie, Leonard had his new bike outfitted with a metal panel bearing his name and the plea: "Please Do Not Steal My Bike." 

Source: http://fictionalred.tumblr.com/

Text from Nichelle Nichols’ biography “Beyond Uhura” 

Usually, though, Leonard remained Vulcan-cool. Perhaps the most elaborate hoax involved his son, Adam, who about eight years old while we were filming the original series. It required that Adam be fitted in a child-size Starfleet uniform and be made up, ears and all, to look just his daddy.

The script called for a scene on the bridge in which Spock would be sitting in the captain’s chair with his back t o the elevator door. A yeoman was supposed to enter and say some lines, at which point Spock was to spin around in his chair, so he was facing the yeoman, and continue their brief exchange.

They had Leonard’s son, in his Vulcan disguise, waiting in the elevator. The door opened, Adam delivered the yeoman’s lines, then Leonard turned to him and answered without breaking a smile or missing a beat.

We couldn’t get so much as a Spockian arched eyebrow out of Leonard. The real kicker came when Adam “stepped out of character,” so to speak, to say, “But, Daddy, I love you.”

“Thank you, Adam,” Leonard said evenly. As the whole cast and crew stood around in breathless anticipation of Leonard’s big crack-up, which never came, by the way, the joke was on us.

Source: http://fictionalred.tumblr.com