What are the right words to describe someone so great? How do you say goodbye to the man who gave shape to one of the most important characters in science fiction? I'll do my best, and I hope our readers join me in this humble tribute. Ladies and gentlemen, Leonard Nimoy has left us, and the world has become a little grayer.
With a hand on my heart, I must say that today I have no desire to write. It's logical that one prefers to do nothing when feeling sad... but at least for a day, I want logic to take a vacation. I cannot get through this with the help of logic. Today I got out of bed, opened my laptop, and the news hit me so hard that I almost pulled the covers back over me. Leonard Nimoy has passed away. Leonard Nimoy. Actor. Director. Poet. Writer. Singer. Photographer. We all know the role that brought him fame. In fact, we know it very well. We grew up with him. We learned from him. From the point of view of a fictional alien, he reminded us that our mistakes do not condemn us, but rather make us better with each step. That we can surpass our own limits and face with infinite curiosity what the future holds for us.
Early Years
Leonard Simon Nimoy was born on March 26, 1931, in Boston. His parents, Jewish immigrants from the Soviet Union, wanted for him what any parent wants for their child: a good education and a stable career, but it was his grandfather who encouraged him to become an actor. His forays into theater began early, at just eight years old, and his first significant role would come at 17, in the drama Awake and Sing!. In 1953, he took drama classes at Boston College and enlisted in the United States Army Reserve, where he staged several shows and developed plays to entertain the troops. He finished his military career in 1955 with the rank of sergeant, and from then on, his rise was meteoric.
The Man Behind Spock
We saw him in The Brain Eaters, The Silent Service, The Twilight Zone. He also appeared in Highway Patrol, Bonanza, The Untouchables, Perry Mason, Combat!, The Outer Limits, Get Smart, Mission Impossible, and the fabulous Invasion of the Body Snatchers, but there was something else in between, something that would define him forever as an actor and as a person. His first appearance in the role of Mr. Spock was not with William Shatner, but rather in the rejected pilot The Cage, when the captain of the Enterprise was Christopher Pike. "For the first time I had a job that lasted more than two weeks and a dressing room with my name painted on the door, instead of written in chalk," were the words Leonard Nimoy chose during an interview with The New York Times in 1988. Behind the cold and precise half-Vulcan science officer was a human being with his own internal struggles (including alcohol), like any of us. He even needed to establish some differences between 'actor and character' with his autobiography 'I Am Not Spock,' from 1975. Many thought the book was a way of rejecting the role that had brought him fame, but everything was clarified with its second part, 'I Am Spock.' Nimoy and Spock began their journey together, and they would end it the same way.
Music and Direction
A perhaps less known detail is that Leonard Nimoy released several albums during and after his work on Star Trek. There were five studio albums, plus four compilations filled with covers performed not only by him but also by William Shatner. How did it all start? Thanks to Charles Grean of Dot Records, and especially to his teenage daughter. The original plan was to release a Star Trek soundtrack, and Grean's daughter, a fan of both Spock and the series, gave her father that mix between suggestion and order that only daughters can make: Spock had to be on the record. This led to Leonard Nimoy Presents Mr. Spock's Music From Outer Space, and to a much broader contract. His career as a director, although relatively short, also deserves to be highlighted. In addition to being at the helm of Star Trek III and IV, he directed projects such as Three Men and a Baby, the most popular film of 1987 in the United States, and an international success.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/6C70QRbawN8A Fond Farewell
History will say that Leonard Nimoy left us on February 27, 2015, from complications associated with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease that was diagnosed a year earlier. Well... history can keep its technicalities. At this moment I am fighting to hold back tears, without any success. However, I try to find comfort in his last words, which he shared with the world through Twitter: "A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved, except in memory. Live long and prosper." The whole world bids farewell to a legend, who heads to that unknown country from whose bourn no traveler returns. Leonard Nimoy was already a star when he was among us, and now he has gone home. Thank you for so much, and until always.
