Remember the expression on Kirk’s face at the end of Wrath of Khan immediately after Spock dies after saving the Enterprise? Yeah…….
I want to punch people out who chuckle (and as I recall from watching Wrath of Khan someone always does) when Spock struggles to his feet and straightens his uniform before facing his Captain.
RIP Mr. Nimoy. You were and always shall be, Spock.
As Leonard Nimoy had lived to 83 years of age, which by many accounts wound be considered a long life for humans, and lived what many would consider to be a very good life, as well as you did not know Mr. Nimoy personally, therefore his death should have very little effect on you personally, your emotional display is illogical.
In all seriousness, though – Rest In Peace, Mr Nimoy. 🙁
Perhaps his “katra”, his living spirit, has been transferred to somebody. A reincarnation of the soul to another person, so to speak. You can never tell.
“I am not Spock. But given the choice, if I had to be someone else, I would be Spock. If someone said, “You can have the choice of being any other TV character ever played,” I would choose Spock. I like him. I admire him. I respect him.”
Leonard Nimoy
I am old enough to be a first generation Trekkie, and was. I remember reading back in the 70s Nimoy’s book I am not Spock, where he pleaded with people to separate him from the character he played (which given how it had effectively at that time ruined his acting career is hardly surprising, although thankfully he was able to make a name for himself behind the camera and eventually again in front of it), and because of that I have never failed to separate in my mind characters from the actors who play them. I am grateful to him for that as well as for so many other things.
I am grateful to him for portraying Spock, an alien character who helped bring SF to respectability within NA culture, and be a part of the one truly positive focused SF series during the Cold War (pretty much everything else had some sort of post apocalyptic element to it, Space 1999 had the moon blown out of orbit, BattleStar Galactica had the death /conquest of an entire star system, and so forth) that saw a real future for humanity, that we would not turn to our worse sides and destroy ourselves. I always thought that was one of the reasons Star Trek so caught the imaginations of so many around the world back in the day, it had not only good storytelling and touched on many serious topical issues, it also showed humanity at its best and had a faith in our nature to overcome our worse selves and would not have that great WWIII nuclear war, and during a time when so many feared we were going to turn the planet into a smoking cinder that was no small expression of hope.
I knew this was a matter of time, his removal of himself from acting and his clear increasing health issues only meant this was coming, but that does not make this day any sadder for all of us who so loved the man for the character he played so well, and for the man himself, for all he brought to our world by his presence in it. Of all the actors that made Star Trek what it is, I believe it will be his passing that engenders the most sense of loss. Which is not meant to disparage the others, it simply underscores how much the role of Spock was pivotal. After all, when NBC came to Roddenberry and said lose the woman first officer and the alien after the pilot (which became the only 2 parter in Star Trek) as much as he disliked giving up the strong female first officer he flatly refused to surrender the alien because he knew how important it would be to making his series work and to making the underlying points in the storytelling he was planning on doing. Nimoy helped bring that so much to us all, and showed Roddenberry was right in making sure the network execs aka the usual morons IMHO didn’t screw things up yet again. That outside the human experience observer element was crucial, and Nimoy did it so well and yet managed to bring both humanity and the alien together in a way few have ever matched IMHO.
Thank you very much Warren. I will admit I was also amused by the coincidence of your title for this post, because the two most important science fictional influences that shaped me from childhood onwards were Star Trek and Robert Anson Heinlein. Although it was not as much Stranger that was the truly pivotal Heinlen for me as it was Moon is a Harsh Mistress (loved Stranger too, but the political discourses within Moon combined with Mike/Adam Selene hooked me like few things ever did in my youth), although I loved all his works, juveniles and full adult from when I first started reading them in my fathers collection starting from around Grade 2-3 onwards. So I “grokked” Spock too, and as I said I truly believe this character played a profound role in what made Star Trek work so well on so many levels. Roddenberry was right in choosing the alien over the strong woman, even though the network clearly hated both at the outset.
Leonard Nimoy was a great creative person, his work behind the camera was also well worth noting, Three Men and a Baby I thought was a good example of some of his non-SF/ST work, and his son Adam Nimoy also has shown himself to be a wonderful director. He leaves a truly great legacy behind him in his own right in his body of work before and behind the camera, and in the more traditional lineage sense too. One of the most full and fulfilling lives I can imagine was filled by him, and it is as much for the way he lived that life than the character he played that is why I have such a high regard for the man. He truly showed some of the best of us not just as Spock, but as Leonard Nimoy too, and I would not want that lost in all of this.
Oh, bitter dregs.
Well, he lived long and prospered.
Remember the expression on Kirk’s face at the end of Wrath of Khan immediately after Spock dies after saving the Enterprise? Yeah…….
I want to punch people out who chuckle (and as I recall from watching Wrath of Khan someone always does) when Spock struggles to his feet and straightens his uniform before facing his Captain.
RIP Mr. Nimoy. You were and always shall be, Spock.
That scene had a certain dignity about it that would be lost on some, yup.
Like is too short and we get old too quickly and we don’t get do overs and our heroes die. Still, it’s way better than nothing.
… aand yet William Shatner is still alive.
Was going to ask earlier if you could post something akin to this today.
Another unforgettable childhood icon gone – Thanks for sharing.
As Leonard Nimoy had lived to 83 years of age, which by many accounts wound be considered a long life for humans, and lived what many would consider to be a very good life, as well as you did not know Mr. Nimoy personally, therefore his death should have very little effect on you personally, your emotional display is illogical.
In all seriousness, though – Rest In Peace, Mr Nimoy. 🙁
Perhaps his “katra”, his living spirit, has been transferred to somebody. A reincarnation of the soul to another person, so to speak. You can never tell.
I’m sorry Jim, he’s dead.
“I am not Spock. But given the choice, if I had to be someone else, I would be Spock. If someone said, “You can have the choice of being any other TV character ever played,” I would choose Spock. I like him. I admire him. I respect him.”
Leonard Nimoy
I am old enough to be a first generation Trekkie, and was. I remember reading back in the 70s Nimoy’s book I am not Spock, where he pleaded with people to separate him from the character he played (which given how it had effectively at that time ruined his acting career is hardly surprising, although thankfully he was able to make a name for himself behind the camera and eventually again in front of it), and because of that I have never failed to separate in my mind characters from the actors who play them. I am grateful to him for that as well as for so many other things.
I am grateful to him for portraying Spock, an alien character who helped bring SF to respectability within NA culture, and be a part of the one truly positive focused SF series during the Cold War (pretty much everything else had some sort of post apocalyptic element to it, Space 1999 had the moon blown out of orbit, BattleStar Galactica had the death /conquest of an entire star system, and so forth) that saw a real future for humanity, that we would not turn to our worse sides and destroy ourselves. I always thought that was one of the reasons Star Trek so caught the imaginations of so many around the world back in the day, it had not only good storytelling and touched on many serious topical issues, it also showed humanity at its best and had a faith in our nature to overcome our worse selves and would not have that great WWIII nuclear war, and during a time when so many feared we were going to turn the planet into a smoking cinder that was no small expression of hope.
I knew this was a matter of time, his removal of himself from acting and his clear increasing health issues only meant this was coming, but that does not make this day any sadder for all of us who so loved the man for the character he played so well, and for the man himself, for all he brought to our world by his presence in it. Of all the actors that made Star Trek what it is, I believe it will be his passing that engenders the most sense of loss. Which is not meant to disparage the others, it simply underscores how much the role of Spock was pivotal. After all, when NBC came to Roddenberry and said lose the woman first officer and the alien after the pilot (which became the only 2 parter in Star Trek) as much as he disliked giving up the strong female first officer he flatly refused to surrender the alien because he knew how important it would be to making his series work and to making the underlying points in the storytelling he was planning on doing. Nimoy helped bring that so much to us all, and showed Roddenberry was right in making sure the network execs aka the usual morons IMHO didn’t screw things up yet again. That outside the human experience observer element was crucial, and Nimoy did it so well and yet managed to bring both humanity and the alien together in a way few have ever matched IMHO.
RIP Leonard Nimoy
Well said
Thank you very much Warren. I will admit I was also amused by the coincidence of your title for this post, because the two most important science fictional influences that shaped me from childhood onwards were Star Trek and Robert Anson Heinlein. Although it was not as much Stranger that was the truly pivotal Heinlen for me as it was Moon is a Harsh Mistress (loved Stranger too, but the political discourses within Moon combined with Mike/Adam Selene hooked me like few things ever did in my youth), although I loved all his works, juveniles and full adult from when I first started reading them in my fathers collection starting from around Grade 2-3 onwards. So I “grokked” Spock too, and as I said I truly believe this character played a profound role in what made Star Trek work so well on so many levels. Roddenberry was right in choosing the alien over the strong woman, even though the network clearly hated both at the outset.
Leonard Nimoy was a great creative person, his work behind the camera was also well worth noting, Three Men and a Baby I thought was a good example of some of his non-SF/ST work, and his son Adam Nimoy also has shown himself to be a wonderful director. He leaves a truly great legacy behind him in his own right in his body of work before and behind the camera, and in the more traditional lineage sense too. One of the most full and fulfilling lives I can imagine was filled by him, and it is as much for the way he lived that life than the character he played that is why I have such a high regard for the man. He truly showed some of the best of us not just as Spock, but as Leonard Nimoy too, and I would not want that lost in all of this.
I love this photo: http://i.imgur.com/ErZdV2e.png
RIP Leonard
Remember: “Elvis ain’t dead, he just went home.”
Spock your bills…nice!
https://twitter.com/the_cdr/status/571379011886059520