"Leonard Nimoy Answers 40 Questions" 1967 Article

From a 1967 movie magazine comes this article with 40 intimate things you always wanted to know about Leonard Nimoy!

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Bonus #1: A rare publicity photo of Shatner and guest star Celeste Yarnell from "The Apple." I have no clue what odd kind of alien plant he's using to impress her with his knowledge of...

"Why waste time with Chekov over there? Let's show the natives how it's really done."

Bonus #2: Rare publicity photo of Joan Collins as Edith Keeler.

"Oh, Mr. Kirk... would you help me with the dreadfully heavy doily?"

Bill Shatner: A Restless Man

From a movie/TV magazine in around 1967 comes this article about Shatner that still seems to be relevant to the way he lives his life!

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Bonus #1: A 1967 article about the emotion-filled Leonard Nimoy. Note the half-shaved eyebrows that he had to endure for the whole series!

Bonus #3: Below, a rare publicity picture of Nimoy and Jill Ireland.

Bonus #4: Rare image of Jeff Hunter with a laser pistol prop! Note the industrial-strength tinfoil that was used for the cave walls and the rock formations on Talos IV. Very effective at creating rock-like surfaces! But I think a coat of matte-textured spray paint would have been more effective at making the reflective tinfoil surface look less metallic.

Nimoy Publicity Photo: Spock With Vulcan Lyre

A rarely-seen publicity photo of Nimoy with the Vulcan lyrette prop.

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Commemorating Leonard Nimoy's Birthday

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This is the saddest Birthday commemoration I've ever had to post on this blog, coming only weeks after the passing of Leonard Nimoy. He would have been 84. Celebrating his birth so soon after his passing makes it that much more poignant. Below are some images from a publicity photo session made just before the series started filming, when the costumes were not quite what we would come to know. The shots are interesting in that they pose Nimoy with some stock chemical equipment, as if it was short-hand for saying "he's a scientist, because here he is doing science stuff with test tubes and such." Anyone out there know what that spiral tube is he is holding and what it does?

This particular set of images is special to me since the first ever photo I cut out and saved from the show was a close-up from this session.

I would like to close out this post with a simple poem written by Leonard. It could be to a loved one, it could be a prayer to God. I would like to turn it around back toward Leonard, and use it to thank him for sharing his life with us.

Thank you
For a world
Of kindness 

Thank you
For your
Endless patience

Thank you
For your
Sensitive understanding

Thank you
For
Your Love

As Spock once told McCoy, "Remember." We will, Leonard. We will. And like McCoy, we will carry a part of you within us, always.

Goodbye, Leonard.

On February 27th, we lost a friend. And, although I had been preparing myself for it over the last few years, it hurt worse than I thought it would.

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I was on the road going to a dental cleaning appointment when my wife texted me: "Spock just died." Those three words hit me hard, and I immediately pulled over and checked online to confirm the news; hoping that it was a false rumor she had heard. It only took a moment to find out, as word spread rapidly, that Leonard had indeed passed over to the Undiscovered Country after being admitted to the hospital several days earlier for chest pains. A few moments later an old friend and fellow Trekker called and when I picked it up I said "I just heard." We spent a few moments sharing how we felt and the impact that Mr. Nimoy had on our lives.

I'm sure the same thing happened around the country as friends called other fellow fans and commiserated over the news. The bond between Trek fans has always been strong, as over the years we shared our love for the show with others like us, and when we found another of like mind, we connected to them in some fashion; at least I did. We were linked by that shared love of a bright universe where people of all races and creeds lived in harmony and acceptance, and by our love for the characters that inhabited one corner of that universe known as the Enterprise. The extended family we found there was more than just a bunch of crew members; we loved them all. Zooming in on the core of the family, we focused on the Big Three of Kirk, Spock and McCoy. Then, when the final image came into view, it was of one person; Spock. He was the one that people remember most when recalling their first exposure to the show. The first thing I ever clipped about the show from a magazine was a photo of Leonard as Spock, which I still have in my first scrapbook. This is most encapsulated by the first time Spock appeared on film in the Trek universe; we saw the ship, then came closer, and as the saucer dipped, we moved through the dome onto the bridge. And moving down beside Captain Pike, there was the one your eyes were instantly drawn to... Spock.

What Spock meant to each one of us individually is something we can only weigh within our own hearts; but to me the main attraction to the character --beyond all the great things about the Vulcan that were exciting and different-- was that in his isolation and loneliness, he reached out and made a friend; Kirk. The friendship between the two was the heart of the show, and further, the friendship and affection that the rest of the bridge crew felt for Spock demonstrated the depth of feeling that could be inspired by one that claimed to have none. All of that is summed up in one affecting image, happening at the very end of "The Search For Spock." I freely admit that when watching the movie I bawled at that moment (and still do, every time), even more than at his funeral scene in the previous film. Whereas that was about the loss, this moment was about the joy of their love for him. And that's something we all felt. I hope that beyond the sadness we feel at Leonard's passing, we can remember and rekindle the joy of that love we felt both for him and for the character that he helped create and bring to life. Click on that image below to enlarge it and see if it doesn't just make you feel good.

Over the weekend as news of Leonard's passing spread, a post that featured an article entitled "Spock: Teenage Outcast" that I had posted in the past went viral for the second time, and we had over 12,000 visitors to this blog. I like to think that the letter he wrote to a young fan struggling with a dual heritage would make a fitting memorial to the man, speaking of his insight, compassion and thoughtfulness. You can read that article below, or visit the original post that also contains many visitor comments about it:

Another older article that highlights the professionalism that Leonard brought to the role, and the price he almost paid to be true to the character, can be found here.

If you have some time and want to reflect on Leonard's media exposure over the years that I have collected, here is a link that collects all the blog posts I have made with the "Nimoy" tag.

Of course, in one way, my wife was wrong when she said "Spock just died." The character of Spock is still as alive as ever, and for as long as we can see him on the episodes and movies, and read about him in our books, he is alive. Leonard Nimoy, the caring and compassionate soul behind the stoic visage, is with us no more. But he will not be forgotten.

 

More Janice Rand Images

Back when the series was about to begin regular production, it was planned that Janice Rand would be one of the more prominent characters and certainly the main female to bring the sex appeal. However, Nichelle Nichols was always on the bridge in almost every shot that looked back toward Kirk's chair, and she more than amply supplied the sweet, sweet eye candy. And, it was realized that Rand cramped the Captain's style when it came to romancing the alien ladies. So, before long during the first season she was used less and less and finally -sadly- released. However, not before she got the attention of a lot of male viewers, and it is they who will appreciate these unusual promotions images, some taken before production of the series and some during.

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"Mr. Spock, remind me to keep the temperature down on the bridge in the future."

Bonus: a page from one of the movie magazines back during the series third season, from February of 1969..

Bonus: the packaging of the Pocket Flix film viewer that supplied fans with their own (one-minute) clip for watching whenever they wanted! I bought one about 1978 and it was the first time I could actually "watch" a real part of an episode apart from TV. This was before videotape players were available to most, and certainly to me. It was taken from the episode "By Any Other Name," and was edited together from the scene where the two security guards were reduced to polyhedrons, and the scene of the barrier-crossing, which was very exciting to own! Such was my mania that I even dubbed those scenes from one of my cassette tapes of the episode to match the editing of the film, then would synch them up as I watched to supply sound!

Bonus link: Star Trek In Cinerama! See how scenes from various episodes of TOS look in widescreen, done without cropping the image. It's "fascinating" to coin a phrase! Except where characters are in the scene twice, then it gets a bit weird.

"Leonard Nimoy Dropped From Star Trek!"

From the magazine "TV Picture Life" comes this 1970's article about one of the close calls wherein we almost saw Leonard replaced by another actor in the Spock role. This one was over a script; the other time, according to the book "Inside Star Trek" was over him wanting a raise. Fortunately, the conflicts were resolved. Can you imagine someone else in the role? Actor Lawrence Montaigne (Decius in "Balance of Terror" and Stonn in "Amok Time") was their backup plan if negotiations failed, and even Mark Lenard was considered. How weird would that have been?

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Bonus: Below, a behind-the-scenes shot from the first episode filmed when the series began production, "The Corbomite Maneuver." Note Uhura's command-gold uniform, the only time she wore that color. I liked her in red better. (Update: an asute reader pointed out in the comments that she still wore gold in "Mudd's Women," which was the next episode filmed after "Corbomite." Thanks!)

1986 Article: The Writers of Star Trek

From the 20th Anniversary Celebration issue of Starlog, published in November of 1986 (see the cover here), comes this article on a couple of writers of the original show. The pages feature two rare publicity photos of the guest stars from a couple of the episodes.

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Bonus: a full-page ad from June 1992 issue of The Official Fan Club magazine with James Doohan in costume as Scotty advertising the QVC show that he was a guest host on. Did you order anything from this program?

Bonus: A publicity photo of Nimoy taken during the filming of the episode "Where No Man Has Gone Before." Nimoy's high collar was different from the other costumes, made with snaps on each side so that it could be put on and taken off without messing up his makeup.

 

Bonus: more of the promised TOS original novel covers, this time from "The Abode Of Life," published in May of 1982. The cover art by "Rowena" was from the TMP era, but with brown cowboy boots rather then the built-in footy-pajama type. Also, that pulp-inspired raygun is about as far away from a phaser as one can get. I know some of my readers get a kick out of this non-regulation art, because it came from a time before the Trek merchandise became more tightly controlled. But at the time it just made me scratch my head and wonder why they couldn't get things like this right.

Leonard Nimoy Demonstrates Magnavision LaserDisc Player

Forget Blu-Ray or watching movies on your iPad and such, for the absolute height of cutting-edge video technology, one must absorb this 1981 demonstration of the Magnavision LaserDisc Player by Leonard Nimoy! (Aside from the player, where can I get an intelligent crystal lifeform that communicates in beeps like R2-D2?)




Bonus: another YouTube video, this time from 1966 during early interviews with Shatner and Nimoy in full makeup and costume. What a find!



Bonus: another version of a familiar pose, from an early promotional photoshoot of Nimoy as Spock, taken before the production of the second pilot.

Happy Birthday Leonard!

Happy 82nd birthday to Leonard Nimoy, who was the person that brought to life one of science fiction's most interesting characters, not only television's. He made being very intelligent look cool, portraying a man who could outthink you as well as put you down with a simple touch. As Issac Asimov wrote in his TV Guide review, smarts were suddenly sexy, and thanks to Spock, many were discovering they had a sapiosexual side. Thanks, Leonard, for many years of living in the shadow of Spock to bring a little more happiness into our lives.



Here is a link to view all of the Nimoy-centric posts on this blog; it would be a logical thing to review all of them on his birthday. Failure to do so may result in the Vulcan Death Grip, or as it is known on Vulcan, the Tal-shaya.

1968 Article "Spock: Teenage Outcast"

Hello all, Frederick beaming back in for a quick post! I hope to be able to start posting again (more often) so check back in soon for more! I have always kept to my own personal collection for this blog, but when reader Bluejay Young, a Trekker since November '67, emailed me these scans, I knew I would make an exception. His journey into fandom began before mine, as I didn't truly discover the show til about 72, when I became a Trekker myself. This article titled "Spock: Teenage Outcast" came from the May 1968 edition of the teen mag FAVE.

The article is interesting in that it was Nimoy's response to a fan letter from a mixed-race girl that was struggling with fitting in. There is real concern and thoughtfulness in his response, and it was both interesting and compassionate; as he framed his advice in the form of telling how young Spock might have dealt with the stresses of feeling excluded from the group and being bullied. He used the fan's interest in the character, and how they related to the half-human, half-Vulcan Spock, to share some down-to-earth encouragement. The thoughts he attributed to Spock also demonstrate his ongoing interest in the development of the character, and prefigure the scenes of Spock's difficult youth and struggle with bullies and prejudice in the animated series episode "Yesteryear" and the '09 Star Trek film.

Enjoy!

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UPDATE: Thanks to BUZZFEED for linking to this blog entry and making some great captioned images of Spock and quotes from the article!

UPDATE 2: The hits just keep on coming! This page has gone viral, as the Huffington Post site also carried the story!

Update 3: On February 27, 2015 we lost the legend that was Leonard Nimoy. This page saw over 12,000 hits over the weekend, as people found the article from various sources that republished it online. I hope that the original article serves as a memorial to the compassion and thoughtfulness of Mr. Nimoy as people continue to enjoy the archive of it here.

Bonus: Speaking of inter-racial relationships; below is a fantasy moment made real; Kirk and Uhura making out! It looks like a behind-the-scenes moment from "The Wrath Of Khan," but I'm not sure. One thing that is clear, however, is that Nichelle and Shatner were close enough to kiss on the lips at one time, and there seemed to be none of the antipathy toward Bill  that showed its head among the secondary cast later on.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Replaying the moment from "Plato's Stepchidren" was a favorite game of theirs.

Nimoy Looks Back at Star Trek 3

From issue #106 of Starlog, published May, 1986, we find this look back at "The Search For Spock" with a critique of the film in retrospect by director Leonard Nimoy.

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Below: from the same issue, a photo of Nimoy from page 74, the last page of the magazine with a regular feature called "Liner Notes."

Bonus: from the same issue, an ad for the upcoming 20th Anniversary convention. Hard to believe we have passed the 45th anniversary already. And sad to see how many of the stars are no longer with us.