General Discussion

GreatGazoo

(3,937 posts) Sat Feb 28, 2015, 09:51 AM Feb 2015

The gift of Leonard Nimoy

Gene Roddenberry, the creator of 'Star Trek' had worked with the LAPD when William Parker was its controversial Chief. Parker had worked with press relations for the military during WWII and when he became Chief of Police he brought more focus to press relations for the Los Angeles Police Dept.

Gene Roddenberry's father worked for the LAPD and after WWII and some time a s a pilot for Pan Am, Gene joined the police force. He rose the the rank of Sargent and then became a speech writer for William Parker. Many sources report that Roddenberry based the character "Spock" in part on William Parker. He found Parker to coldly rational, oddly emotionless. I can't find the exact quote right now but he later said something akin to "at times I wondered if he had the same blood running through his veins as the rest of us."

Parker earned praise from some circles for his effectiveness and for cleaning up the LAPD during the mafia heyday in 1950s. Effective perhaps but "likeable" was not a term many used for Parker.

Nimoy was not the producers' first choice for the role which was rejected by DeForest Kelly. He wasn't the 2nd choice either but, fortunately for all of us, Adam West was not available.

Leonard Nimoy brought his own experiences and background to the role, as

Nimoy recalled, "As a Jew from Catholic Boston, I understood what it was like to feel alienated, apart from the mainstream...There were a number of values in 'Star Trek' that I felt very comfortable with as a Jew"

http://www.jewishjournal.com/arts/article/bimah_me_up_scotty_20031205/

After Roddenberry saw Nimoy's thin face and sharp features, no other actors were considered; he had already stated during The Lieutenant that he planned to someday cast Nimoy as an alien on a science-fiction show. The actor worried about hurting his career by "playing some monster of freak", but Roddenberry persuaded him that Spock "wouldn't be just a walking computer who gives the scientific data.

{Nimoy} stated that after the early episode "Amok Time", in which a disease causes Spock to cry, "I knew that we were not playing a man with no emotions, but a man who had great pride, who had learned to control his emotions and who would deny that he knew what emotions were. In a way, he was more human than anyone else on the ship. - NY Times, 1968 "Girls All Want To Touch The Ears"

http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1968/08/25/91290697.html?pageNumber=173

The gift of Leonard Nimoy was that he was able to make Spock not just likeable, but very likeable. The character, as you know, had a Vulcan father and Human mother but the character was culturally (Vulcan) predisposed to hiding whatever emotions he did have. Nimoy was able to convey Spock's mostly internal struggle with emotions in a seamless way and despite the handicap of the character being somewhat poker-faced by design. Often it was just Nimoy's subtle raising of a pointed eyebrow that said everything the character needed to say. Leonard Nimoy's deadpan delivery in many scenes gave 'Star Trek' some of its funniest scenes. As counter weight to the rawly emotional Captain Kirk and "Bones", Nimoy's Spock had many opportunities to question what use emotions serve and the point was clear -- emotions, our often irrational attachment to other people, animals, places, music, art and things, is what makes us human.