For the Love of Spock

---

[Interviewer]

"I may not be the fastest.

"I may not be the tallest

or the strongest.

"I may not be the best

or the brightest.

"But one thing I can do

better than anyone else,

that is to be me,"

which is a poem that you wrote.

Well, finally that's all

you can do, isn't it?

You can do a good

job of doing that.

Do a good job of being me,

being yourself.

That's really all

I ask of myself.

Because as I said,

I wasn't the fastest,

and I wasn't the brightest,

and whatever, you know.

[television news chatter]

This morning We are

remembering a beloved actor

who became an enduring fixture

in pop culture, Leonard Nimoy.

- Leonard Nimoy.

- Leonard Nimoy.

- Leonard Nimoy.

-[speaking in foreign language]

- Leonard Nimoy.

- Leonard Nimoy.

Leonard Nimoy has died

at the age of 83.

When word came out today that

actor Leonard Nimoy had died,

the President said,

"I loved Spock."

[struggling] I have been and

always shall be... your friend.

Live long...

and prosper.

Listen to this.

I just received an email

from Wil Wheaton.

Leonard Nimoy's son is

working on a documentary

that he started with his

father before he passed away.

It's about Mr. Spock and

his impact on our culture.

[Man] "For the Love of

Spock," Adam Nimoy. Mark.

We wanted to do

something to celebrate

the 50th anniversary

of "Star Trek"

which was coming up

in 2016.

And a documentary about Spock had

never really been produced before.

[Adam Nimoy] I thought it

was an interesting idea

to create a film just

focused on Spock,

who he is, how he came about,

and why he has continued

to resonate for 5O years,

all as a part

of the celebration

of the anniversary

of "The Original Series."

And the minute I suggested

this to Dad, he was in.

Although my father had a long and

prosperous life and hadn't smoked in years,

he died from chronic

obstructive pulmonary disease

from over 3O years

of cigarette smoking.

[Adam Nimoy] After Dad

died, it became clear

that the film needed

to include his life

as well as the

life of Mr. Spock.

And that in turn led me

on a journey of discovery

about my relationship

with my father.

Well, I'm from

Boston originally.

I've been in Los Angeles working in

films off and on for about 17 years.

I started acting when I was a

little boy, about eight years old

in neighborhood settlement

houses in Boston.

And kind of grew up into it.

I just kept doing it

because I liked it.

And then suddenly just decided

that I liked it enough

to want to make

a career of it.

So I came

to California in 1949

and started acting

in films then.

[Leonard Nimoy] Now my parents were extremely

diligent, responsible, practical people.

I grew up during the Depression.

When I told them at age 17

that I was going to study drama

at the Pasadena Playhouse

and become an actor,

they were grief stricken.

They tried to dissuade me by refusing

to give me the tuition, saying,

"You'll have to do it

without any help from us."

They were totally against it...

because they were certainly--

Hoped he would work into another

profession of some kind.

But he wasn't suited

for all that.

He wanted to do what

he wanted to do.

[Leonard Nimoy]

Being stubborn,

I saved some money

by selling vacuum cleaners.

I bought a train ticket,

and I headed west to California.

So I'm walking down

the streets of Pasadena

on a hot September day,

sweat pouring.

I'm wearing a wool suit, a

hand-painted tie, and suede shoes.

I must have looked like

somebody that just arrived

from off the boat

from Transylvania.

[Adam Nimoy] My mom was

an aspiring actress,

and she met my dad backstage

at a theater in Hollywood.

But she gave all that up

to become a housewife.

My sister was born '55.

My dad was in the service then.

Then my parents came back

to Los Angeles,

and I was born in '56.

My mother told me that when my

sister Julie and I were young,

my father was very involved

in helping her take care of us.

I Now and then

when We fall in place I

I it makes me feel all right I

I Makes me feel all right I

I Back and forth

we will win this race I

I To find out what it's like .P

I In time, I'll be just fine .P

I In time, I'll be all right I

I Now and then

when We fall in place I

I it makes me feel all right I

One of my favorite

memories of my dad was

he hustled his ass

during the early '60s,

doing all kinds of jobs.

He was servicing fish tanks.

He set them up in

doctors' offices.

It was like sort of

a fad in the '60s,

and Dad had a corner

on that market.

We knew that dad sold freezers.

You know, he worked

in a pet store.

He drove a cab.

He took care of aquariums.

He had vending machines

at one point,

so he had all these little

trinkets kept in boxes.

He worked at Wil Wright's

Ice Cream Parlor.

He was managing

an apartment building.

He was not around.

And even when Dad

was at home,

it was all these

home improvement projects.

My father was truly

a renaissance man.

He could do just

about anything.

Like build that massive

brick wall in our backyard.

He was trying so hard

to get this career going,

to make his life,

to do what he wanted to do,

which was be in the

arts, be an actor.

One of my idols was Lon Chaney,

who was called the man of a

thousand faces in movies,

because he'd change

characters so drastically

from one performance

to another.

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