James Halcomb remembers the acting legend.
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I was seven years old when Spock died. ‘Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan’ came out in 1982. Syndicated shows had not really made it to Eastern Kentucky yet and I had been too young to understand what was happening in the first Star Trek film when it came out a few years earlier. What I did understand were the tears coming from my Mom’s eyes, my Dad looking shocked and distraught at the screen as Kirk gave a stirring speech and the bag pipes played “Amazing Grace;” so I cried too, not just from lack of understanding but because my Mom and Dad were upset along with a slightly tragic fist memory of the Star Trek franchise. Years would pass; my love for Star Trek grew as did the franchise itself, and why I never traversed into the “Trekkie” level, I would always get a kick out of seeing the original crew pop up in other shows. Nimoy was always a favorite of mine and scouring through the dollar bin DVD’s and now online, over time, I was able to make some great discoveries.
My first outside Trek experience with Nimoy was his performance in the 1978 remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Seeing Nimoy playing against the type I was accustomed to seeing him in, along with everyone else’s performances, made this very adult, gritty depressing film feel even more hopeless. I mean, if Spock can’t fight these aliens what chance do I have? Nimoy had a monotone voice that seemed to command every scene that he was in, so his time in the film as one of the Body Snatchers plays to his strengths.
Thanks to the Tom Cruise films, I became a huge ‘Mission: Impossible’ fan and became an even bigger fan of the TV show. Nimoy was fantastic as “Paris,” a former magician and make-up expert Nimoy always seemed at home watching. Nimoy was great on the show, showing that he was more than capable replacement for Martin Landau when he left.
Nimoy made his final impact on the sci-fi culture with his multiple appearances on the television show, “Fringe.” While I was never a huge fan of the show, someday I will give it a binge-worthy Netlflix watch. His character, he played an important role that fans loved, but truly gravitated more to it because of him.
Whether it was old episodes of ‘Night Gallery,’ ‘The Man From U.N.C.L.E’ (you should really see the episode he was in. He and Shatner both appear, and this was before ‘Star Trek’) or even narrating episodes of ‘In Search of…’ then years later parodying that very same narration on ‘The Sipmsons.’ Nimoy had a presence that refused to allow him to “call it in.” His time as Spock will never be forgotten and his time as an actor will never be forgotten. Cheers to Mr. Nimoy. Thanks for so many memorable roles and being such a positive role model for young people, whether it is in character or as a man.