Star Trek
Nimoy portrays “Spock” in the premiere of Star Trek, an NBC science fiction television series also starring William Shatner and DeForest Kelley. On landing the role:
I did this job in an episode of The Lieutenant series for Gene Roddenberry. A few weeks after I finished the job my agent called me and said, ‘Gene Roddenberry, producer of The Lieutenant show, saw the footage, was interested in you, liked what you did, and said that he has in mind for you a role in a pilot that he’s developing for a science fiction series.” Period. I really didn’t give it a lot of thought. You hear that kind of thing and you’re a long way from getting a job.
The Man From U.N.C.L.E
Nimoy and Shatner guest star in The Man From U.N.C.L.E episode, The Project Strigas Affair. In the episode, Shatner plays a pest control business owner that U.N.C.L.E recruits for their mission and Nimoy a Russian aide-de-camp. They only appear in two scenes. In the first, Shatner drunkenly throws his arm around Nimoy’s shouldes and in the second, Nimoy points a gun at Shatner.
Bonanza
Nimoy guest stars as a corrupt card shark in an episode written by Gene L. Coon.
Leonard Nimoy born in Boston
Leonard Simon Nimoy is born in Boston, MA, to Dora and Max, orthodox Jewish immigrants from the Ukraine. Max owns a barbershop. He has an older brother, Melvin. He attends Boston English High School.He speaks and reads Yiddish.
My first language was English. but I needed to speak Yiddish with my grandparents.
On the famous Vulcan salute:
I grew up in an interesting inner-city neighborhood in Boston. The area was known as the West End and was written about in a book called the Urban Villagers. It was a desirable area since it was within walking distance of downtown Boston and the Boston Commons, as well as being situated along the banks of the Charles River. The population was mostly immigrants. Maybe 70% Italian and 25% Jewish. My family attended services in an Orthodox Jewish Synagogue, or “Shul.” We were especially attentive to the high holidays, Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, and Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.
Since I was somewhat musical, I was hired as a young boy to sing in choirs for the holidays and I was therefore exposed to all of the rituals firsthand. I still have a vivid memory of the first time I saw the use of the split-fingered hands being extended to the congregation in blessing. There were a group of five or six men facing the congregation and chanting in passionate shouts of a Hebrew benediction. It would translate to “May the Lord bless you and keep you,”…etc. My Dad said, “Don’t look.”
I learned later that it is believed that during this prayer, the “Shekhina,” the feminine aspect of God comes into the temple to bless the congregation. The light from this Deity could be very damaging. So we are told to protect ourselves by closing our eyes. I peeked. And when I saw the split-fingered gesture of these men… I was entranced. I learned to do it simply because it seemed so magical. It was probably 25 years later that I introduced that gesture as a Vulcan greeting in Star Trek and it has resonated with fans around the world ever since. It gives me great pleasure since it is, after all, a blessing.