Tribute: Leonard Nimoy

Posted on February 28, 2015 at 12:00 pm

We mourn the loss of Leonard Nimoy, who created one of the most iconic characters of all time, “Star Trek’s” half-Vulcan, half-human Mr. Spock, with pointed ears and angled eyebrows perfectly designed to convey a wry sense of irony. The storylines of the original “Star Trek” were provocative political and cultural allegories, but the heart of the show was the reflection of the internal struggle we all try to reconcile: fire and ice, Athenian and Spartan, id and superego — between the passionate, impetuous Captain Kirk (William Shatner) and the cerebral, deliberate Mr. Spock.

Adam Bernstein wrote in the Washington Post:

Spock was the ultimate outsider — a trait Mr. Nimoy said he understood. He was Jewish and had grown up in an Irish section of Boston. Going to movies as a child during the Depression, he was drawn to actors who specialized in bringing pathos to the grotesque — especially Boris Karloff in “Frankenstein” (1931) and Charles Laughton in “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” (1939).

By most accounts, Mr. Nimoy portrayed the most popular character of the “Star Trek” cast. While some critics thought that Mr. Nimoy’s acting was dour or wooden, fans might have argued that these were precisely the characteristics of the emotion-suppressing, logic-obsessed Spock.

Nimoy was a fine actor, and he gave a dry wit to Mr. Spock. The character was fascinating because of his emotionless, stoic, purely rational approach. Once in a while, his human side showed through. And although most of the time he seemed to conclude (rationally) that the Vulcan approach was superior, he occasionally seemed to envy his human colleagues’ capacity for emotion. And certainly, he showed himself capable of friendship with Captain Kirk.

I loved his father’s explanation of why he married a human: “It seemed the logical thing to do at the time.” Spock also had the enviable ability of telepathy and could immobilize a humanoid enemy with a neck nerve-pinch.

Bernstein’s obituary quoted an interview Nimoy gave to the New York Times:

“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.”

He added: “In spite of being an outcast, being mixed up, looking different, he maintains his point of view. He can’t be bullied or put on. He’s freaky with dignity. There are very few characters who have that kind of pride, cool and ability to lay it out and walk away. Humphrey Bogart played most of them.”

He spoke to Pharrell Williams about his life and career and developing the character of Spock.

The devotion of “Star Trek’s” fans is legendary, and the subject of documentaries including Trekkies and its sequel, and no character had more fans than Mr. Spock.

A particularly fitting tribute was in an episode of “The Big Bang Theory,” where the hyper-rational Sheldon Cooper (Jim Parsons) has the most emotional reaction in the history of the series because he receives a special gift, a napkin that had been used by Leonard Nimoy.

In another episode, Nimoy provided the voice for Cooper’s Mr. Spock action figure.

Nimoy was the son of Jewish immigrants from what is now Ukraine. It was his idea to use the traditional rabbinic blessing gesture, with the fingers spread apart in a V shape as the Vulcan greeting.

He was also a successful director, not just of “Star Trek” films but also of the popular comedy “Three Men and a Baby” and the Diane Keaton drama “The Good Mother.”

In 1968, Nimoy responded with warmth, generosity, and wisdom to a letter from a biracial girl who identified with his bi-planetary character. He told her to “realize the difference between popularity and true greatness. It has been said that ‘popularity’ is merely the crumbs of greatness. When you think of people who are truly great, and who have improved the world, you can see that they have realized that they are people who do not need popularity because they knew they had something special to offer the world, no matter how small that offering seemed. And they offered it and it was accepted with peace and love.”

He left us with a beautiful final message via Twitter.

A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved, except in memory. LLAP

Nimoy gave us many perfect moments. As long as there are devices to view content, new generations of fans will love and be inspired by Mr. Spock. May his memory be a blessing.

EPIX will pay tribute to Nimoy this weekend.

A Conversation with Leonard Nimoy: AIRING: Friday 2/27 – 11:00PM ET, Saturday 2/28 – 5:40PM ET & 10:00PM ET, Sunday 3/1 – 8:00PM ET

Leonard Nimoy shares insights and personal anecdotes from his nearly 50-year involvement with the phenomenon that is Star Trek.

Star Trek Into Darkness: AIRING: Saturday 2/28 – 10:15PM ET, Sunday 3/1 – 8:15PM ET

In the wake of a shocking act of terror from within their own organization, the crew of The Enterprise is called back home to Earth. In defiance of regulations and with a personal score to settle, Captain Kirk leads his crew on a manhunt to capture an unstoppable force of destruction and bring those responsible to justice. As our heroes are propelled into an epic chess game of life and death, love will be challenged, friendships will be torn apart, and sacrifices must be made for the only family Kirk has left: his crew.

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Tribute: Louis Jourdan

Posted on February 16, 2015 at 7:20 pm

We mourn the loss of French movie star Louis Jourdan, who has died at age 93. Best remembered as the handsome, elegant, bored Gaston who lost his heart to Gigi (Leslie Caron), he appeared in a variety of roles opposite leading ladies from Elizabeth Taylor (“The VIPS”) to Grace Kelly (“The Swan”), Shirley MacLaine (“Can-Can”), and Doris Day “Julie.” Adam Bernstein’s astute obituary for the Washington Post noted that Jourdan was not happy playing the all-purpose European romantic lead, and especially enjoyed his chance to be a Bond villain in “Octopussy.” May his memory be a blessing.

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Actors Tribute

Tribute: Mike Nichols

Posted on November 20, 2014 at 8:16 am

We mourn the loss of director Mike Nichols, who died yesterday at age 83, survived by his wife, television journalist Diane Sawyer. Nichols began as part of the 1950’s improvisational movement coming out of Chicago, and rose to fame as half of the comedy team Nichols and May, with Elaine May, who also became a director. Their humor was brainy and neurotic, part of the same genre that included stand-ups Mort Sahl and Lenny Bruce and cartoonist Jules Feiffer. He then became one of the most gifted directors of the late 1960’s through the present day, winning all four in the EGOT awards, Emmys (“Wit,” “Angels in America”), a Grammy (best comedy album with May in 1962), Oscar (“The Graduate”), and multiple Tonys including awards as producer of “Annie,” and director of “Death of a Salesman,” “Spamalot,” and “Barefoot in the Park.” He also received the nation’s highest artistic honor, the Kennedy Center Award, and the American Film Institute’s Lifetime Achievement Award.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tliQwrukz6Y

Nichols was born in Germany as Mikhail Igor Peschkowsky and immigrated to the United States when he was seven. He dropped out of pre-med at the University of Chicago to study at the legendary Actors Studio in New York with Lee Strasberg. His first Broadway directing job was Neil Simon’s “Barefoot in the Park,” a huge hit. He worked with Simon many more times, and Simon pays tribute to him in his book Rewrites: A Memoir as the smartest person in the world.

His first film was the groundbreaking “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf,” starring real-life battling spouses Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, followed by the even more groundbreaking “The Graduate,” a moment-defining film that spoke to what was then called the generation gap of the 1960’s and launched the careers of Dustin Hoffman and Simon and Garfunkel. Following an uneven version of the unfilmable “Catch-22,” he made the highly controversial “Carnal Knowledge,” starring Jack Nicholson, Candice Bergen, and Ann-Margret. The film, written by Jules Feiffer, had a then-highly controversial frankness about sex that got it banned as obscene in a case that went all the way to the Supreme Court. The Court ruled that it was not pornography.

Nichols’ other films include “Working Girl,” “Heartburn,” “The Birdcage,” “Silkwood,” and “Postcards from the Edge.” Actors loved working with him and some of the best, like Meryl Streep and Jack Nicholson, worked with him many times. Only Nichols could have coaxed Melanie Griffith to what is by far her best performance in “Working Girl,” much less persuaded one of the most successful actors of all time, Harrison Ford, to appear in the film in a supporting role, but also one of his best and most natural and witty performances. Nichols was especially good with actors. Bergen, then very inexperienced, talked about how her helped her in the early scenes of “Carnal Knowledge.” When she was having a hard time finding the right note of nervousness and vulnerability for a college party scene, he had her wear a slip but no skirt while her close-ups were being filmed. In the same film he gave Ann-Margret a chance to show a depth and complexity no other director ever did and she was nominated for an Oscar for her performance. Cher was not an established actress when he cast her in “Silkwood,” and audiences were surprised to see how grounded and natural she was as the title character’s lesbian roommate.

His television work included the outstanding adaptation of “Wit,” with Emma Thompson as a professor dying of cancer.

Nichols always put top-notch performers in even the smallest roles in his films, and his music, cinematography, and design partners in filmmaking were superbly chosen. His taste was impeccable. He leaves behind an extraordinary legacy of work that will be appreciated for generations. May his memory be a blessing.

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Directors Tribute

Tribute: Lauren Bacall

Posted on August 12, 2014 at 8:27 pm

We mourn the loss of Lauren Bacall, who has died at age 89.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVmdQontEs4

“Anybody got a match?”

With those words, a teenager born Betty Perske from Brooklyn made her first screen appearance, in To Have and Have Not. Her chin slightly lowered, she looked up at her co-star, Humphrey Bogart, with a gaze so smoking that (1) she was instantly and forever a star, and (2) by the time the shooting was finished, Bogart had left his wife to marry Bacall. And that was even before she taught him to whistle and movie history was made.

They made three more films together, had two children, and until his death from cancer, lived together with such happiness that she later said, for the rest of her life, “whenever I hear the word ‘happy’ I think of then.”

No matter that her famous gaze was her effort to hide her nervousness by keeping her head steady. Or that Andy Williams may have dubbed in some of the notes in the song she sang with Hoagy Carmichael. She was a natural on screen and she had what one-time MGM studio head Dore Schary called “motor,” that special spark that makes some performers come alive on screen.

This scene with Bogart from “The Big Sleep” is another classic.

I’m very fond of her comedies, like “Designing Woman,” with Gregory Peck.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9er1hL6fpA

And “How to Marry a Millionaire” with Betty Grable and Marilyn Monroe.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-oyJHM5RtbA

She was wonderful in “Murder on the Orient Express”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFgOoQ5YUOQ

And in Barbra Streisand’s “The Mirror Has Two Faces,” for which she was nominated for an Oscar.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wG9OoVeaaWc

And with Henry Fonda in “Sex and the Single Girl.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbLnUBNHlIU

There is so much more. A fond farewell to one of the brightest stars from Hollywood’s golden era. May her memory be a blessing.

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Actors Tribute

Tribute: James Garner

Posted on July 20, 2014 at 10:51 am

One of my favorite actors has left us. James Garner, handsome, wry, effortlessly masculine, all-purpose leading man for decades on television and in movies, has died at age 84. He had consummate skill in comedy, drama, and romance, and even in selling cameras in television commercials. He will be sorely missed.

Born James Baumgarner in 1926, he was from Norman, Oklahoma. He named his production company Cherokee Productions in honor of his grandfather. He had a difficult childhood and was left on his own at age 14. He had a number of jobs and went into the military, where he received two Purple Hearts.

Early in his career, he had a non-speaking part as a juror in “The Caine Mutiny” on Broadway. He said it was superb training to be on stage for the entire show, watching the lead actors up close each night. His early film roles included parts in the classic “The Great Escape” with Steve McQueen and “Sayonara” with Marlon Brando.

He was superb at light comedy, often showing an off-beat cynicism that was a refreshing change from the earnestness of the 1950’s and early 60’s. When television was filled with laconic Western heroes, his “Maverick” was true to the name as a easy-natured gambler.

He played similar roles in the delightful Support Your Local Sheriff and Support Your Local Gunfighter. He co-starred with Doris Day in two of her most sparkling comedies, The Thrill of it All! and and Move Over Darling. And he was the laconic private detective Jim Rockford in ‘The Rockford Files.”

Two of his best films co-starred Julie Andrews. He was a cynical American soldier in The Americanization of Emily and an amiable gangster in love with a cross-cross-dressing performer in Victor/Victoria. He was nominated for an Oscar for the bittersweet romance Murphy’s Romance, with Sally Field.

He made superb television movies, including Barbarians at the Gate and My Name Is Bill W.

He continued to create unforgettable performances into his 70’s, with films like The Notebook. No actor half his age could have played a sweeter love scene.

We bid a sad farewell to this most graceful and appealing of actors. May his memory be a blessing.

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