"I AM HERE BECAUSE MY HEART IS BROKEN..."
| Open Letter | |
|---|---|
| Title: | "I AM HERE BECAUSE MY HEART IS BROKEN..." |
| From: | fans of Leonard Nimoy |
| Addressed To: | Star Trek fans |
| Date(s): | 1977 |
| Medium: | |
| Fandom: | Star Trek: TOS |
| Topic: | |
| External Links: | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
"I AM HERE BECAUSE MY HEART IS BROKEN..." is a 1977 open letter to Star Trek fans written as a "news release being circulated to fen and news media countrywide."
The authors/fan organization is unknown, but it is not the same group of fans who were responsible for Save the Star Trek Cast.
It is part of a proxy war in negotiations for Star Trek's return to the screen, in this case, as a television series that, in the end, never happened.
Rumors abounded, statements were stated, egos were tweaked, allegiances were blatantly fanned, and feelings were hurt. Gene Roddenberry played to the fans as well as to Paramount and Nimoy and Shatner. Nimoy took his case to the fans as well as to Paramount and Roddenberry. And the fans were simultaneously encouraged, goaded, and scolded in this giant chess game and power-play.
See more at Leonard Nimoy Addresses the Star Trek America Convention (1977) and Roddenberry's response at To Fellow Nimoy-Spock Fans.
From the Letter
"I AM HERE BECAUSE MY HEART IS BROKEN..."
Leonard Nimoy said to thousands of fans in a surprise, uninvited appearance at a STAR TREK Convention in York's Statler Hilton Hotel over Labor Day weekend.
Taking his case directly to the STAR TREK fans, Nimoy revealed that he has not been asked to recreate his classic role as Spock in the new STAR TREK TV series slated to begin filming this fall. In fact, Paramount announced the news series in June without contacting or consulting with Nimoy. The studio scheduled filming to begin this fall at a time when Paramount knew Nimoy was under contract to star in Broadway's Equus through December. It would, therefore, have been physically impossible for Nimoy to be in the series.
The only offer he received from Paramount, Nimoy revealed, came approximately three weeks before Labor Day, when he was offered a contract for only two out of eleven episodes. Nimoy's announcement shocked the audience of thousands of STAR TREK fans. Many of the fans had believed that Nimoy himself was refusing all offers to recreated his role as Spock.
The following day Susan Sackett, secretary and personal assistant to STAR TREK's producer GENE RODDENBERRY, confirmed to a convention audience (after a telephone consultation with Roddenberry), that Nimoy had been offered only the two-part opening episode of the new series. She said that their office had not believed Nimoy "wanted to do the series," and quoted Gene Roddenberry as saying that if Nimoy wanted the role, he could call them. A questioner asked from the audience: "Isn't it customary for the studio to call the actor?" Ms. Sackett refused to take further questions on the subject.
[snipped: statements about Nimoy, Roddenberry, the play Equus, professional commitments, and communication]
STAR TREK fans, who have campaigned for the revival for the TV series for almost a decade, and who last year succeeded in a letter campaign to name NASA's new orbital shuttle for STAR TREK's Enterprise, were shocked and appalled by Nimoy's revelatory statement. Their shock increased with the confirmation from Roddenberry's office that Nimoy was offered only two episodes.
To the over 25-million loyal fans of STAR TREK, Nimoy's Vulcan Mr. Spock and Shatner's Captain Kirk are essential to the integrity of the new STAR TREK series. The series' mass appeal did not derive solely from its beautifully and intelligently rendered science fiction, its special effects, its action/adventure entertainment format, and its "future dream" optimism; the most important and influential element has proven to be the characters who the fans have come to love in a very personal way -- the people who have communicated the STAR TREK dream, and live it. The love for Spock, Kirk, McCoy and the rest of the crew has engendered such intense loyalty and devotion that the series, off the air since 1969, has been called "television's Number One phenomenon."
Considering this devotion to the character of Spock, it is not surprising that feeling had run high when fans believed Nimoy was refusing to recreate the role, and he quoted from a letter, one of many he had received, which said, "...we made you and we will unmake you, you Benedict Vulcan."
"If anyone tells you that I do not love STAR TREK or that I am not grateful to STAR TREK fans," Nimoy said, "please tell him that he has gone bonkers."
With the confirmation that Nimoy had not been offered the chance to recreate the Spock role, feeling began to run high in another direction. Many fans were urging a new letter campaign to make it clear to Paramount that both fans within the fan movement and the many millions of other fans who follow the series regard Nimoy as vital to the show, arid that many will boycott the new series if Nimoy we're not made a legitimate offer to recreate his role in all episodes.".
A previous "Save the STAR TREK Cast" campaign directed to Paramount Studios in Hollywood succeeded in reversing an earlier idea of replacing the cast with "younger faces."
One fan put it succinctly: "If Paramount and Roddenberry will not work to preserve the integrity of the legend that is STAR TREK, then the fans must."
Note at the End of the Open Letter
ATTENTION FEN:
The foregoing is a news release being circulated to fen and news media countrywide. We have a time limitation; THE TIME TO ACT IS NOW! This is an open betrayal of STAR TREK and all we have fought for for 8 years.
Paramount must be informed of how we feel — it is to their best interests to satisfy the fans who can guarantee the success of STAR TREK II. Let them know we require STAR TREK, not a half-baked imitation. We require the original cast and characters and that means Nimoy as Spock. WRITE: Mr. Richard Frank,
Paramount Television, 5451 Marathon, Hollywood, CA 90038. WRITE: Mr. Gary Nardino, Paramount Pictures (same address). WRITE: Mr. Gene Roddenberry (same address). WRITE SEVERAL TIMES: Each piece of mail is counted individually. WRITE, and call fellow fen so that they can write, too. (Postcards and telegrams count, too.)