What's a Leonard Nimoy?
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| Title: | What's a Leonard Nimoy? |
| Creator: | Beryl Van Riper |
| Date(s): | 1971 |
| Medium: | |
| Fandom: | Star Trek: TOS, Mission Impossible, Leonard Nimoy |
| Topic: | |
| External Links: | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
What's a Leonard Nimoy? is a 1971 essay by Beryl Van Riper.
It was printed in Nimoyan #2, a fan club zine.
Some Topics Discussed
- Nimoy's manliness
- typecasting
- looking good in clothes
- includes some racial comments that were "acceptable" in 1971, but certainly not now
From the Essay
As a whole, let me say first that Leonard Nimoy is a strong and exciting MAN! This, in heart, mind, soul, and 'body.
He's handsome to look at, not in the classic Hollywood sense of a superbly developed male animal of the blonde, Nordic type, but in a way that comes from a face with a keen mind behind it; an infinitely more fascinating personality.
But do not think I denigrate his good looks. I love his height, his cool eyes, his strong hands and the way he handles himself. Altho he is too thin, except for that ghoul, the camera, I prefer this type of build. It also adds to his ability to wear absolutely anything with a flair, to which he adds his own particular elan to the costume of the moment. I am thinking in particular of that gorgeous red lined magician's cape he wore so spectacularly in "The Falcon" episode on Mission Impossible.
He has a most mobile face that can and has assumed the aloof immobility of a Chinese, a laughing gypsy countenance and the arrogant profile of a ruthless military officer. He can look exceedingly hand some and totally inept with the complete competence of a superb actor.
I hope he never gets "typed" and imprisoned in the static role of a star of a TV series. "And if this be treason" - he may make the most of it. Such a situation may be financially satisfying, but it would be a dead-end for all of us, NO? Feel free to disagree.
As a strong man, secure in his own ability, he has great tenderness and the few times he has been allowed to express it in his TV roles, have been most moving moments.
Because of this, I am looking forward to the "next Paris" in Mission Impossible. To which program, incidentally, I feel he brought a whole new dimension, adding to its excitement immeasurably.
The small glimpses of his personal life we have been permitted to see have shown us a man with both feet on the ground, his heart secure in the center of his family and a mind that is actively concerned with the problems of today.
I enjoy him as an actor immensely and consider it a privilege to have him enter my living room every week. I think highly of him, both as a person and as a man.