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Speaker 1: Now here's a highlight from Coast to Coast Am on iHeartRadio.

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Speaker 2: And welcome back to Coast to Coast.

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Speaker 3: George Nori with you, Adam Nimoy with us as we

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Speaker 3: talk about the life of Adam and his father. Adam

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Speaker 3: did did your father ever talk about his days as

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Speaker 3: a cab driver in the time he picked up John F. Kennedy.

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Speaker 4: Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, that was one of a big

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Speaker 4: moment in his life, made a big impact on him.

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Speaker 2: He uh, he picked up I think.

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Speaker 4: The the uh, the fair was to pick him up

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Speaker 4: at the Beller Hotel and take him to the Beverly

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Speaker 4: Hilton for some kind of uh uh meeting, a Democratic meeting.

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Speaker 2: Uh and uh en route uh you know he uh.

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Speaker 4: He told Kennedy that he was from Massachusetts. I mean

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Speaker 4: this was you know, Senator Kennedy at the time, and

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Speaker 4: not many people knew who he was and uh and

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Speaker 4: uh and Kennedy's commented on the fact that there was

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Speaker 4: that their businesses were very much the same, politics and acting.

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Speaker 2: You know, my dad told him me he was aspiring

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Speaker 2: to become an actor. That was what his dream was.

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Speaker 4: And and Kennedy told him, there's you know, it's very competitive.

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Speaker 4: I'm sure it's very competitive, but there's always room for one,

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Speaker 4: one more good one, he said, And that was a

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Speaker 4: big inspiration. My dad had been an inspiration to a

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Speaker 4: lot of people. You know that. That's my dad's hold credo.

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Speaker 4: You have to have passion about what you love to

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Speaker 4: do and want to do, and not worry about the

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Speaker 4: odds against it.

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Speaker 2: My dad came to LA you know, the odds were.

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Speaker 4: Against him tremendously. He came to LA with nothing, no connections.

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Speaker 1: You know.

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Speaker 2: He brought with him a Boston accent. That was about it.

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Speaker 4: He had no money and no prospects, but there was

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Speaker 4: you know, he was undeterred through those seventeen years, really

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Speaker 4: from forty nine to nineteen sixty six. He arrived in

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Speaker 4: LA in nineteen forty nine. But he never gave up

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Speaker 4: on his dream and his passion.

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Speaker 3: I heard he was a pretty good singer.

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Speaker 4: Well that's you know, that's a matter of debate, George,

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Speaker 4: and in the ear of the beholder and from my

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Speaker 4: you know, in my mind, there's look, there's a lot

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Speaker 4: of his music I love. I mean, I still play

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Speaker 4: his stuff regularly in the car when I'm driving around.

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Speaker 2: There's some stuff he did. I think that was really terrific.

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Speaker 4: There's some stuff that, you know, really should have just

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Speaker 4: stayed on the on the Rhino Records Golden Throats album

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Speaker 4: and left it at that. I mean, there were some

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Speaker 4: things that were you know, a little bit questionable, I would.

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Speaker 2: Say, But he actually had a very good singing voice.

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Speaker 4: He was in a number of musicals, you know, productions

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Speaker 4: in theater throughout the nineteen seventies, beginning with Fiddler on

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Speaker 4: the Roof summer of seventy one, and he was absolutely fabulous.

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Speaker 4: I mean he could sing and he could hold you know,

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Speaker 4: the show, and he was in Camelot.

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Speaker 2: And in Oliver.

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Speaker 4: I mean, he was a number of musicals, so he

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Speaker 4: could sing sometimes better than others.

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Speaker 2: And I'll always.

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Speaker 3: Remember him In search Of because I love that show

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Speaker 3: and it's like our radio program.

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Speaker 4: Well exactly In search Of was something that was of

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Speaker 4: great interest to him, and it was a real godsend

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Speaker 4: because you have to understand Georgia in the nineteen seventies,

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Speaker 4: nobody from Star Trek was making any money. All the

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Speaker 4: residuals had run out, and even though the show was

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Speaker 4: in syndication five days a week, it was you know,

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Speaker 4: paramount that was making the money, but no actors were

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Speaker 4: being paid, and Gean Roddenberry certainly wasn't being paid.

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Speaker 2: So the fact that In Search Of was.

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Speaker 4: There and was really kind of like sustained us during

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Speaker 4: this period of the nineteen seventies, enabling my.

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Speaker 2: Father to do the theater work he wanted.

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Speaker 4: It doesn't theater does not pay, but it's very creatively

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Speaker 4: challenging and satisfying, and my dad really loved that career.

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Speaker 2: But it was In Search Of that really helped pay

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Speaker 2: the bills during that period.

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Speaker 3: You came up with a documentary called For the Love

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Speaker 3: of Spock. Tell us about that.

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Speaker 4: Well, I came up with the id, you know, my

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Speaker 4: dad and I in twenty thirteen. My dad and I

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Speaker 4: were doing very well together. We had a very good relationship,

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Speaker 4: and I just felt it was time that we maybe

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Speaker 4: go back to Boston and make a little documentary about

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Speaker 4: his life growing up there. And we did it and

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Speaker 4: had such a good experience that in twenty fourteen I

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Speaker 4: approached him aout the idea of making a spot documentary

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Speaker 4: to kind of celebrate the upcoming fiftieth anniversary of Star.

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Speaker 2: Trek, the original series, which would be in twenty.

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Speaker 4: Sixteen at that point, and he jumped at the chance

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Speaker 4: of working together on the documentary and was very interested

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Speaker 4: and was doing the research with me, and we were

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Speaker 4: developing this project together. And you know, this is in

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Speaker 4: the end of twenty fourteen. He reminded me that we

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Speaker 4: were already at the fifty year mark from the date

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Speaker 4: of the first pilot of Star Trek, which was December

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Speaker 4: November December of nineteen sixty four. So this project was

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Speaker 4: moving along quite nicely. And then suddenly my father passed

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Speaker 4: away in February of twenty fifteen. But the show must

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Speaker 4: go on, and I think my dad really would have

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Speaker 4: wanted me to continue on with the project, and so,

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Speaker 4: working in collaboration with a number of other people, we

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Speaker 4: just we kept putting things together and celebrating the life

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Speaker 4: not only of mister Spock, but because of the passing.

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Speaker 2: Of my dad, the life of Leonard Nimoy as well.

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Speaker 3: Your dad was eighty three when he died, almost eighty four.

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Speaker 3: What finally succumbed him?

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Speaker 4: Well, he was a cigarette smoker, George, for thirty years,

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Speaker 4: That's what I mean.

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Speaker 2: You know, he dodged the cancer bullet. He was very lucky,

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Speaker 2: but he.

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Speaker 4: Had chronic obstructive pulmonary disease COPD, and was just flat

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Speaker 4: out out of breath. He just could not breathe in

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Speaker 4: the end, without oxygen assistance and a lot of you know,

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Speaker 4: medical therapy which he finally just had given up on

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Speaker 4: and decided he was done.

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Speaker 2: He was you know, he was at the hospital under.

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Speaker 4: Doctor's care, and they sent him home and he you know,

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Speaker 4: immediately slipped into a coma and was gone a couple

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Speaker 4: of days, a day later. Really happened very quickly. It

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Speaker 4: was very It was shocking, really, but yeah, COPD, it's

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Speaker 4: a killer.

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Speaker 3: While you were doing the documentary, Adam with him, did

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Speaker 3: it give you any new revelations about your relationship?

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Speaker 2: Well, yeah, I.

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Speaker 4: Mean it was it was another kind of episode in

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Speaker 4: the reconciliation and the and the camaraderie that we really

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Speaker 4: experienced and enjoyed. Uh we you know, it was going

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Speaker 4: to be another way to bring us closer together, to celebrate.

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Speaker 4: You know, the point was we were really celebrating my

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Speaker 4: dad in his career. And it's so it was so

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Speaker 4: satisfying for him because he was able to look back

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Speaker 4: and see the incredible trajectory that he had experienced in

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Speaker 4: his professional career. It was satisfying for me because I'm

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Speaker 4: honoring him, you know. So it was just it was

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Speaker 4: a labor of love for both of us, and we

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Speaker 4: I learned more and more about you know, digging deeper

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Speaker 4: about the spot Charecter. I didn't know that Charles Shram

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Speaker 4: is the guy who really invented the ears. Now, Charles

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Speaker 4: Shram was a makeup artist at MGM and worked on

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Speaker 4: Wizard of Oz. So, uh, you know, these little factoids

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Speaker 4: were things that kept coming out.

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Speaker 2: That my dad was remembering and sharing with me.

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Speaker 3: What did your dad think of the ears?

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Speaker 4: Well, at first, you know, the ears were a struggle

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Speaker 4: because Geene Roddenberry wanted them, but they were having difficulty

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Speaker 4: in creating them. They had they were working with a

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Speaker 4: with a you know, a kind of make up a

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Speaker 4: special effects house that could make big monster alien makeup.

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Speaker 2: They were very good at dad, but but the the

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Speaker 2: ears were much more challenging.

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Speaker 4: They're very it's very refined, it's a very it's if

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Speaker 4: to have a real craftsmanship to create something that looks authentic,

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Speaker 4: like it's really a part of the person's body. And

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Speaker 4: he talked about this a lot in the documentary. And

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Speaker 4: that's why Fred Phillips, who's his makeup was Dad's makeup artist,

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Speaker 4: is is the guy who decided at the very last

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Speaker 4: minute to run over to Shram and MGM and have him.

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Speaker 2: Create the prototypes.

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Speaker 4: And it happened very quickly, and that is what they

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Speaker 4: used for.

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Speaker 2: The rest of the series.

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Speaker 4: Now, you know, they were going to give up because

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Speaker 4: they couldn't really create something that was believable, and it

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Speaker 4: was Gene Roddenberry according to my father, who insisted that

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Speaker 4: he make it happen.

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Speaker 2: It was a critical part of the character.

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Speaker 4: And we're forever grateful that he you know, he stuck

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Speaker 4: to his guns on that one.

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Speaker 3: Adam, was there a revelation doing the documentary that you

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Speaker 3: did not know about before?

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Speaker 4: H Yeah, I mean there were, Look, there were a

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Speaker 4: number of things that came up about a little bit

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Speaker 4: about the behind the scenes stuff, and you know, one

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Speaker 4: of the things I really didn't know.

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Speaker 2: For example, one example was This Side of Paradise.

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Speaker 4: It was a love story between Spock and I allowed

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Speaker 4: played beautifully by Jill Ireland. And this was happened in

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Speaker 4: the first season and my dad told me, I didn't

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Speaker 4: really understand this, but he said he was really worried

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Speaker 4: about doing a Spock love story because the first time

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Speaker 4: they were going to let the character loose and to

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Speaker 4: show more emotion when he was just getting really comfortable

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Speaker 4: with the kind of restrained part of Spock and the

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Speaker 4: and the struggle to control his emotions. So he was

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Speaker 4: worried about He was really, you know, kind of on

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Speaker 4: a roll with that, and he was worried about losing

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Speaker 4: that with this new episode that was going to allow

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Speaker 4: Spot to express more of his human side.

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Speaker 2: So that was really interesting.

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Speaker 4: But it was a milestone and one of my favorite

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Speaker 4: episodes of all time because we can really see, you know,

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Speaker 4: the human side of Spock, the struggle that.

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Speaker 2: Spock is going through that we're all going through.

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Speaker 4: This is why people relate and resonate, you know, Spock

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Speaker 4: resonates with them. So that was an interesting one of

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Speaker 4: many many interesting revelations.

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Speaker 3: When he went out, did people recognize him more as

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Speaker 3: doctor Spock or Leonard Nimoy?

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Speaker 4: Well, Uh, doctor Spock is is the Benjamin Spock is

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Speaker 4: a baby doctor.

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Speaker 2: Uh.

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Speaker 4: They recognized him definitely as Spock, that's for sure.

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Speaker 2: Uh.

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Speaker 4: When he was confusing him with the character, I mean,

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Speaker 4: he was trying to make the point that uh, you know,

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Speaker 4: a letter was not you know.

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Speaker 2: From Vulcan, he was from Boston.

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Speaker 4: People just really were confused about who they were talking

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Speaker 4: to when they were talking to the actors. So you know,

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Speaker 4: look Spot, you know, people always I would be walking

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Speaker 4: with him in public and people would just be amazed

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Speaker 4: about the fact that that, you know, Spock was walking

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Speaker 4: down the street. I always loved that experience because you know,

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Speaker 4: it's it's like you never forget a moment like that

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Speaker 4: when you bump into something. I still have these kind

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Speaker 4: of memories of bumping into celebrities. And he was very

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Speaker 4: satisfying to be with him, and the way he interacted

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Speaker 4: with the fans.

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Speaker 2: But it was definitely Spock that they were relating to,

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Speaker 2: and he was Jewish. Ukrainian was yeah.

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Speaker 4: My grandparents were refugees or you know, they immigrated from

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Speaker 4: Ukraine because of violence against Jews, and they left in

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Speaker 4: the nineteen twenties, ended up in Boston there with some

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Speaker 4: relatives in New York who had already left beforehand.

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Speaker 2: And there was from a small town a Stadle we called.

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Speaker 4: A village in the middle of Ukraine between Kiev, the capitol,

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Speaker 4: and Leviv on the very Western border and they were

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Speaker 4: able to escape. You know, my grandfather had to go

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Speaker 4: to my dad's father before they got married. My dad

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Speaker 4: his father had to go to Argentina for a year.

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Speaker 4: He couldn't get a visa into the country. But my

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Speaker 4: dad's grandfather was already in Boston. He was a leather

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Speaker 4: worker and sent money back for my dad's mom and

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Speaker 4: her brothers to come to America.

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Speaker 3: That was fascinating. What do you think he'd be saying

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Speaker 3: about the Russian Ukraine War right now, Adam.

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Speaker 4: Well, he's my dad was you know, would stand with Ukraine,

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Speaker 4: no doubt about it. I mean, was he still considered it,

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Speaker 4: you know, his homeland.

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Speaker 2: And in fact, he was invited.

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Speaker 4: To screen Star Trek four The Voyage Home, which he

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Speaker 4: directed in Moscow in the I think it was the

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Speaker 4: late probably the late eighties, maybe early nineteen nineties, and

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Speaker 4: he asked as a condition to going if he could

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Speaker 4: go visit the town that his parents came from and

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Speaker 4: visited some relatives who were still there.

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Speaker 2: So he was very connected to That's.

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Speaker 4: The thing about my dad that I really admired is

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Speaker 4: that he was very connected to his tradition of being

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Speaker 4: you know, Jewish and of his roots where he came from,

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Speaker 4: and his affinity for the relatives who were still there

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Speaker 4: in Ukraine.

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Speaker 3: Adam, what was the moment that it really started to

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Speaker 3: click for you in your relationship with your father, that

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Speaker 3: you figured that this is starting to work.

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Speaker 2: Well?

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Speaker 4: Really happened finally when my wife was sick and I

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Speaker 4: was calling my dad for help because you.

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Speaker 2: Know, I didn't know who to turn to. I needed

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Speaker 2: to talk to somebody, and he was available, you know,

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Speaker 2: and was at all hours. My dad was on the

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Speaker 2: phone with me.

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Speaker 4: And that was the critical point where I realized we

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Speaker 4: really had come full circle and and and you know,

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Speaker 4: we would nothing would ever be the same again.

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Speaker 2: We would never go back to the relationship we have before.

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Speaker 2: That it was going to be. You know, I was

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Speaker 2: determined that was going to be strong bond between us

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Speaker 2: and loving bond. I George, you have to understand.

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Speaker 4: I just didn't want to have any regrets, you know,

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Speaker 4: and I didn't care about stuff that happened in the past.

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Speaker 2: He was willing to let go as well.

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Speaker 4: And I needed help, you know, I really really it's

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Speaker 4: very tough on the caregiver when you, you know, when

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Speaker 4: your spouse is sick with cancer, and it was very challenging.

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Speaker 4: Just it was just devastating to lose Martha. But my dad,

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Speaker 4: you know, really wanted to step up for me, and

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Speaker 4: that's when I realized that we were going to you know,

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Speaker 4: it was going to be a strong bond.

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Speaker 2: Between us for the rest of our lives. That's great.

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Speaker 3: Did you ever see him cry at him?

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Speaker 4: Yeah, I've seen him have a couple of breakdowns, definitely.

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Speaker 4: You know, he got emotional a couple of times with me,

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Speaker 4: you know, that's for sure. Yeah, there was a couple

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Speaker 4: of times where he was willing to show that that

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Speaker 4: side of himself where he was really struggling. But mostly,

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Speaker 4: you know, my dad was very difficult to relate to

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Speaker 4: during my years growing up. He was very reserved, very introspective,

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Speaker 4: and very restracted, much like Spock. George, you have to

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Speaker 4: understand that my dad, you know, there's a lot of

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Speaker 4: Leonard and Spock, and a lot of Spock in Leonard,

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Speaker 4: and he was not very good at at showing.

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Speaker 2: His more vulnerable side.

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Speaker 3: Let me say that, what would you want the world

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Speaker 3: to think of your father with the legacy of Spock.

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Speaker 4: Well, that it's okay to be different, you know, and

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Speaker 4: that you know, this is the whole point of And

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Speaker 4: when I was making the documentary, this is what people

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Speaker 4: were saying to me. All the fans were saying pretty

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Speaker 4: much the same thing. They loved Spock because Spock was different.

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Speaker 4: And this is the whole point of my dad's journey

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Speaker 4: as Spock. You have to understand that my dad was

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Speaker 4: very much the outsider. All he saw himself that way

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Speaker 4: when he was growing up in Boston. Boston, you know,

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Speaker 4: the West End was an immigrant bubble of Italians and

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Speaker 4: Irish and Russian Jews, and my dad, you know, was

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Speaker 4: wanted to be assimilated in society, was not, you know,

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Speaker 4: a part of what was going on in American culture.

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Speaker 4: That's why you knew he had to leave Boston at

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Speaker 4: the age of eighteen. He left in nineteen forty nine,

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Speaker 4: so he, you know, very much so trying to integrate

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Speaker 4: himself in American society. That is Spot's story. He's the

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Speaker 4: only alien on the bridge.

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Speaker 2: In the enterprise, there's.

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Speaker 4: It's multinational, multi ethnic, multiracial, but only one alien on

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Speaker 4: the bridge and that Spock. And his whole objective was

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Speaker 4: to try to give the best that he could as

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Speaker 4: an outsider. And and you know, integrate himself and connect

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Speaker 4: with his community.

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Speaker 2: Well where a lot of us are like that and

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Speaker 2: that and that.

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Speaker 4: Just gave heart to a lot of people. I think

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Speaker 4: that is the legacy of mister Spock, is.

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Speaker 2: That it's okay to be an outsider.

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Speaker 4: You don't have to be popular or successful to have

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Speaker 4: a meaningful life and you and it's okay to be different.

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Speaker 2: And that's the critical I think that's the critical message.

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