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When Leonard Nimoy died at the end of last week, many from my generation mourned the loss by posting photos and quotes related to Mr. Spock, Nimoy’s iconic television character, to social media outlets. The outpouring of sorrow and the testimonials of childhood devotion reveal the profound impact that a beloved television program can have on a generation.
Like William Shatner, Nimoy did not always relish his identification as one of television’s most recognizable characters. When Star Trek ended in 1969 after three seasons, both tried to shake off their Trek personas by pursuing other roles. Nimoy even penned an autobiography titled I Am Not Spock in 1975. DeForest Kelley, the third in the trio of interstellar comrades, was not as vocal about moving on to new opportunities, but he, too, was eager to continue his career. It took several decades for the trio to realize what fans knew all along—Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock, and Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy were more than characters from an old TV series. Eventually, Shatner and Nimoy embraced their iconic characters, discussing them at length in their bios Star Trek Memories and I Am Spock.
The problem with such once-in-a-lifetime roles is that nothing these actors appeared in either before or after Star Trek will matter in pop culture history. But that doesn’t mean their pre-Trek careers aren’t interesting to look at.
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A SHIRTLESS BRYNNER LOOKS BUFF AND SEXY, WHILE SHATNER IN HIS FUNNY HAIRCUT AND POOFY BLOUSE FADES INTO THE WALL. NO WONDER THIS ROLE DID NOT LEAD TO STARDOM.
Of the three, William Shatner was definitely movie star material. Handsome and ambitious, he began in Canadian theater in the early 1950s, specifically the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Ontario. Once in America, he appeared on Broadway, in episodic television, and in films. On the surface, the diversity of his early career might seem like a sure-fire path to success and stardom, because it provided many opportunities for Shatner to be discovered. Indeed, Hollywood producer Pandro S. Berman caught him in an episode of Studio One and contacted him to audition for The Brothers Karamazov. When Shatner landed the part of youngest brother Alexei, he took off for Los Angeles, convinced this role would lead to additional opportunities. The Brothers Karamazov starred Yul Brynner and was directed by Richard Brooks, making it one of those prestige productions that should have resulted in big breaks, big awards, and big deals. However, the experience did not turn out that way for Shatner.
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SHATNER SCORED A HIT ON BROADWAY IN ‘THE WORLD OF SUZIE WONG.’
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SHATNER IN A MEMORABLE EPISODE OF ‘TWILIGHT ZONE’ CALLED ‘NIGHTMARE AT 20,000 FEET’
In his autobiography Up Till Now, Shatner recalls that his role consisted mainly of acting saintly, meaning his part was not particularly memorable. In addition, Yul Brynner kicked him in the pants on the day of his first scene. New to Hollywood, the young actor was not quite sure what that meant—acceptance, criticism, a power play—but it clouded his opinion of Hollywood. Plus, he felt he was still a stage actor, so when he heard about Joshua Logan’s upcoming production of The World of Suzie Wong, he was determined to get the lead. During the audition, he dramatically threw down the script and launched into the scene. Shatner’s knack for expressive gestures and outbursts is part of his identity as an actor, and I can just see him tossing the script and letting go. The ploy worked, and he landed the lead.
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‘INCUBUS’ WAS SHOT IN THE LANGUAGE CALLED ESPERANTO.
In 1961, he returned to Hollywood to appear as the prosecutor in Judgment at Nuremberg, another high-profile production, this time produced by the highly respected Stanley Kramer. The film is notable for its parade of major stars in small roles, but the parade passed Shatner by because no one took much notice of him on or off the screen. In 1964, he landed the role of the minister in Martin Ritt’s remake of Rashomon called The Outrage, another prestigious film with a terrific cast that did little to launch Shatner. Sidestepping the road to stardom, he opted for the more eclectic path of the working actor. He appeared in an exploitation flick about raging youth called The Explosive Generation, playing a teacher at odds with parents and administrators after discussing sex education in his classroom. The following year, he appeared in another low-budget film, this time an attempt at social relevancy by Roger Corman. Shot in Mississippi, The Intruder features Shatner as a northern racist who travels south to incite a small town into violence over court-ordered integration. In true Corman fashion, the film was later re-named I Hate Your Guts, then retitled Shame and The Stranger for a UK release.
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NIMOY, THE SON OF JEWISH IMMIGRANTS FROM THE UKRAINE, SPENT MOST OF THE 1950s PLAYING AMERICAN INDIANS. AH, HOLLYWOOD!
The oddest title on Shatner’s filmography is Incubus, a low-budget horror film shot in Esperanto, a universal language invented in 1887 by Dr. Ludvic Zamenhof. The idea was that a universal language might give diverse peoples something in common so we could all get along. In 1965, 7 million people spoke Esperanto, and producer-director Leslie Stevens thought the world-wide box-office potential was strong. Shatner was excited about the possibility and eagerly camped out in the California redwood forest with the other actors to learn about Esperanto from Stevens and several language instructors. Stevens felt strongly that everyone involved with the film should speak Esperanto, even the crew, which included the great cinematographer Conrad Hall. Stevens directed in Esperanto, resulting in long days for the confused crew members and vexed actors. According to Shatner, no one knew if they were speaking their lines correctly, or if their costars were speaking their lines correctly, which gave their performances a peculiar distancing effect—not unlike foreign films.
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NIMOY HAD THE WORST LUCK ON THE BIG SCREEN BEFORE ‘STAR TREK.’ HERE HE IS EATEN BY GIANT ANTS IN ‘THEM!’
William Shatner’s career paralleled that of Steve McQueen, Robert Redford, and Clint Eastwood, and while each of them made their share of Hollywood movies, low-budget indies, and episodic television appearances, big-screen stardom eluded Shatner. Perhaps it was because he was also wedded to the stage; or, perhaps it was just the (bad) luck of the draw.
Leonard Nimoy’s thin frame and craggy, dark features did not lend themselves to leading man roles, though he did play the lead in Kid Monk Baroni, about a street punk who becomes a boxer. Throughout the 1950s, he played Native Americans in bit parts in western movies and television series, or he was relegated to even smaller roles as nondescript characters in a variety of genres. Trekkies like to point out his appearances as Narab in Zombies of the Stratosphere and as a staff officer in Them! because they are early forays into the genre that made him a star. I recall seeing Them! as a college student at a university film series, and when Nimoy appeared on the screen as the radio operator who falls prey to giant ants, the audience applauded and chanted, “Spock, Spock, Spock.” If not for Star Trek, I wonder if Nimoy would have sustained a lucrative career as an actor in television or film.
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A HANDSOME DEFOREST KELLEY IN ‘FEAR IN THE NIGHT’
The Best Pre-Trek Career Award goes to DeForest Kelley, who enjoyed success as a b-movie actor and as a secondary player during the 1940s and 1950s. Kelley tended to star and costar in those types of crime dramas and westerns that movie buffs love—lesser-known movies with a notorious scene, a crazy character, or a nifty bit of cinematography generally not found in big-budget movies. His big-screen debut occurred in a b-noir from 1947 titled Fear in the Night, playing a bank teller who wakes up from a nightmare in which he killed a man in a strange, mirrored room. In the b-drama Duke of Chicago, Kelley played a big-city reporter, whose deftness at his job is signaled by his name, Ace Martin.
Kelley’s roles on the big screen got smaller and smaller until he was actually uncredited in The Men, The View from Pompey’s Head, and The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit, in which he turns to Gregory Peck and says, “This man is dead.” Like Shatner and Nimoy, he appeared in anthology and episodic television series to sustain his career, probably guest-starring in every hit show from the 1950s through the 1960s. In the late 1950s, a role as a notorious gunslinger in Tension at Table Rock revitalized his big-screen career as a secondary player in westerns. He costarred as Morgan Earp in Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, and as part of a ruthless gang of gunfighters in The Law and Jake Wade and in Warlock.
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ARTIST SUSAN HAYWARD EXPRESSES HER INNER SELF IN HER SCULPTURES IN ‘WHERE LOVE HAS GONE,’ ART CRITIC DEFOREST KELLEY APPROVES.
Low-budget westerns dominated his filmography into the 1960s, except for a lurid little melodrama called Where Love Has Gone, released in 1964. Suggested by the sensational murder of Johnny Stompanato by Lana Turner’s daughter, Cheryl Crane, the film stars Susan Hayward as a man-chasing sculptress. Hayward’s daughter, played by Joey Heatherton (no kidding), is accused of murdering one of her mother’s lovers. In a vacation from the Old West, Kelley costars as sleazy art critic Sam Corwin, who is also hot for Hayward. By this time, the deep wrinkles that seemed to age Kelley prematurely had set in, and b-westerns—his bread and butter—were losing their viability.
And, so it was in 1966 that a failed movie star, an unknown bit actor, and a fading secondary player were cast in a little sci fi series for NBC . . . .