To boldly go ... (Star Trek)

[San Antone]

I wonder how many actors have had that kind of experience, after playing a role with which they were evermore identified.

Peter Falk, Columbo?
Angela Landsbury, Jessica Fletcher?
John Hamm, Don Draper?

[Karl Henning]

Peter Falk, Columbo?
Angela Landsbury, Jessica Fletcher?
John Hamm, Don Draper?

And on the downside, Anthony Perkins, Norman Bates.

[Number Six]

Peter Falk, Columbo?
Angela Landsbury, Jessica Fletcher?
John Hamm, Don Draper?

Of all the James Bond actors, I would say Roger Moore. Though all of them will always be Bond, the way PStew will always be Picard or McKellan will always be Gandalf.

[DavidW]

the way PStew will always be Picard or McKellan will always be Gandalf.

I don't know about that. Their X-Men roles were almost as popular.

[DavidW]

I wonder how many actors have had that kind of experience, after playing a role with which they were evermore identified.

Even worse is that Star Trek actors are apparently expected to have panels at conventions until they die of old age. Can you imagine maintaining enthusiasm about a role you played back when people were still salty over Mondale losing the election?

[Number Six]

Even worse is that Star Trek actors are apparently expected to have panels at conventions until they die of old age. Can you imagine maintaining enthusiasm about a role you played back when people were still salty over Mondale losing the election?

[VonStupp]

Even worse is that Star Trek actors are apparently expected to have panels at conventions until they die of old age. Can you imagine maintaining enthusiasm about a role you played back when people were still salty over Mondale losing the election?

I'm still salty over Hubert Humphrey losing. Maybe I need to move on...
VS

[LKB]

I'm still salty over Hubert Humphrey losing. Maybe I need to move on...
VS

And he lost to Nixon, no less.

Wherever HH is now, l bet that still stings.

[Karl Henning]

I am constantly asked how I managed to "keep a straight face" while playing the character. In terms of actor's craft, it was easy. I'm always amazed at the speed and deftness with which a plumber fixes a leaky faucet. That's his craft. Mine included emotional control and manipulation. I remember one day on the Star Trek set when a group of actors were listening to a story being told by one of the group. There was a funny ending and everyone laughed. I didn't.
An actress in the group said, "Leonard is in his Spock bag."
I was, deeply into it and that was sometimes a problem.  I was like a pressure cooker. Plenty of emotional input, and little or no emotional release.  I was so thoroughly immersed in the character that my weekends were a gradual trip back to emotional normalcy.

— Leonard Nimoy, I Am Not Spock

[Karl Henning]

I've just finished reading I Am Not Spock, the Leonard Nimoy memoir which Did Not Amuse Star Trek fandom. I've also, as a result, started the series all over. I'm mighty impressed with how watchable it remains.

[relm1]

I've just finished reading I Am Not Spock, the Leonard Nimoy memoir which Did Not Amuse Star Trek fandom. I've also, as a result, started the series all over. I'm mighty impressed with how watchable it remains.

Did you see the doc by his son called "For the Love of Spock"?

[Karl Henning]

Did you see the doc by his son called "For the Love of Spock"?

I did not.

[Karl Henning]

At the end of the third season [of Mission: Impossible] Martin Landau and Barbara Bain were involved in some very difficult negotiations with Paramount. Landau had been working on a season-to-season contract and was free to negotiate whatever he thought were his best interests for the season to come. By the time it became clear that Star Trek was to be canceled it was also evident that Landau and his wife Barbara Bain were not going to successfully complete their negotiations for a fourth season on Mission Impossible. Having reached an impasse, and having decided to move off in another direction, the studio contacted my agent about the possibility of my moving into the Mission: Impossible show. There were several aspects of the deal which were especially attractive. In the first place it meant that I would be back on the air immediately in the new fall season playing a wide variety of characters as Landau had been doing for the previous three years. This meant that at least for myself I would be able to reexplore and reexamine my range as a character actor. In a sense it was like going back to the beginnings when I found acting to be such a delightful adventure. The opportunity to play all kinds of people had always intrigued me. In addition there was the fact that Mission: Impossible was already a successfully established show. While this removed some of the challenge of being involved in the creation of a new series, there was compensation in the fact that the format of the show was secure and I would be free to work comfortably within that successful format. The offer from Paramount was quite generous in comparison to what I had been earning on the Star Trek show. Having worked on adjoining stages for three years I felt quite comfortable with the Mission company and looked forward to working with them.

I approached the situation very carefully. There had been many lessons to be learned about working in a series which had been made very clear to me during the making of Star Trek. Between my agent and Paramount and myself, we worked on a formula whereby I could "test the waters" so to speak, in the Mission: Impossible situation before plunging in. Paramount was to give me a commitment to do eight episodes on MI. The scripts were to be submitted to me for my approval and based on my availability. This is what I would consider an ideal situation for an actor. It simply means that Paramount had to offer me the opportunity to play eight of their scripts at a predetermined and generous price. I, in turn, could do the scripts if I liked them and if they did not conflict with other commitments. On that basis I went to work. I called Ed Milkis, who had been so helpful in facilitating my movement off the lot after the cancelation of Star Trek. Ed was now aware that we had just made a deal for Mission: Impossible and immediately sent the truck and two drivers to move me back onto the lot. I laughingly commented to him that we might have saved a couple of moves if they had let me stay on the lot just a bit longer. It was now only about three weeks since they had moved me out. Ed put it very simply, "We didn't love you then, but we love you now."

— Leonard Nimoy, I Am Not Spock

[Karl Henning]

On Wikipedia, the synopsis of the show begins, "The show is set in the Milky Way galaxy," which of course, would be equally true of Dragnet. 

[Karl Henning]

The Search for Not Spock

[relm1]

I did not.

You must change that immediately.  There is no other option.  I think it is on Disney channel if you have that.  It's basically a love letter to Nimoy but quite honest since he and his son had a complex relationship.  Apparently, spock wasn't a good dad because he was so invested in the character, but they found their way to harmony.  Just a good examination of the man and character and the struggle both had with each other.