October 4, 2024 • 18 mins
George Noory and author Adam Nimoy discuss the life and career of his father Leonard Nimoy who played Mr. Spock on Star Trek, their struggles to reconcile their relationship as both of them overcame substance abuse issues, and his complicated friendship with Captain Kirk actor William Shatner.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Now here's a highlight from Coast to Coast Am on iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
And welcome back to Coast to Coast George Nori with you.
Adam Nimoy with US. Graduate of UC Berkeley and Loyola
Law Schools. After seven years in the entertainment law field,
he left to pursue a directing career, and he has
directed more than forty five hours of network television, as
well as documentary films about his father, Leonard Nimoy. Adam,
welcome to the program. So good to have you.
Speaker 3 (00:27):
Thank you for having me, George, I really appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Your father gave us years of entertainment, my friend, Thank you.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
Yes, he did, he did. He's quite quite, very productive
during his career, very lucky, a very driven guy with
a lot of interest, very versatile actor, renaissance man, true artist.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
What did you think of him in Star Trek as
Bock when you were growing up?
Speaker 3 (00:57):
Well, I mean the show came on the air when
I was ten year years old. I've been watching a
lot of sixties TV up to that point, so I
was very much aware of what he was doing and
very much prepared for it. Thankfully. Uh, you know, I
love Spock right away. He was just a new, interesting,
unique character. It was great were coming into the and
(01:19):
the era of color programming for all three networks, and
this show just looked great and we were ready.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
For him, and he was. He was close friends with
William Shatner, wasn't he.
Speaker 3 (01:34):
Well, that's a complicated question, Joan. Uh. There was a
period of time where they were very close, and I'm
really grateful for that. There were several years when they
had sort of reconciled many of their differences and very
close personal friends. My dad actually announced to my sister
and I that Bill was his best friend, and I
(01:55):
thought that was lovely that they did have a nice relationship.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
For one Now, your father's parents were immigrants from Ukraine.
I wonder what they'd be saying about things going on today.
Speaker 3 (02:10):
Well, it's a very difficult situation. I mean, it was
a difficult situation when they were in Ukraine, which is
why they laughed. There was a lot of violence against
people in their village, Jewish people in particularly like my grandparents,
and they were forced to leave. They didn't want to leave,
and they ended up They came from a very rural
(02:30):
area and ended up in downtown Boston. So you know,
it's not I mean, the country has has had a
very difficult history. It's a very difficult time now, and
I think they'd be very sympathetic with their you know,
with the people in Ukraine.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
Yeah, your father was born in Boston. My mother was
born not too far from Boston and Fitchburgh and god willing,
she's still kicking at ninety five.
Speaker 3 (02:56):
That's amazing. Wow.
Speaker 2 (02:59):
What kind of relation did you have with your father,
Adam growing up?
Speaker 3 (03:04):
Well, George is very complicated. This is something that I
talk about pretty extensively in this new memoir I just published,
The Most Human. I kind of dealve very deeply into
my history with my dad, beginning when I was with
when I was a kid. I had a very complicated
relationship with him because, you know, my dad was born
during the Depression in Boston to these immigrant parents, and
(03:28):
he had a very different upbringing than I did. He
was very much it was very difficult for them. It
was very challenging. My dad was hustling to earn money
at a very young age. He was selling newspapers on
the Boston Common when he was ten years old during
World War Two, and then he came to California with nothing.
(03:49):
His parents didn't support his desire to become an actor,
and he had a hustle when he was in LA
and then by you know, nineteen fifty six when I
came along, he had a family afford to support, so
we had It was very difficult with him to begin
with because my dad didn't have much of a childhood.
He had to grow up pretty fast, and my childhood
with him was was very awkward, I would say, kind
(04:12):
of distant. Although my dad tried to do father's son
outings with me, I never really felt an emotional connection
to him.
Speaker 2 (04:19):
And it wasn't it his grandfather that kind of pushed
him into the acting field.
Speaker 3 (04:25):
Now, his grandfather supported that idea. Yeah, yeah, my grandfather
told him that he should she he should learn how
to play the accordion. Yes, his parents did not approve
of him wanting to wander off and pursue an acting career.
To them, that was like saying, you want to join
the circus. They were very much, you know, dedicated to
(04:47):
the American dream of you have kids in America and
they go to college and they become professionals, which my
dad's older brother, my uncle Mel did do he went
to myt But my dad's grandm father was much more adventurous,
so much so that he's the one who initially left
Ukraine and came to Boston. Was the first one to
(05:07):
come to Boston, and he spook my dad a few
extra bucks to help him on his journey out west.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
And your dad, God love him, served on the military
back in the early fifties, didn't he.
Speaker 3 (05:20):
He was in the Army Reserve. That's correct. He was
stationed in Atlanta, where my sister was born. And I
think you know, you remember the exact date he was discharged.
Somebody asked of that. I wish I could remember. I know,
it was like December nineteen fifty five. I mean, he
just rolled off his tongue. You know, it was very
much vivid on his mind, that memory.
Speaker 2 (05:43):
He did a lot of programs and a lot of
different shows. His acting career was pretty extensive beyond Star Trek.
Speaker 3 (05:52):
Well yeah, I mean, he was a number of shows.
This is why he was really ready for Star Trek.
He was in dozens of big parts and different TV shows,
many of them playing Native Americans and in westerns, in
gun Smoke and in Rawhide and Wagon Train and at
Tombstone Territory. He was in Get Smart. He was, you know,
(06:15):
just the outer limits. It's just endless, the stuff that
he was appearing on. And I'd be watching this stuff
as a kid. I'd be watching TV and all of
a sudden, my dad would appear. Was because we never
knew when he was going to be on, and it
was very it was kind of jarring, but it always
filled me with a sense of pride.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
He was also in Mission Impossible, and I didn't know
that at that time.
Speaker 3 (06:37):
Yeah, he rolled right into Mission after Star Trek Rap
because Marty Landau had decided to leave the show and
they were looking for someone to replace him, and it
was a great opportunity for him. It was also shot
at Desilu. They shot Mission in the two sound stages
right next door to where they shot Star Trek. I
believe both series began in nineteen sixty six under Desilu Studios,
(06:59):
So it was a great opportunity for him. He was
with Mission for two years.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
Did he like the Splock part?
Speaker 3 (07:07):
Well, I think he loved the Spock part. Unfortunately. He
published an autobiography in the mid seventies entitled I Am
Not Spot, which kind of gave the wrong message and
upset quite a number of hands. Yeah, you know, yeah,
I mean know, my dad loves Spock. I mean he
was very invested in Spots. Block was very much a
part of my dad, very much liked my dad. Spot
(07:30):
created a lot of opportunities for my father. You know,
he really, you know, invested a lot of himself in
that character and in building that character. And character you know,
came along right at the right time for my dad.
He was at the top of his game. He had
enough experience in TV to know what he was doing.
He got some excellent direction, a number of great directors
(07:51):
on the original series who helped him out, help and
develop the character. Yes, Letard love Spock, no doubt about it.
Speaker 2 (07:57):
Did he ever talk about the ears?
Speaker 3 (08:01):
Well, yeah, the years, yeah, we you know. The story
is at the analog of trouble developing the ears. Initially,
this was Jeane Rodenberry's idea, and they were having trouble
kind of molding them and fitting them on his ears
and making them look real. And my dad even went
to Gene and suggested the possibility of losing the idea
of these ears, and Gene was insistent, which is interesting
(08:24):
from my dad. It was a really interesting lesson that
Jean had a vision for the character and he did
not let go of it. He didn't want to compromise it.
He really felt strongly about that. And then, you know, eventually,
with the help of Freddie Phillips, who was the makeup artist,
they found somebody who could really create the prosthetic ear.
And then when we were making my dad and I
were working on the documentary of Spots together, he looked
(08:47):
up spots ears, you know, he google searched it and
I came up with, I don't know, a couple of
hundred thousand entries and articles and references, which which really
tickled him. He was very proud of that.
Speaker 2 (08:59):
Your father was one of the reasons I ended up
in broadcasting because I loved his show In Search Of
It was one of those captivating programs that dealt with everything.
Speaker 3 (09:10):
Yeah, In Search Of was a terrific show. It came
at a really great time in the seventies when Mission
was over, Star Trek was over, and it was a
real bread and butter of situation for Dad while he
continues to pursue theater work. So it was a great
job for him to have there were a lot of
great interesting episodes, and I must say, you know, Georgia,
(09:31):
there were also a number of what I like to
call placebo episodes that were sort of, you know, hard
to really figure out what it was about. It was
just kind of filler episodes. But it was a fun show.
It was an interesting show, and I think it was
really kind of sparked my dad's imagination.
Speaker 2 (09:49):
Was it your father's career, Adam, that got you into
the film business in Hollywood?
Speaker 3 (09:54):
Well? Yeah, I mean no, initially, no, I mean, you know,
I wanted to create my own path, which is why
I went into law school. I wanted to do something
that Leonard couldn't do, because Leonard could do anything. I
was trying to create my own identity, you know, to
begin with. I mean, a lot of the times we
grow up wanting to be anything but our father figure,
you know, and we push against it, and you know,
(10:17):
we tried to strive to go in a different direction,
and then in the end, I just wanted to end
up being like my dad, because the fact of the
matter was that although I loved going to law school
and I'm glad I got a lot of agree in
practice for seven year years it was just not a
very interesting profession. I want to do something more creative.
I wanted to be a storyteller, just like my dad,
And in that respect, yes, I was inspired by him
(10:40):
to pursue a career in the entertainment business.
Speaker 2 (10:43):
Your father passed away, of course, in twenty fifteen, at
the age of eighty three, and the subtitle of your book,
The Most Human is Reconciling with my father, Leonard Deimoy.
What was that reconciliation all about?
Speaker 3 (10:58):
Well, it was all about many years of dysfunctional interaction
between the two of us. The awkwardness that I experienced
as a young boy kind of blossomed him to a
lot of conflict with my dad when I got into
my teen years, conflict that periodically would flare up between us,
which we were never able to really figure out how
(11:20):
to deal with. We didn't have the tools, and all this,
as I discussed in my book, all this was exacerbated
by my addiction in marijuana and my dad's admitted alcohol problem.
He was an alcoholic, and so I had a very
strange relationship with my dad, George, and that I was
so proud of him, and I had so many quick
(11:41):
experiences with him throughout the years, I mean wonderful opportunities
as a result of his many successes, but periodically and
regularly if we disagreed about something, that could really flare
up and become a lot of just a lot of
unpleasant conflict with him. And so we got to a point,
a real low point relationship where we were very distant
(12:03):
from each other, almost as strange, and it just got
to a point where we needed to figure a way out.
And it was recovery that really did it. We were
both in recovery, twelve step recovery, and we finally found
tools that we could use to try to figure out
how to be loving and accepting of one another and
move on with our lives. And the last years of
(12:25):
our lives we were very close together.
Speaker 2 (12:27):
Well, that's fantastic. He died of what COPD?
Speaker 3 (12:31):
He died OFD I was diagnosed. I can't even remember.
It was probably not that long before he passed away.
And I was just very lucky that those last seven
years he was struggling quite a bit. But those last
years of his life were years that you and I
were at a very close relationship someone so that we
(12:54):
were thinking of that we went to Boston and made
a documentary about his life there, and that we were
working on this documentary about Spot in anticipation of fifty
years of Star Trek before he just when he passed away.
So yeah, it was thirty years of cigarette smoking. I mean,
he was lucky didn't have cancer, but the COPD kind
of constructive pulmonary disease finally caught up with him.
Speaker 2 (13:17):
Yeah, he had really did. And towards the end of
his life, did you see a change with him, Adam?
Speaker 3 (13:24):
Yeah, the end of his life, he changed quite a bit.
I mean, you know, this is the other problem we
were having was that when I was growing up, family
life was not really a priority for my daddy. He
admitted this, This whole priority was survival because he was
supporting his family and succeeding, you know, and pursuing his
career while my mother, you know, really held down the
(13:47):
ford at home. So and later on in his life
things really had changed to the point where he said
in an interview his priority did become family, which I
was very grateful for.
Speaker 2 (13:59):
That's fantastic. At what point did he decide to retire.
I mean he passed away in twenty fifteen, but did
he stop years before that, not really.
Speaker 3 (14:07):
I mean he never he never retired, He just started
to slow down a little bit. I think the pivotal
moment for me was when he was given the offer
to be involved with another Star Trek feature being directed
by JJ Abrams in the first two installments that JJ directed,
(14:29):
and they wanted to bring him back again, and that
job he had to turn down, which shocked me because
you know, he was so proud of being in the
original pilot of Star Trek and being in the last
incarnation through JJ, but then it got to a point
where he just didn't feel like he could do it.
Speaker 2 (14:50):
What was it like for you, Adam going to school
and then we all know what kids are like, knowing
that you were the son of Swak. How did the
kids in school treat you?
Speaker 3 (15:02):
Well? Initially nobody knew really, I mean when it was
when the Star Trek first came on, nobody really put
it together. Uh and uh, and I had I was
able to maintain my anonymity. But but in one class
I did tell a kid. I asked him if he
was watching Star Trek and he said yes. I said, well,
mister Spock is my dad. And he went he went
(15:23):
berserk and then told everybody in the class and then
it was absolute chaos. And after that, I just decided
to try to keep a low profile. And I never,
I really, you know, didn't like to advertise that I
was Leonard's son. But there was one kid in this
art class I was in. I think his name was
like Mike Brown. He was he was one of the
(15:44):
bullies at school. He was a guy that was very
nervous to be around. But he always called me ears,
which which got a lap out of everybody in the class.
And I can appreciate that as well. I mean, you know, look,
people were we had a lot of celebrities, as you know,
children at school, and it wasn't that unusual, and people
I think were very nice to me.
Speaker 2 (16:05):
Is your sister Julie still with us?
Speaker 3 (16:08):
She is?
Speaker 2 (16:10):
Now, that's goood.
Speaker 3 (16:11):
Now.
Speaker 2 (16:11):
How did how was her growing up relationship with your father?
Speaker 3 (16:16):
Well, she had a little She definitely had a closer relationship.
I got more of the of the conflict with him.
She had some issues with him, but they were definitely
much closer than I was. And I, you know, I
was very grateful to have Julie. She's only seventeen, months
older than me, and I keep reminding her of that fact.
(16:37):
She'll always be older to me. That But I was
very grateful for Julie because Julie really validated me and
feeling that a lot of the conflict that were issues
that my father had and that that it wasn't me
and I shouldn't worry. And she was, you know, she
supported me, she was behind me, and I really needed that.
(16:58):
I really appreciated that from her.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
Is your mother still with us, Adam.
Speaker 3 (17:02):
No, she's not. She passed away in twenty eleven.
Speaker 2 (17:06):
Oh jeez, before Leonard, did she.
Speaker 3 (17:09):
Yes, she was a little older than Leonard. They were
the same age when they passed. My mother was eighty
three as well. And yeah, I'm really grateful for her because,
I mean, you have to understand, George, is she is
the one who ran the household while my dad was
gone all the time hustling work. I mean, even when
he wasn't doing TV shows, he was working on jobs.
(17:29):
He was rarely around. And then when Star Trek came around,
he was almost never around. So really grateful to her.
And the interesting thing about my mom is that even
though times were very tough with you know, after I
was born from fifty six to sixty six. Those ten
years were a real struggle for my parents, but my
mother never wavered in her support and believed in my
(17:51):
father's ability and his had shared his dream of pursuing
an acting career.
Speaker 1 (17:56):
Listen to more Coast to Coast AM every weeknight at
one a m. Eastern and go to Coast to coastam
dot com for more
Now here's a highlight from Coast to Coast Am on iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
And welcome back to Coast to Coast George Nori with you.
Adam Nimoy with US. Graduate of UC Berkeley and Loyola
Law Schools. After seven years in the entertainment law field,
he left to pursue a directing career, and he has
directed more than forty five hours of network television, as
well as documentary films about his father, Leonard Nimoy. Adam,
welcome to the program. So good to have you.
Speaker 3 (00:27):
Thank you for having me, George, I really appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Your father gave us years of entertainment, my friend, Thank you.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
Yes, he did, he did. He's quite quite, very productive
during his career, very lucky, a very driven guy with
a lot of interest, very versatile actor, renaissance man, true artist.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
What did you think of him in Star Trek as
Bock when you were growing up?
Speaker 3 (00:57):
Well, I mean the show came on the air when
I was ten year years old. I've been watching a
lot of sixties TV up to that point, so I
was very much aware of what he was doing and
very much prepared for it. Thankfully. Uh, you know, I
love Spock right away. He was just a new, interesting,
unique character. It was great were coming into the and
(01:19):
the era of color programming for all three networks, and
this show just looked great and we were ready.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
For him, and he was. He was close friends with
William Shatner, wasn't he.
Speaker 3 (01:34):
Well, that's a complicated question, Joan. Uh. There was a
period of time where they were very close, and I'm
really grateful for that. There were several years when they
had sort of reconciled many of their differences and very
close personal friends. My dad actually announced to my sister
and I that Bill was his best friend, and I
(01:55):
thought that was lovely that they did have a nice relationship.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
For one Now, your father's parents were immigrants from Ukraine.
I wonder what they'd be saying about things going on today.
Speaker 3 (02:10):
Well, it's a very difficult situation. I mean, it was
a difficult situation when they were in Ukraine, which is
why they laughed. There was a lot of violence against
people in their village, Jewish people in particularly like my grandparents,
and they were forced to leave. They didn't want to leave,
and they ended up They came from a very rural
(02:30):
area and ended up in downtown Boston. So you know,
it's not I mean, the country has has had a
very difficult history. It's a very difficult time now, and
I think they'd be very sympathetic with their you know,
with the people in Ukraine.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
Yeah, your father was born in Boston. My mother was
born not too far from Boston and Fitchburgh and god willing,
she's still kicking at ninety five.
Speaker 3 (02:56):
That's amazing. Wow.
Speaker 2 (02:59):
What kind of relation did you have with your father,
Adam growing up?
Speaker 3 (03:04):
Well, George is very complicated. This is something that I
talk about pretty extensively in this new memoir I just published,
The Most Human. I kind of dealve very deeply into
my history with my dad, beginning when I was with
when I was a kid. I had a very complicated
relationship with him because, you know, my dad was born
during the Depression in Boston to these immigrant parents, and
(03:28):
he had a very different upbringing than I did. He
was very much it was very difficult for them. It
was very challenging. My dad was hustling to earn money
at a very young age. He was selling newspapers on
the Boston Common when he was ten years old during
World War Two, and then he came to California with nothing.
(03:49):
His parents didn't support his desire to become an actor,
and he had a hustle when he was in LA
and then by you know, nineteen fifty six when I
came along, he had a family afford to support, so
we had It was very difficult with him to begin
with because my dad didn't have much of a childhood.
He had to grow up pretty fast, and my childhood
with him was was very awkward, I would say, kind
(04:12):
of distant. Although my dad tried to do father's son
outings with me, I never really felt an emotional connection
to him.
Speaker 2 (04:19):
And it wasn't it his grandfather that kind of pushed
him into the acting field.
Speaker 3 (04:25):
Now, his grandfather supported that idea. Yeah, yeah, my grandfather
told him that he should she he should learn how
to play the accordion. Yes, his parents did not approve
of him wanting to wander off and pursue an acting career.
To them, that was like saying, you want to join
the circus. They were very much, you know, dedicated to
(04:47):
the American dream of you have kids in America and
they go to college and they become professionals, which my
dad's older brother, my uncle Mel did do he went
to myt But my dad's grandm father was much more adventurous,
so much so that he's the one who initially left
Ukraine and came to Boston. Was the first one to
(05:07):
come to Boston, and he spook my dad a few
extra bucks to help him on his journey out west.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
And your dad, God love him, served on the military
back in the early fifties, didn't he.
Speaker 3 (05:20):
He was in the Army Reserve. That's correct. He was
stationed in Atlanta, where my sister was born. And I
think you know, you remember the exact date he was discharged.
Somebody asked of that. I wish I could remember. I know,
it was like December nineteen fifty five. I mean, he
just rolled off his tongue. You know, it was very
much vivid on his mind, that memory.
Speaker 2 (05:43):
He did a lot of programs and a lot of
different shows. His acting career was pretty extensive beyond Star Trek.
Speaker 3 (05:52):
Well yeah, I mean, he was a number of shows.
This is why he was really ready for Star Trek.
He was in dozens of big parts and different TV shows,
many of them playing Native Americans and in westerns, in
gun Smoke and in Rawhide and Wagon Train and at
Tombstone Territory. He was in Get Smart. He was, you know,
(06:15):
just the outer limits. It's just endless, the stuff that
he was appearing on. And I'd be watching this stuff
as a kid. I'd be watching TV and all of
a sudden, my dad would appear. Was because we never
knew when he was going to be on, and it
was very it was kind of jarring, but it always
filled me with a sense of pride.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
He was also in Mission Impossible, and I didn't know
that at that time.
Speaker 3 (06:37):
Yeah, he rolled right into Mission after Star Trek Rap
because Marty Landau had decided to leave the show and
they were looking for someone to replace him, and it
was a great opportunity for him. It was also shot
at Desilu. They shot Mission in the two sound stages
right next door to where they shot Star Trek. I
believe both series began in nineteen sixty six under Desilu Studios,
(06:59):
So it was a great opportunity for him. He was
with Mission for two years.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
Did he like the Splock part?
Speaker 3 (07:07):
Well, I think he loved the Spock part. Unfortunately. He
published an autobiography in the mid seventies entitled I Am
Not Spot, which kind of gave the wrong message and
upset quite a number of hands. Yeah, you know, yeah,
I mean know, my dad loves Spock. I mean he
was very invested in Spots. Block was very much a
part of my dad, very much liked my dad. Spot
(07:30):
created a lot of opportunities for my father. You know,
he really, you know, invested a lot of himself in
that character and in building that character. And character you know,
came along right at the right time for my dad.
He was at the top of his game. He had
enough experience in TV to know what he was doing.
He got some excellent direction, a number of great directors
(07:51):
on the original series who helped him out, help and
develop the character. Yes, Letard love Spock, no doubt about it.
Speaker 2 (07:57):
Did he ever talk about the ears?
Speaker 3 (08:01):
Well, yeah, the years, yeah, we you know. The story
is at the analog of trouble developing the ears. Initially,
this was Jeane Rodenberry's idea, and they were having trouble
kind of molding them and fitting them on his ears
and making them look real. And my dad even went
to Gene and suggested the possibility of losing the idea
of these ears, and Gene was insistent, which is interesting
(08:24):
from my dad. It was a really interesting lesson that
Jean had a vision for the character and he did
not let go of it. He didn't want to compromise it.
He really felt strongly about that. And then, you know, eventually,
with the help of Freddie Phillips, who was the makeup artist,
they found somebody who could really create the prosthetic ear.
And then when we were making my dad and I
were working on the documentary of Spots together, he looked
(08:47):
up spots ears, you know, he google searched it and
I came up with, I don't know, a couple of
hundred thousand entries and articles and references, which which really
tickled him. He was very proud of that.
Speaker 2 (08:59):
Your father was one of the reasons I ended up
in broadcasting because I loved his show In Search Of
It was one of those captivating programs that dealt with everything.
Speaker 3 (09:10):
Yeah, In Search Of was a terrific show. It came
at a really great time in the seventies when Mission
was over, Star Trek was over, and it was a
real bread and butter of situation for Dad while he
continues to pursue theater work. So it was a great
job for him to have there were a lot of
great interesting episodes, and I must say, you know, Georgia,
(09:31):
there were also a number of what I like to
call placebo episodes that were sort of, you know, hard
to really figure out what it was about. It was
just kind of filler episodes. But it was a fun show.
It was an interesting show, and I think it was
really kind of sparked my dad's imagination.
Speaker 2 (09:49):
Was it your father's career, Adam, that got you into
the film business in Hollywood?
Speaker 3 (09:54):
Well? Yeah, I mean no, initially, no, I mean, you know,
I wanted to create my own path, which is why
I went into law school. I wanted to do something
that Leonard couldn't do, because Leonard could do anything. I
was trying to create my own identity, you know, to
begin with. I mean, a lot of the times we
grow up wanting to be anything but our father figure,
you know, and we push against it, and you know,
(10:17):
we tried to strive to go in a different direction,
and then in the end, I just wanted to end
up being like my dad, because the fact of the
matter was that although I loved going to law school
and I'm glad I got a lot of agree in
practice for seven year years it was just not a
very interesting profession. I want to do something more creative.
I wanted to be a storyteller, just like my dad,
And in that respect, yes, I was inspired by him
(10:40):
to pursue a career in the entertainment business.
Speaker 2 (10:43):
Your father passed away, of course, in twenty fifteen, at
the age of eighty three, and the subtitle of your book,
The Most Human is Reconciling with my father, Leonard Deimoy.
What was that reconciliation all about?
Speaker 3 (10:58):
Well, it was all about many years of dysfunctional interaction
between the two of us. The awkwardness that I experienced
as a young boy kind of blossomed him to a
lot of conflict with my dad when I got into
my teen years, conflict that periodically would flare up between us,
which we were never able to really figure out how
(11:20):
to deal with. We didn't have the tools, and all this,
as I discussed in my book, all this was exacerbated
by my addiction in marijuana and my dad's admitted alcohol problem.
He was an alcoholic, and so I had a very
strange relationship with my dad, George, and that I was
so proud of him, and I had so many quick
(11:41):
experiences with him throughout the years, I mean wonderful opportunities
as a result of his many successes, but periodically and
regularly if we disagreed about something, that could really flare
up and become a lot of just a lot of
unpleasant conflict with him. And so we got to a point,
a real low point relationship where we were very distant
(12:03):
from each other, almost as strange, and it just got
to a point where we needed to figure a way out.
And it was recovery that really did it. We were
both in recovery, twelve step recovery, and we finally found
tools that we could use to try to figure out
how to be loving and accepting of one another and
move on with our lives. And the last years of
(12:25):
our lives we were very close together.
Speaker 2 (12:27):
Well, that's fantastic. He died of what COPD?
Speaker 3 (12:31):
He died OFD I was diagnosed. I can't even remember.
It was probably not that long before he passed away.
And I was just very lucky that those last seven
years he was struggling quite a bit. But those last
years of his life were years that you and I
were at a very close relationship someone so that we
(12:54):
were thinking of that we went to Boston and made
a documentary about his life there, and that we were
working on this documentary about Spot in anticipation of fifty
years of Star Trek before he just when he passed away.
So yeah, it was thirty years of cigarette smoking. I mean,
he was lucky didn't have cancer, but the COPD kind
of constructive pulmonary disease finally caught up with him.
Speaker 2 (13:17):
Yeah, he had really did. And towards the end of
his life, did you see a change with him, Adam?
Speaker 3 (13:24):
Yeah, the end of his life, he changed quite a bit.
I mean, you know, this is the other problem we
were having was that when I was growing up, family
life was not really a priority for my daddy. He
admitted this, This whole priority was survival because he was
supporting his family and succeeding, you know, and pursuing his
career while my mother, you know, really held down the
(13:47):
ford at home. So and later on in his life
things really had changed to the point where he said
in an interview his priority did become family, which I
was very grateful for.
Speaker 2 (13:59):
That's fantastic. At what point did he decide to retire.
I mean he passed away in twenty fifteen, but did
he stop years before that, not really.
Speaker 3 (14:07):
I mean he never he never retired, He just started
to slow down a little bit. I think the pivotal
moment for me was when he was given the offer
to be involved with another Star Trek feature being directed
by JJ Abrams in the first two installments that JJ directed,
(14:29):
and they wanted to bring him back again, and that
job he had to turn down, which shocked me because
you know, he was so proud of being in the
original pilot of Star Trek and being in the last
incarnation through JJ, but then it got to a point
where he just didn't feel like he could do it.
Speaker 2 (14:50):
What was it like for you, Adam going to school
and then we all know what kids are like, knowing
that you were the son of Swak. How did the
kids in school treat you?
Speaker 3 (15:02):
Well? Initially nobody knew really, I mean when it was
when the Star Trek first came on, nobody really put
it together. Uh and uh, and I had I was
able to maintain my anonymity. But but in one class
I did tell a kid. I asked him if he
was watching Star Trek and he said yes. I said, well,
mister Spock is my dad. And he went he went
(15:23):
berserk and then told everybody in the class and then
it was absolute chaos. And after that, I just decided
to try to keep a low profile. And I never,
I really, you know, didn't like to advertise that I
was Leonard's son. But there was one kid in this
art class I was in. I think his name was
like Mike Brown. He was he was one of the
(15:44):
bullies at school. He was a guy that was very
nervous to be around. But he always called me ears,
which which got a lap out of everybody in the class.
And I can appreciate that as well. I mean, you know, look,
people were we had a lot of celebrities, as you know,
children at school, and it wasn't that unusual, and people
I think were very nice to me.
Speaker 2 (16:05):
Is your sister Julie still with us?
Speaker 3 (16:08):
She is?
Speaker 2 (16:10):
Now, that's goood.
Speaker 3 (16:11):
Now.
Speaker 2 (16:11):
How did how was her growing up relationship with your father?
Speaker 3 (16:16):
Well, she had a little She definitely had a closer relationship.
I got more of the of the conflict with him.
She had some issues with him, but they were definitely
much closer than I was. And I, you know, I
was very grateful to have Julie. She's only seventeen, months
older than me, and I keep reminding her of that fact.
(16:37):
She'll always be older to me. That But I was
very grateful for Julie because Julie really validated me and
feeling that a lot of the conflict that were issues
that my father had and that that it wasn't me
and I shouldn't worry. And she was, you know, she
supported me, she was behind me, and I really needed that.
(16:58):
I really appreciated that from her.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
Is your mother still with us, Adam.
Speaker 3 (17:02):
No, she's not. She passed away in twenty eleven.
Speaker 2 (17:06):
Oh jeez, before Leonard, did she.
Speaker 3 (17:09):
Yes, she was a little older than Leonard. They were
the same age when they passed. My mother was eighty
three as well. And yeah, I'm really grateful for her because,
I mean, you have to understand, George, is she is
the one who ran the household while my dad was
gone all the time hustling work. I mean, even when
he wasn't doing TV shows, he was working on jobs.
(17:29):
He was rarely around. And then when Star Trek came around,
he was almost never around. So really grateful to her.
And the interesting thing about my mom is that even
though times were very tough with you know, after I
was born from fifty six to sixty six. Those ten
years were a real struggle for my parents, but my
mother never wavered in her support and believed in my
(17:51):
father's ability and his had shared his dream of pursuing
an acting career.
Speaker 1 (17:56):
Listen to more Coast to Coast AM every weeknight at
one a m. Eastern and go to Coast to coastam
dot com for more
The Best of Coast to Coast AM News
Host
George Noory
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Special Summer Offer: Exclusively on Apple Podcasts, try our Dateline Premium subscription completely free for one month! With Dateline Premium, you get every episode ad-free plus exclusive bonus content.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.