Today on the Rarified Heir Podcast, we talk to Julie Nimoy and husband David Knight about Julie’s dad, actor and raconteur Leonard Nimoy. It was great to connect with Julie about her father and what it was like being the daughter of a pop culture icon. The thing is, Leonard Nimoy was so much more than just Mr. Spock. He was a photographer, a poet, a singer, a director, a voice over artist, a pitchman and more. Did you know he directed the top grossing movie of 1987 which was NOT a Star Trek film? Did you know he was such a fan of Vincent Van Gogh that he wrote a one man show, starred in it and had it taped for PBS? Nimoy was also the host of In Search of….where he showed off his amazing collection of houndstooth jackets and turtleneck shirts. He replaced Peter Graves in Mission Impossible. He stared in Night Gallery, Deathwatch, an independent film directed by pal Vic Morrow, a TV movie A Woman Called Golda which got him an Emmy nomination, The Outer Limits and much more.
Nimoy was also interested in the paranormal, science (and cars) which led him to Baffled! which is synonymous for our host Josh Mills with Afrin and fever dreams, he recorded albums for Dot Records such as The Touch of Leonard Nimoy, did summer stock, owned a single engine plane he flew, a boat at Lake Mead…it’s like they based the film The Adventures of Buckaroo Bonzai Across The 8th Dimension on Leonard Nimoy the man. So it was great talk to Julie and David about their PBS documentary Remembering Leonard Nimoy about his battle with COPD as well as their upcoming documentary Wilder! on comedian Gene Wilder & his battle with Alzheimer’s. Did you know who directed Wilder in the film Funny About Love? You guessed it. And yes, we talk more about University High School, LA restaurants, the Century City Mall and much more on the next episode of the Rarified Heir Podcast. Take a Listen!
I had the amazing opportunity to have worked with Leonard on “In Search of” and also did some promos for Van Gogh. He was an amazing talented loving man. I met Julie at their home where we shot a lot of the standups for ISO. I must confess, I had a crush on Julie!!