Did Leonard Nimoy Really Resent Being Recognized As Star Trek's Spock In The '70s?

An encounter with a young fan led to Leonard Nimoy calling his memoir, "I Am Not Spock." This title was misconstrued by some readers who thought he disliked being recognized as Spock. In an E! News interview, he recalled an instance in an airport in which a mother excitedly pointed out Nimoy to her young son, but the boy did not recognize him. "Spock was not standing there, and Johnny agreed with me, because he's looking for Spock and didn't find him." His main concern was regarding the character's potential to cause identity erasure, but the opinion changed down the line as Nimoy's career flourished and starred in other roles.

In a 1976 Toronto radio interview on CHUM-FM, Nimoy clarified the distinction between actor and character: "In the sense that I am the actor who played the role, of course I am Spock, but in the sense of true identity, I am not. I am someone else." His memoir clarifies the true meaning behind the title: "I like being Spock. But I like myself, too. I'd like to be me independent of him."

In a 1989 KALX-FM interview, when asked about his attempts to dissociate himself from the character, Nimoy challenged the premise of the question and clarified that he made no such attempts: "I did a book in the '70s that was misconstrued, a book called 'I Am Not Spock.' I could probably make a lot of money betting people who ask me this question that they haven't read the book. I have always had an affection for the show, affection for the Spock character, and I have had tremendous opportunities as a result of it." Years later, he explained how the title he chose was a mistake because people would misunderstand his intentions without reading the book: "This title seemed to suggest to people that I was not interested in being Spock, that I was rejecting Spock, which was not the case."

Nimoy authored "I Am Spock" in 1995, in which he revealed how he had come to terms with the character and embraced it. Speaking to the Charlotte Observer, he revealed that he was secure in his identity as an actor and said that he was finally able to coexist with Spock: "I consider this book now as a sort of coming to terms with the whole issue in a comfortable kind of way." And just as Nimoy helped shape the character of Spock, he reveals how Spock in turn influenced him, especially "in terms of functioning logically, thinking logically."