C is for Character: Leonard Nimoy Gives Some Inspiring Advice

I had the chance to see Leonard Nimoy, known famously for playing Spock on the popular Star Trek television series, speak at Boston University last week and was both surprised and touched by his thoughts.  It felt to me like a pre-commencement commencement speaker and I wanted to share my two favorite anecdotes from his speech.

First, as a small boy in Boston's West End and a child of Ukrainian immigrants, Leonard and his brother often went to a local settlement house for lessons and sports.  But this particular place also had a theater, which was certainly rare, and on the stage was a curtain embroidered with a forest scene.  Leonard recalled that the trim of the curtain had stitched in Gothic letters a phrase he could never forget:

"Act well your part, there all honor lies."

Of course, as a young aspiring actor these words meant that Leonard could find himself honored to perform, even if it was miles away from the work of his laboring parents.  But for me it means that no matter what you choose to do, if you do it well you can feel a sense of honor and accomplishment.

The second story that Mr. Nimoy told which struck me particularly was this: as a struggling actor in Los Angeles he was forced to sell vacuums and insurance and even drive a taxi cab.  One day he received a call to pick up a man named Kennedy at a hotel.  Being a boy from Boston, Leonard was familiar with a Senator John F. Kennedy, a man that no one on the west coast had even heard of yet.  When JFK fell into the back seat of Leonard's cab the actor simply said, "How are things in Boston, Senator Kennedy?" The surprised Kennedy asked Leonard what in the world he was doing in Los Angeles, a whole country between him and his hometown.  "I'm an actor," Nimoy said.  Then the senator, soon to be globally famous President, said: "Actors and politicians, we have a lot a like.  There are too many of us out there, competition is fierce.  But there's always room for another good one." 

Act well your part, there all honor lies.  There's always room for another good one.

And with that, we graduates can step out into the real world with a little more hope and confidence.