1968 -

Leonard Nimoy's Amazing Answers to Aspiring Actors who ask: "Can I act?"

Leonard Nimoy taught acting for several years with an extraordinary effect on his students. (Among them were Herb Alpert, Susan Bay, Dick Chamberlain, Pat Boone, Fabian, Jack Ging, Yale Summers, Bobby Vee, Michelle Lee and many others; "several hundred" it says in the article)

Leonard said: "I had to earn more than I was making from acting and I couldn't think of a more productive way. It brought me many rewarding hours."

He himself turned from college level classes to a professional. After a month studying with Jeff Corey, Leonard Nimoy was moved to a class for professionals. "Determination distinguishes an ambitious person from a drifter. Hard work and flexibility are essential traits for anyone trying to succeed as an actor. And it's not a clock-watching business either.", Leonard, who was hired as Corey's assistant after two years studying with him, answers when asked about secrets of learning the trade. Leonard taught 3 of 8 classes and was asked to take over when Jeff Corey was not in. When J. Corey toured in a play "I ended up teaching for two years", Leonard said. "A coach is concerned with the interpretation of scenes, with equipping the actor to improvise at auditions and for sharpening te intuition for specific responses. You explore the nature of show business with him, and figure out how you can best lick problems that confront each individual actor.  ...... An actor has to continually ask himself 'What am I supposed to be thinking, to be feeling? how can I express it most convincingly? He concentrates until he can actually believe he is experiencing what he must portray. ....  You aren't playing to mind-readers. People want to be emotionally touched. ... "

".....  so subtle that it appears you are not acting at all.   ...  You create a human being that others can instinctively identify with."

Pat Boone was already an established actor but decided he needed acting lessons and chose Leonard Nimoy as the man who could teach him the most. Susan Bay won the feminine lead in Jerry Lewis's The Big Mouth. Leonard taught his students that they could conquer their secret shyness, as he had, by being creative. Many of his students learned self-discipline from watching him. He recalls: "After I graduated from high school I went to Boston College for summer drama courses on a scholarship. For eight weeks I was totally immersed in preparing and performing. It was the sort of basic concentration that was tremendous. From 8:00 a.m. until noon we plunged into lectures on plays, acting style, the physical graces, costuming and makeup. From 1:00 until 6:00 we rehearsed the show we put on stage in the current play and finished at 11:30. Somehow we had a couple of hours every day for building our sets."

"I didn't know I sounded funny. When I came to California my Boston accent was a handicap."

After Kid Monk Baroni Leonard had won the next bigger part with 22 in a professional theatre before he went to the army.