Leonard Nimoy: Tom Selleck, Funeral Rabbi Remember Spock From 'Star Trek' | Hollywood Reporter
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Leonard Nimoy
The rabbi who delivered Nimoy's eulogy also recalls the actor-director's final moments and what Zachary Quinto said about his Spock predecessor at the funeral.
In addition to his well-known role as Spock on Star Trek, Leonard Nimoy was also a director, who helmed the 1987 comedy 3 Men and a Baby, among other films.
Two of that film's stars (Steve Guttenberg and Tom Selleck) remembered Nimoy via statements on Friday , but Selleck has since shared more about what it was like to get to know and work with Nimoy on the beloved film.
Appearing on Late Night With Seth Meyers, Selleck said he wasn't sure that the man who played Spock was the best choice to direct the funny, emotional story.
"I go, 'Well, there's a good choice. You got this guy with no emotion who's going to direct … a comedy,' " Selleck recalled, but he quickly learned, as he told Meyers, that Nimoy was "not Spock."
"Leonard was irreplaceable," Selleck said. "He [was] a lovely guy. … He [was] a warm, funny guy."
The actor also remembered that while Nimoy had the insight to bring on two babies, since each child's time on set is limited, one of the twins wasn't quite as focused as the other one.
"The first week, one of the twins got fascinated, tripping out in every shot, with the boom, and so it meant we really only had one baby," Selleck said. "And Leonard's kind of tearing his hair out."
Earlier this week, another one of Nimoy's former colleagues, Zachary Quinto, shared his experience of working with his Spock predecessor.
The actor, his Star Trek co-star Chris Pine and director J.J. Abrams were among the nearly 300 people who attended Nimoy's funeral on Sunday, according to People .
Quinto also spoke at the funeral, the rabbi who presided over the ceremony, John L. Rosove told People. "He said he was very trepidatious about stepping into the role of young Spock," Rosove said of Quinto's remarks. "Leonard was always gracious and helpful to him to understand what he was doing."
Rosove, who is the cousin of Nimoy's wife, Susan, also shared what the actor's final moments were like.
His family and loved ones were gathered around him when he died on Friday, Rosove told People and explained in his eulogy for Nimoy, part of which is available online here .
"When he passed, he was ready. [Susan] told him when he couldn't respond, 'Lenny, I love you. You can go. It's okay.' He smiled, and then he died. I think he saw light and he was beamed up," Rosove told People.
In his eulogy, Rosove described Nimoy's death as "a gentle passing, as easy as a 'hair being lifted from a cup of milk,' as the Talmud describes the moment of death."
He added that Nimoy's wife imagines that he saw his beloved, late cocker spaniel, Molly, before he died.
Rosove — who described Nimoy as "kindhearted, gentle, patient, refined and keenly intelligent," in his eulogy — also pointed out that Nimoy's Spock hand gesture was that "of the Jewish High Priest blessing the Jewish community."