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Spock's ears caught the attention of many people, just not in the way he expected
Spock had a dedicated fan base, with or without the ears.
There is no denying that Leonard Nimoy's success was out of this world. He played the forever-popular Spock on Star Trek: The Original Series, Star Trek: The Animated Series, Star Trek: The Next Generation, and in the Star Trek film series.
With that much space traveling under his belt, Nimoy was on top of the world (and out of it) quite often. The man with the ears certainly made a name for himself, and not just in show business, but with fans... and women all across the country.
The Star Trek star was a character that many women fell in love with. Was it the ears? Or did women of that era want a partner who would only speak when it was logically relevant?
In a 1968 interview with the El Paso Herald-Post, Nimoy admitted he wasn't sure why women would be interested in a pointed-ear Vulcan in space.
"College professors have written me that their sociology classes have studied the implications of a Vulcan isolated aboard a spaceship with human beings," Nimoy said. "They wanted to discover the reason for his popularity."
At the time, Nimoy said he would receive up to 500 letters a week from hopeful women, plastic surgeons, and others.
Nimoy's conclusion for all the attention his character developed: he is rejected and doesn't dig earth-type girls.
Although some aspects of his popularity confused him, many fans understood his message with or without the pointed ears.
In a 1968 interview with the Star-Gazette, Nimoy said he had no idea his success would come so quickly after the first episode aired.
"I had no idea what mass exposure and public acceptance could be," Nimoy said. "I had considered the possibility of moderate success with some interviews, phone calls, a fan club... then offers for personal appearances poured in. The depth and breadth of it was far more intense than I ever imagined."
Nimoy's first public appearance drove that point home. Popularity, Nimoy discovered, could be a trap.
"I never even dreamed that this kind of problem existed," he said. "But when you begin to look forward to the size of the crowds and begin to compete with yourself and others for popularity, then you're dead artistically."
Man or woman, young or old, it doesn't matter when you stand for Nimoy's message.
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