Mark Lenard & Trek Fandom

One of the things I am finding most interesting in the early reviews of the movie is that the one actor that seems to be most missed is Mark. I have now read several that comment on how subtle his performance of Sarek was , and how much depth he gave to it, which Cross seems to be unable to attain. I don't know whether to feel happy that Mark is irreplaceable or sad that Cross did not do a better job!

 

Anybody remember Mark's performance as Sarek in Gene Roddenberry's Inside Star Trek LP from the Seventies? He basically beams up to wherever Roddnberry is supposed to be and talks about Spock's early life and conception, and he just does a wonderful job. It always struck me that when he eventually returned as Sarek in The Search for Spock, it never seemed like he was coming back to play a character (for only the second time onscreen) that he had not played in over a decade - seeing him in his role seemed as natural as anyone else in the cast.

 

Yup, just listened to that track about a week ago, in fact.

I met Mr. Lenard at a convention circa 1989 or so. I was trying to navigate my way from a crowded dealer's table when I stepped on someone's foot. I turned around to apologize and was face-to-face with Mark Lenard. I apologized, and he was quite graceful in acdepting it. Let me tell, as impressive as his voice was on tee-vee, it was ten times so in person. I've known radio announcers who would kill to have that kind of voice. Seemed like a real gentleman and class act all the way.

 

I would have liked to have met Mark Lenard at a convention.

 

While there may have been many years between his first and second appearance as Sarek (discounting TAS), Mark was a very regular guest at Trek Cons, so in a way, he had been in a position to work on the character through fan's questions and comments for well over a decade before STIII.