Nimoy vs DeForest Kelly. Who was the better actor?

[Jayson1]

I didn't include KIrk because he has a rep for overacting plus I don't think I have ever seen anyone compare these two guys so I figured I could do that. I am going for Nimoy. Not only did he have the harder character to pull off he was able to be very emotional without being overtly emotional. Something he doesn't get enough credit for was his ability to modify his voice to fit whatever emotion he wanted to convey. PLus he is good at mimicking the act of thinking. You can look at him and see that he is thinking over a problem in his mind and it goes beyond just reading his lines. I think Spock felt more like a Scientist than McCoy did as a doctor.

Jason

 

[alensatemybuick1]

Both. Neither. Who cares.

 

[Jayson1]

Both. Neither. Who cares.

Me.

Jason

 

[Spock's Barber]

Tough question. On TOS, Kelley could change his expression and emotion in a second, while Nimoy had to restrain himself 99% of the time. I've see Nimoy in other television shows and movies and I was amazed how good an actor he was when released from the role of Spock. I'm voting for Nimoy.

 

[ZapBrannigan]

When two actors are both competent, the question of who's better is pretty subjective. It ends up being who you like better.

It might be interesting to ask, what if Kelley had gotten the job as Spock in "The Cage," and then Nimoy had been cast as McCoy? It's hard to imagine. I think Nimoy's "leading" quality, his stage presence, would have altered the balance of the writing, and made McCoy the bigger role even if he had third billing.

And Spock, so miscast, would become a supporting role. I think Kelley would get tired of the make-up routine pretty soon and want out. And then Roddenberry would still want an alien on the bridge, so he'd bring in another actor with some kind of make-up design to fill that niche. The overall show would have been very different.

 

[Commishsleer]

I think Nimoy's subtle display of emotions as Spock wins the day for me. I think its hard for people to play Vulcans /robots/androids and make them likeable. I never really warmed to Tuvok and T'Pol. They were OK but they were not a patch on Spock. Perhaps they were more realistic Vulcans.

 

[Timewalker]

Anyone who thinks Kelley was a poor actor outside of Star Trek should read his biography and watch some of the shows he was in. He had an amazing career.

 

[Noname Given]

DeForest Kelly was the more vetern actor of the two. As to who's better -- that's subjective. For me though, probably Mr. Kelly.

 

[ZapBrannigan]

Anyone who thinks Kelley was a poor actor outside of Star Trek should read his biography and watch some of the shows he was in. He had an amazing career.

I don't think anybody would call Kelley a poor actor.

 

[Spock's Barber]

I don't think anybody would call Kelley a poor actor.

Agreed. I state the obvious when I say that the Spock/McCoy interactions came alive because of the acting abilities of Nimoy/Kelley.

 

[Phaser Two]

They were both terrific.

 

[2takesfrakes]

DeForest Kelley had the weakest material of the Shatner/Nimoy/Kelley trio. I really hated that episode where he had this terminal disease and had been given a young girlfriend who didn't know her planet was a spaceship. Any scenes of De making out were - quite simply - unwatchable. The humour he was given in his other episodes was really cheesy and I never did understand his appeal. Bones - not Kelley, of course - was a drunk, besides and emotionally unbalanced. He was entirely too loud and whatever he had to carry on about was not worth watching his awkwardly written and acted tirades. I understand that DeForest Kelley was a gentleman's gentleman and an unusually kind-hearted and approachable celebrity, even in his day. But there are really only a few occasions in STAR TREK where I appreciated Bones being onscreen. In The Motion Picture, however, I liked him, a lot. When he was sort of hawking Kirk the whole time. Strangely, I didn't like Nimoy's performance in it, even if his acting choices there were deliberate. Even after Spock was "back" to his "old" self, Nimoy still didn't capture his prior performances in TOS. Some of the voice-overs he delivered were shockingly bad, especially when the Enterprise was journeying inside of V'GER.

 

[Commishsleer]

I always thought Kelley was great. I can't think of any episode where I didn't like his acting. He was especially fierce in "Space Seed". McCoy gets some hate in our household for his harassment of Spock but I never had any issue with Kelley even when he said he was a doctor .. not an escalator. I never found him too loud or cheesy. He was clearly the best actor of all the doctors in Trek.
And you have to give credit to all the actors who could keep a straight face with zombie Spock in the scene in "Spock's Brain"

 

[Sybok Was Wrong]

No disrespect, but this is a ridiculous question.

What is this need to rank all the time. Just appreciate what each actor brought to the series. Thanks.

 

[Spock's Barber]

And you have to give credit to all the actors who could keep a straight face with zombie Spock in the scene in "Spock's Brain"

"Dammit, Jim. I'm a doctor, not a television remote control operator."

 

[Balok's Decoy]

I don't really see them in those terms. I think each actor strengthened the performance of the other. They played off each other.

 

[Spock's Barber]

Kelley was light years better than the previous 2 doctors, John Hoyt in The Cage and Paul Fix in Where No Man Has Gone Before.

 

[Poltargyst]

I'll vote for Nimoy, not that I have anything against Kelley.

 

[Jayson1]

Kelley was light years better than the previous 2 doctors, John Hoyt in The Cage and Paul Fix in Where No Man Has Gone Before.

I agree but I do think Hoyt at least would have made for a solid character if had been a regular. Was that the actor who was the grandpa or old guy on "My Three Sons?"

Jason

 

[Poltargyst]

DeForest Kelley had the weakest material of the Shatner/Nimoy/Kelley trio. I really hated that episode where he had this terminal disease and had been given a young girlfriend who didn't know her planet was a spaceship. Any scenes of De making out were - quite simply - unwatchable. The humour he was given in his other episodes was really cheesy and I never did understand his appeal. Bones - not Kelley, of course - was a drunk, besides and emotionally unbalanced. He was entirely too loud and whatever he had to carry on about was not worth watching his awkwardly written and acted tirades. I understand that DeForest Kelley was a gentleman's gentleman and an unusually kind-hearted and approachable celebrity, even in his day. But there are really only a few occasions in STAR TREK where I appreciated Bones being onscreen. In The Motion Picture, however, I liked him, a lot. When he was sort of hawking Kirk the whole time. Strangely, I didn't like Nimoy's performance in it, even if his acting choices there were deliberate. Even after Spock was "back" to his "old" self, Nimoy still didn't capture his prior performances in TOS. Some of the voice-overs he delivered were shockingly bad, especially when the Enterprise was journeying inside of V'GER.

Care to back up and explain how McCoy was a drunk?

Occasionally drinking and getting drunk for recreation != being a drunk or you can also call Scotty one and probably Kirk too. Never did McCoy's drinking interfere with his job.