The new Star Trek movie is everything and more that the advertisements and promos say it is. Not too many movies today are capable of living up to the hype and hyperbolae that surround their opening. My adult daughter and I decided that while Star Trek may not have been promoted as the “perfect” Mother’s Day film, it was exactly that, especially for two die-hard, absolute Trekkies.

Our road to Trekkiedom began many years ago when the original series was filming on a modest sound stage on the Paramount lot in Hollywood. I was a struggling actress, and my daughter was a young child with a crush on the character, Chekov.

My daughter and I were able to get on the lot since I was dating an actor working on Mission Impossible, (also filming on the Paramount lot.) After period of time, my daughter would begin to twitch and get “the look.” My friend sensed what that meant and escorted us from his set to the Star Trek set.

We faced the main set, with Captain Kirk center stage in the Captain’s chair, and the supporting cast moving about in a highly agitated state as they described an oncoming enemy vessel which appeared to be spelling imminent doom.

While my daughter was thrilled to be introduced to young ensign Chekov, I was reintroduced to one of my favorite people – my ex-acting coach, Leonard Nemoy.

Prior to his winning the role of Spock in the still quite new series, Leonard, a well trained and highly intelligent actor, had been teaching acting classes to younger, struggling actors. He had the ability to critique a student’s work without shattering them. He had the perceptive eye to discern what needed fixing and the compassion to impart it in such a way that the young actor’s ego remained intact sufficiently to be able to use the advice and make it their own.

Those of us in the acting class were disappointed at the loss of our teacher, though thrilled at the opportunity of what this role (albeit only a supporting role – who knew?) could mean for him.

In the ensuing years it has been my constant joy to see his star grow brighter and brighter in the ephemeral and often short-lasting Heaven of Hollywood stardom.

Throughout the years I had several encounters with Leonard. A brilliant man and student of the arts, he wrote, produced and starred in a piece about the artist Vincent Van Gogh, entitled “Letters From Theo” My daughter and I attended a performance in San Francisco, where I sent a note and was rewarded by a pass to come backstage.

This was a number of years after Star Trek, the series and the acting class. In my days in Hollywood I met any number of stars, but never have I been greeted or treated more graciously. With all the many people Leonard met on a constant basis, he acted as if I had been one of his star pupils in the class, (I wasn’t) or had been an acting peer, (again, I wasn’t)

Perhaps 15 years later we bumped into one another in a Beverly Hills pizza restaurant. Again, Leonard’s kindness and good manners made me feel like a queen, as once more he smiled his megawatt smile and treated me like a long missed favorite person.

Hollywood has produced a great number of stars, some of whom are very nice and many whom are way too in love with their press releases

Leonard Nemoy, actor’s actor, and major star for over three decades has the unique distinction of being not only a genuine gentleman, but also of having taken a supporting role in a series that lasted for only three seasons and morphed it into a compelling character that has become a part of our folk culture

Leonard Nemoy, in the years that are to come, may I say with all my heart, “Live Long and Propser.”

Luana Marshall lives in Bellevue.