Gene Roddenberry was so grateful to him. Because, that Monday that I was going to go in to see Gene — had an appointment to see Gene, I was going to tell him that I was going to leave the show. So I told him what I had in mind and what had happened to me, and he used to smoke a cigarette here [mimics Roddenberrys closed hand brought up to his face, clutching a cigarette] And he’s looking up at me, and he’s listening up at me, and when I get to the part where “I came in to tell you that I was leaving the show” And he goes, and this just froze [Roddenberrys closed hand, holding a cigarette to his face] you know. And I’m standing before him. He’s sitting down looking up at me. He could not believe it, you know. And I said, I got this offer, you know I came from the theatre, and I got this offer for a major role on Broadway. And he said, “I see.” I said, “But then a strange thing happened to me. I met Dr. Martin Luther King and he told me I couldn’t leave. And I told him, don’t you understand what this man, Gene Roddenberry has given to the world? For the first time, we see ourselves as we should be seen. As intelligent brilliant people and that we’re in the next century and the next century and we’re just growing. You can’t leave that. You portray that. You can’t abdicate. And he said “And what did you say?” I said “I’m here, aren’t I? He said I couldn’t and I can’t. And that’s how I happened to remain with the show.
Posted on: Mon, 29 Dec 2014 22:21:32 +0000
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