Susan Bay

{{Infobox person

| name = Susan Bay Nimoy

| image = Adam Schiff with Leonard Nimoy and Susan Bay Nimoy.jpg

| image_size =

| caption = Susan Bay, Congressman Adam Schiff, and Leonard Nimoy in 2006

| birth_name = Susan Linda Bay

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1943|03|16|mf=y}}

| birth_place = Los Angeles, California, U.S.

| other_names =

| education =

| alma_mater =

| occupation = Actress, director

| years_active = 1963–present

| employer =

| organization = Foundation for National Progress

| spouse = {{plainlist|

{{marriage|John Schuck|1978|1983|end=div}}
{{marriage|Leonard Nimoy|January 1, 1989|February 27, 2015|end=d}}

}}

| children = Aaron Bay-Schuck

| relatives = Michael Bay (cousin)
Adam Nimoy (stepson)
Julie Nimoy (stepdaughter)

}}

Susan Bay Nimoy (born Susan Linda Bay; March 16, 1943) is an American actress and director. Among her television appearances, she portrayed Admiral Rollman in two episodes of the television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: "Past Prologue" in the first season and "Whispers" in the second.{{Cite book |page=22 |title=Deep Space Nine Companion |author=Terry J. Erdmann |publisher=Simon & Schuster |year=2000 |isbn=0671501062}}

Bay was one of the Original Six, a group of women directors who created the Women's Steering Committee of the Directors Guild of America, to protest against gender discrimination in Hollywood. Bay has directed several documentaries, and the American premiere of Shakespeare's Will (2007). She returned to directing in 2018 with Eve, a film addressing issues of aging and mourning. She wrote the script while grieving for her husband, Leonard Nimoy.

Career

= Acting =

Bay debuted on an episode of The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis in 1963.{{cite web |title=DOBIE GILLIS {THE MANY LOVES OF DOBIE GILLIS}: THE CALL OF THE, LIKE, WILD (TV) |url=https://www.paleycenter.org/collection/item/?q=cbs&p=287&item=T85:0676 |website=The Paley Center for Media |access-date=December 21, 2020}} and The Skydivers (film, 1963).{{cite web |last1=Ross |first1=Philip |title=Who Is Susan Bay Nimoy? Leonard Nimoy's Second Wife Played Admiral Rollman In 'Star Trek: Deep Space Nine' |url=https://www.ibtimes.com/who-susan-bay-nimoy-leonard-nimoys-second-wife-played-admiral-rollman-star-trek-deep-1831046 |website=IBT (International Business Times) |access-date=December 21, 2020|date=February 27, 2015}} She appeared in various TV series throughout the 1960s, including episodes of Dr. Kildare (1964){{cite web |title=Dr. Kildare |url=https://www.tvguide.com/tvshows/dr-kildare-1964/episode-28-season-3/an-ungodly-act/100127/ |website=TV Guide |access-date=December 21, 2020}} and Perry Mason (1965).{{cite web |title=#238: The Case of the Duplicate Case |url=https://www.perrymasontvseries.com/wiki/index.php/EpisodePages/Show238 |website=Perry Mason TV Series |access-date=December 21, 2020}} Susan Bay's film debut in a leading role occurred in the Jerry Lewis comedy The Big Mouth (1967). Bay portrayed Suzie Cartwright, the love interest of Lewis's character, Gerald Clamson.{{Cite web|url=https://www.sensesofcinema.com/2016/jerry-lewis/big-mouth-1967//|title=The Big Mouth|date=November 15, 2020|website= www.sensesofcinema.com}}{{cite web |title=The Big Mouth |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-big-mouth-1967 |website=Roger Ebert|date=August 2, 1967 |access-date=December 21, 2020}}

During the 1970s and 1980s, Bay's television roles included episodes of One Day at a Time (1976), Starsky and Hutch (1977),{{cite web |title=CHARACTERS BY EPISODE |url=http://starskyhutchfiles.net/compendium/page148/page148.html |website=A Starsky and Hutch Canon Compendium |access-date=December 21, 2020}} Hart to Hart (1980),{{cite web |title=What Murder? |url=http://www.stefaniepowersonline.com/hep24.htm |website=Hart to Hart |access-date=December 21, 2020}} Family Ties (1983){{cite web |title=Family Ties Episode Guide |url=https://www.innermind.com/myguides/other/famties.htm |website=Episode Guides |access-date=December 21, 2020}} and Remington Steele (1983). She also had a lead role in the television movie Alone at Last (1980).{{cite book |last1=McFarland |first1=Vincent Terrace |title=Encyclopedia of Television Pilots: 2,470 Films Broadcast 1937-2019 |date=January 17, 2020 |page=10 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=9781476638102 |edition=2nd |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=69-_DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA10 |access-date=December 21, 2020}} She played Admiral Rollman in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine{{'}}s first and second season in the episodes "Past Prologue" (1993) and "Whispers" (1994).{{cite book |last1=Okuda |first1=Michael |last2=Okuda |first2=Denise |last3=Mirek |first3=Debbie |title=The Star Trek Encyclopedia |date=May 17, 2011 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=9781451646887 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cbYf2l7gczUC&pg=PT2224}}{{cite book |last1=Erdmann |first1=Terry J. |last2=Block |first2=Paula M. |title=Deep Space Nine Companion |date=2000 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |page=22 |isbn=9780671501068 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kDe3VS07YSMC&pg=PA22}} Bay appeared as Rebecca in the 2009 film Mother and Child. In 2019, she began to appear in the CDC's Anti-Smoking Campaign "Tips from Former Smokers" discussing her late husband's battle with COPD.{{Cite web|url=https://go.usa.gov/xm5bR|title=Leonard N.'s Story|date=July 15, 2020|website=Centers for Disease Control and Prevention}}

= Directing =

In 1979, Bay and other members of the Original Six, a group of women directors, created the Women's Steering Committee of the Directors Guild of America, to protest against gender discrimination in Hollywood and support female employment on film and television sets at the directing level.{{cite news|last1=Syme|first1=Rachel|title=The Original Six: The Story of Hollywood's Forgotten Feminist Crusaders|url=https://psmag.com/social-justice/the-original-six-and-history-hollywood-sexism|accessdate=February 26, 2016|work=Pacific Standard|date=February 26, 2016}}

Bay was a production consultant on "The Good Mother" (1988), which was directed by Leonard Nimoy.{{cite news |last1=Harmetz |first1=Aljean |title= Leonard Nimoy at the Controls |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/10/30/movies/leonard-nimoy-at-the-controls.html |access-date=December 21, 2020 |work=The New York Times |date=October 30, 1988}}{{cite web |title=The Good Mother |url=https://www.warnecke.me/index.php/director/521-the-good-mother |website=www.warnecke.me |access-date=December 21, 2020}} In 1998, Bay was the executive producer for the documentary film Liza Lou, on the glass bead artist Liza Lou.{{cite web |title=LIZA LOU |url=https://www.taipeibiennial.org/2000/artists_e/art17.html |website=2000 Taipei Biennial |access-date=December 21, 2020}} She has also worked on documentaries about Twyla Tharp and the magazine Mother Jones.{{cn|date=February 2024}}

In 2007, Bay directed the American premiere of Shakespeare's Will, a solo play by Vern Thiessen that featured Jeanmarie Simpson as Anne Hathaway.{{Cite web|url=http://www.leonardnimoy.de/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1445:exclusive-interview-with-leonard-nimoy-&catid=23:articles-and-quotes&Itemid=11|title=Exclusive Interview with Leonard Nimoy |date=2007 |website=Leonard Nimoy (fansite)}}

Susan Bay Nimoy returned to directing in 2018 with Eve, writing the script as she mourned her husband, Leonard Nimoy, and starring in the film after the lead actress pulled out at the last minute due to discomfort with revealing her aging body on film.{{cite web |last1=Shriver |first1=Maria |title=Susan Bay Nimoy Disrupts Ageism With Grief, Passion and Renewal in Her Film, 'Eve' |url=https://mariashriver.com/susan-bay-nimoy-disrupts-ageism-with-grief-passion-and-renewal-in-her-film-eve/ |website=Maria Shriver's Sunday Paper |date=March 4, 2018 |access-date=December 21, 2020}} The lack of representation of "women of age" onscreen was one of Nimoy's motivations in creating the film. Eve was one of five films at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival to focus on women in their 70s,{{cite news |last1=Turan |first1=Kenneth |title=Susan Bay Nimoy's 'Eve' is one of several Sundance films to focus on 'women of age' |url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-ca-mn-sundance-susan-bay-nimoy-20180119-story.html |access-date=December 21, 2020 |work=Los Angeles Times |date=January 8, 2018}} and was positively received.

=Philanthropy=

Bay is a member of the board of directors of the Foundation for National Progress, which publishes Mother Jones.{{Cite news |work=Mother Jones |page=4 |date=September–October 1996 |title=Board of Directors}}

In 1999, Bay and Nimoy made a $100,000 donation to the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (MOCA) so it could purchase The Ballad of Sexual Dependency by Nan Goldin.

{{Cite news

| title = Art Movements

| work = Popular Photography

| date = May 1999

| page = 13

}}

In 2007, they financially supported WACK! Art and the Feminist Revolution, an art exhibition at the MOCA.

{{Cite news

| title = WACK! Art and the Feminist Revolution

| work = Dwell

| date = May 2007

| page = 38

}}

In 2008, they made a $1 million donation to The Leonard Nimoy Event Horizon Theater at Griffith Observatory.

{{Cite web

| title = Nimoy, Leonard

| publisher = Star Trek

| url = http://www.startrek.com/database_article/nimoy

| accessdate = September 5, 2014

}}

Personal life

Bay is a cousin of Rabbi John Rosove, of Temple Israel of Hollywood,

{{Cite book

| first = Abigail

| last = Pogrebin

| title = Stars of David: Prominent Jews Talk about Being Jewish

| year = 2007

| publisher = Broadway Books

| isbn = 978-0767916134

| page = 198

}}

as well as film director Michael Bay.

{{Cite book

| first = S. Leonard

| last = Syme

| title = Memoir of a Useless Boy

| year = 2011

| publisher = Xlibris

| isbn = 978-1465339584

| page = 117

}}{{self-published inline|certain=yes|date=January 2018}}

In 1978, Bay married actor John Schuck, and their son Aaron was born in 1981. They divorced in 1983.{{cite web

| title = Catching Up With 6-Time Trek Guest Star John Schuck

| url = http://www.startrek.com/article/catching-up-with-6-time-trek-guest-star-john-schuck

| publisher = Star Trek.com

| accessdate = September 20, 2014

| date = September 19, 2014

}} She married Leonard Nimoy in 1989.

{{Cite news

| work = The Daily Telegraph

| title = Star Trek Drove Me to Drink, Says Spock

| author = Hugh Davies

| date = October 31, 2001

| url = https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/1361090/Star-Trek-drove-me-to-drink-says-Spock.html

| accessdate = September 5, 2014}} She was photographed for Nimoy's Shekhina, a book of monochrome nude photography of women representing Shekhinah, the presence of God in Judaism.

{{Cite news

| title = Nimoy's Photos Explore Femininity of Divinity

| work = Today

| date = May 20, 2004

| url = http://www.today.com/id/4953845/ns/today-today_entertainment/t/nimoys-photos-explore-femininity-divinity/#.VAorJPmwLdM

| accessdate=September 5, 2014}} She and Nimoy were together until his death in 2015.{{Cite news

| title = RIP Leonard Nimoy, announced by his Susan Bay Nimoy

| date = February 27, 2015

| work = Dread Central

| url = http://www.dreadcentral.com/news/91260/rip-leonard-nimoy/

| accessdate = February 27, 2015}}