Leonard Nimoy, it should be remembered, had already received three Emmy nominations for his role as Spock on “Star Trek,” had already written the screenplay “Vincent,” and published a memoir and five books of poetry. In 1982, he also began playing Spock in a few “Star Trek” feature films and appeared in a remake of “Invasion of the Body Snatchers,” performances that earned him Saturn Award nominations. By 1982, he had proven himself to be an artist of some range, and was seemingly confident in what he felt he could and couldn’t do as an actor. Ultimately, Nimoy received another Emmy nomination for “Golda,” but not after some hesitation. He said:
“I was nominated for an Emmy. I turned the part down several times, I didn’t think I could do it. It was a character, again, that I didn’t feel comfortable with until I was talked into doing it by Harve Bennet, who had been a producer on some of the things that I’d done previously, and I’m grateful to him for talking me into it, and grateful I had the chance to do it. I was nominated for an Emmy, much to my surprise. She won the Emmy, the best performance by an actress in a television movie, Ingrid Bergman did.”
In Bergman’s own 1981 autobiography, “Ingrid Bergman, My Story,” the actress recalls some of her health issues, including finding a lump in her breast as early as 1974 during the production of Ingmar Bergman’s (no relation) “Autumn Sonata.” Her cancer progressed for years, and she knew her prognosis when she signed on to play Golda Meir.