Leonard Nimoy, the original Mr. Spock in the worldwide TV and movie hit series “Star Trek” died of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease on February 27. He was 83.
Nimoy is best remembered for his more than two decades of role, playing the pointy-eared half-human and half-Vulcan Mr. Spock in the “Star Trek” TV and film franchise, cites MSN Entertainment.
The day before the veteran actor died, he was reportedly having difficulty in breathing but was eventually released from the hospital. He died at his home in Los Angeles as confirmed by his wife Susan Bay Nimoy.
Nimoy started his Hollywood career at the age of 18 by playing bit roles in various TV series during the 1950s. Because of his serious features, most of his roles then were cowboy characters and lawmen.
He got his biggest acting career break in 1966 when he decided to take his act to science-fiction flicks. Nimoy was taken in as the ever-logical Mr. Spock in the TV series “Star Trek.”
A new and life-changing adventure
It was in the “Star Trek” TV series where the star of Leonard Nimoy shone brightest. He played science officer Spock onboard the space ship USS Enterprise, which was on the mission of exploring new worlds in the galaxy while going through a lot of adventures and odysseys, most of them death-defying.
Spock’s chemistry with the hot-tempered Captain James T. Kirk, who was played by William Shatner, and the methodical ship doctor Leonard ‘Bones’ McCoy, played by DeForest Kelley, was one of the major selling points of “Star Trek” both on TV and in the subsequent films that followed.
Their trio was referred to as the “Star Trek” trinity, and they actually boosted the TV ratings of the series during its initial four seasons.
“Star Trek,” as history would show, eventually became a cultural phenomenon in the 70s and 80s and as a tribute to how popular Mr. Spock’s character in the show had become, people were actually mimicking his Vulcan greeting then by quipping “live long and prosper,” complete with his classic hand gesture.
The hand gesture would be later revealed by Nimoy as part of a traditional Jewish blessing.
Mr. Spock became a role model for nerds and geeks because he was calm ready and always have a ready logical response to every situation.
A director too
Apart from acting, Leonard Nimoy is also a director with major film credits to his name including two “Star Trek” films. He actually directed one of the most successful and well-received films of the franchise titled “Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.” He also helmed the 1987 comedy-drama blockbuster “3 Men and a Baby” starring Tom Selleck, Steve Guttenberg and Ted Danson.
Because he was being typecast to his Mr. Spock role in “Star Trek,” Nimoy wrote a book in 1975 distancing his personal self from his character in the TV and film franchise.
But he would eventually embrace his Mr. Spock role as an authoritative figure in the science-fiction genre. He wrote a rebuttal book o his earlier memoir, some 20 years later and titled it “I am Spock.”