Obit of the Day: Lived Long and Prospered
Leonard Nimoy, who became a star for his portrayal of the stoic alien Mr. Spock on Star Trek, has died at the age of 83. An accomplished stage actor before he was cast in the sci-fi series, Mr. Nimoy would star in, direct, and write for the Star Trek-related series and films for parts of six decades.
The son of Orthodox Jews from Boston, Mr. Nimoy began acting at the age of eight and was starring in community college productions in high school. Taking one summer theater course at Boston College, Mr. Nimoy headed west to Hollywood.
He received bit parts in films in the early 1950s, and earned a starring role in the 1952 film Kid Monk Baroni. But he was mainstay on television appearing in episodes of Dragnet, Bonanza, Sea Hunt, and Wagon Train. (The last is a charming coincidence since Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry described his show as “Wagon Train to the Stars.)
In 1966, as producers were looking to cast the lone alien on the bridge of the USS Enterprise, they envision a ‘tall, thin guy” as Spock. The casting director remembered Mr. Nimoy from his guest role on The Lieutenants and gave him a call to audition for the part.
Mr. Nimoy would have the unique honor of becoming the only cast member to appear in every episode of the original Star Trek TV series. (Non-fans may not know that the original pilot, The Cage, featured Capt. Christopher Pike, played by Jeffrey Hunter, not Capt. James Kirk at the helm.)
Although the series only ran for three seasons, Mr. Nimoy earned an Emmy nomination each year, although he never took home a trophy. He earned a final nod in 1982 for his performance as Ingrid Bergman’s husband in A Woman Called Golda.
After the show was cancelled in the 1968 season, Mr. Nimoy continued acting (and opened an exotic pet store) and became a regular cast member of Mission: Impossible, playing “Paris” on 49 episodes of the espionage series. Leaving the series in 1971, he returned to his alien roots and voiced Spock on Star Trek: The Animated Series, which began a second successful career in voiceover work, which included, for Gen Xers, a memorable appearance as Galvatron in the 1986 Transformers animated film. (He would voice another “robot in disguise” in 2011’s Transformers: Dark of the Moon, directed by his wife’s cousin, Michael Bay.)
But it was as the Vulcan first officer that Mr. Spock made his cultural contribution. He invented the famous Vulcan greeting (right hand raised with the fingers split to create a “V”, which he said was a version of a Jewish blessing) as well as the Vulcan neck pinch. He connected deeply with his character on a “mystical level” and was once quoted as saying, “Given the choice, if I had to be someone else, I’d be Spock.”
Mr. Nimoy’s Spock appeared in an additional eight Star Trek films, including J.J. Abrams’ re-boot as “Spock Prime,” the future version of the younger Spock now portrayed by Zachary Quinto. He would direct Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984) and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986), co-writing the latter as well.
An accomplished director, Mr. Nimoy branched out from science fiction to direct the 1987 hit comedy Three Men and a Baby as well as The Bangles’ 1984 music video for “Going Down to Liverpool.”
Mr. Nimony died on February 27, 2015 from chronic pulmonary obstruction which he blamed on his smoking habit from decades earlier. Appropriately enough his last performance was as Spock in the 2013 film Star Trek: Into the Darkness.
Sources: New York Times, roddenberry.com, IMDB.com, Wikipedia
(Image of Leonard Nimoy as Mr. Spock performing the famous Vulcan greeting is circa 1966-1968 and courtesy of momsmagazine.com)
Other TV icons featured on Obit of the Day:
Conrad Bain - Played “Mr. Drummond” on Diff’rent Strokes
Ann B. Davis - Played “Alice” on The Brady Bunch
Russell Johnson - Played “The Professor” on Gilligan’s Island
Ken Weatherwax - Played “Pugsley Addams” on The Addams Family
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