An entertainment legend and star of the highest calibre has died. Leonard Nimoy, the actor who played Mr Spock, the decisively logical human-Vulcan first officer of the Starship Enterprise on Star Trek, died yesterday morning at his home. He was 83.
His wife, Susan Bay Nimoy, confirmed his death, saying that the cause was chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Nimoy announced in 2014 that he had the disease, attributing it to years of smoking — a habit he had given up almost thirty years earlier. He had been hospitalised earlier this week.
Nimoy played the iconic character first in the 1960’s Star Trek television series and later in J.J. Abrams‘ Star Trek reboot – giving heart, soul and humanity to the Vulcan officer.
But as for his fans, he was adored — and those fans went on to pass that adoration on to their children and grandchildren – making him an icon to future geeks everywhere.
Throughout the 1950s and ’60s, Leonard Nimoy appeared all over television, including roles in The Twilight Zone, Bonanza, The Rebel, Two Faces West, Rawhide, The Untouchables, The Eleventh Hour, Perry Mason, Combat!, Daniel Boone, The Outer Limits, Get Smart and Mission: Impossible.
Before Star Trek, Nimoy had worked with co-star DeForest Kelley in The Virginian, and William Shatner on The Man from U.N.C.L.E. – years before they found themselves aboard a starship. He also played Dr David Kibner in 1978’s Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and hosted Nickelodeon’s Standby: Lights, Camera, Action from 1982 to 1987.
Nimoy eventually put his memorable voice to work, including voicing Galvatron in 1986’s Transformers: The Movie, narrator for CBS’ Haunted Lives: True Ghost Stories in 1991, as Atlantean King Kashekim Nedakh in Disney’s Atlantis: The Lost Empire in 2001 and making more than a few appearances on The Simpsons and Futurama — as both himself and Spock.
Whenever he showed up, it was special, and for generations who’ve grown up on science fiction, not loving Leonard Nimoy would be — as Mr Spock might say – highly illogical. Mr Spock is famous for saying, ‘Live Long and Prosper.’ Leonard Nimoy did both. RIP.
