Sad news today: Leonard Nimoy, who played the pointy-eared Vulcan, Dr Spock ,in the original Star Trek series, died of pulmonary disease after being hospitalised earlier this week. He was 83, and seemed damned near immortal. Hard to believe he’s gone.
From the Guardian:
Nimoy co-starred with William Shatner on the original Star Trek TV series from 1966 to 1969. His half-human, half-Vulcan character was a perfect counterpart to Shatner’s Captain Kirk in the series, which spawned several films and later TV reboots. He appeared as “Spock Prime” in the 2013 film Star Trek Into Darkness, in which actor Zachary Quinto took on the role of Spock.
Of course, Nimoy was more than just Spock (as his first memoir I Am Not Spock famously attested).
The Washington Post notes that “Mr. Nimoy parlayed his Star Trek fame into a singing career in the late 1960s and 1970s, cutting albums such as Leonard Nimoy Presents Mr. Spock’s Music From Outer Space. He also published books of poetry and photography and championed progressive causes, including civil rights and Cesar Chavez’s efforts on behalf of immigrant farm workers.”
From 1976 to 1982, he hosted the syndicated documentary series In Search Of…, (MY FAVORITE SHOW GROWING UP, OMG) which explored phenomena such as the Loch Ness monster and the Bermuda Triangle.
Mr. Nimoy wrote and performed in a one-man stage show about Theo van Gogh and his troubled but brilliant painter brother, Vincent.
The film or television offers that rolled in during his later life tended to be in the realm of science fiction. He was the voice of Sentinel Prime in the 2011 film Transformers: Dark of the Moon, and he participated in nearly all Star Trek film and TV incarnations (including multiple stints on The Simpsons and Futurama).
Outside the WOW offices right now, dozens of news cameras are pointed at his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, as passers-by stop to remember a towering figure in our cultural mythology.
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