Leonard Nimoy, `Star Trek's' Spock, Dies at 83   
       
   The Man Who Was Spock   
   The New York Times   
   February 27, 2015 | 09:21AM PT   
   Terry Flores   
   @VarietyTerry   
       
   Leonard Nimoy lived up to his longtime catchphrase: Live long and prosper.   
   Having achieved success in many arenas during his lifetime, the actor,   
   director, writer and photographer died Friday in Los Angeles of end-stage   
   chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. He was 83.   
       
   Most widely known for his performance as half-human, half-Vulcan science   
   officer Spock on the classic sci-fi TV show "Star Trek" and its many   
   subsequent film and videogame incarnations, Nimoy was also a successful   
   director, helming "Star Trek" pics "The Search for Spock" and "The Voyage   
   Home," as well as non-"Star Trek" fare; an accomplished stage actor; a   
   published writer and poet; and a noted photographer. He also dabbled in   
   singing and songwriting.   
       
   But despite his varied talents, Nimoy will forever be linked with the logical   
   Mr. Spock. Spotted by "Star Trek" creator Gene Roddenberry when he appeared on   
   Roddenberry's NBC Marine Corps. skein "The Lieutenant," Nimoy was offered the   
   role of Spock and co-starred in the 1965 "Star Trek" pilot "The Cage." NBC   
   execs liked the concept but thought the pilot too cerebral, so they ordered a   
   second pilot of the Desilu production with some script and cast changes (only   
   Nimoy made it through both pilots). The series finally bowed on NBC in the   
   fall of 1966. After three seasons, it was canceled in 1969 but would go on to   
   be a hit in syndication, spawning films and other TV iterations and gaining a   
   huge following of fans known as Trekkers or Trekkies.   
       
   After the series wrapped, Nimoy joined the fourth season of spy series   
   "Mission: Impossible" as master-of-disguise Paris, leaving after the fifth   
   season. He went on to star in the 1971 Western "Catlow," with Yul Brynner and   
   Richard Crenna, and the 1978 remake of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" with   
   Donald Sutherland and Jeffrey Goldblum. The actor also made a series of TV   
   films throughout the '70s and received an Emmy nomination in 1982 for his role   
   as Golda Meir's husband in telepic "A Woman Called Golda."   
       
   Also during the '70s, Nimoy narrated the docuseries "In Search of..," which   
   investigated unexplained events, paranormal phenomena and urban legends long   
   before these matters become the common fodder of pop culture.   
       
   Then the siren call of "Star Trek" beckoned again and Nimoy returned to the   
   role of Mr. Spock for 1979's "Star Trek: The Motion Picture." The film opened   
   well at the box office, and though not well reviewed, it did spawn enough   
   interest for Paramount to greenlight sequels that would continue into the   
   1990s: "The Wrath of Khan" (1982), "The Search for Spock" (1984), "The Voyage   
   Home" (1986), "The Final Frontier" (1989) and "The Undiscovered Country"   
   (1991). Nimoy was in all of them, albeit briefly in "The Search for Spock."   
       
   See More:Leonard Nimoy's Final Tweet: `A Life Is Like a Garden'   
       
   Nimoy also appeared as Spock in a couple of episodes of series spinoff "Star   
   Trek: The Next Generation," several videogames based on the property and the   
   J.J. Abrams-helmed "Star Trek" reboot, playing Spock Prime to Zachary Quinto's   
   young Spock in the 2009 film and its sequel.   
       
   After directing several TV projects, including episodes of "Rod Serling's   
   Night Gallery" and his "Star Trek" co-star William Shatner's "T.J. Hooker,"   
   Nimoy signed on to helm "Star Trek III: The Search for Spock." Variety said   
   the production was "helmed with a sure hand by debuting feature director   
   Leonard Nimoy, who also appears briefly but to good effect as the   
   indestructible half-human/half-Vulcan Spock." The review went on to say   
   "Nimoy's direction is people-intensive with less of the zap and effects   
   diversions of competing films." He went on to direct the next pic in the   
   series, "The Voyage Home," as well as four other feature films, including the   
   1987 comedy "3 Men and a Baby," starring Tom Selleck, Ted Danson and Steve   
   Guttenberg, and the Diane Keaton-Liam Neeson drama "The Good Mother" (1988).   
       
   Nimoy also had a long history of stage work. He appeared on Broadway in "Full   
   Circle," directed by Otto Preminger, in 1973, and as a replacement for Anthony   
   Hopkins as Martin Dysart in "Equus." In 1996 he directed "The Apple Doesn't   
   Fall Far From the Tree" on the Rialto. But he also starred in many regional   
   productions - he played Stanley Kowalski in a 1955 Atlanta production of "A   
   Streetcar Named Desire" - and starred in several touring shows: He was Tevye   
   in "Fiddler on the Roof" in 1971, Sherlock Holmes in a play of that name in   
   1976 and Vincent Van Gogh in solo show "Vincent: The Story of a Hero," which   
   he also produced and directed, in 1978-80.   
       
   Leonard Simon Nimoy was born in Boston; his parents were Jewish immigrants   
   from the Ukraine, and the language at home was Yiddish. He developed an   
   interest in acting at an early age, first appearing on stage at 8 in a   
   production of "Hansel and Gretel." He took drama classes for a while at Boston   
   College, and after leaving home to pursue his career in Hollywood, he landed   
   his first lead role in the 1952 film "Kid Monk Baroni."   
       
   After serving in the Army from 1953-55, he appeared in small roles in a few   
   films, but mostly found roles in TV series, appearing in episodes of   
   "Dragnet," "Sea Hunt," "Bonanza," "Wagon Train," "Rawhide," "The Twilight   
   Zone," "The Untouchables," "The Outer Limits," "The Virginian," "Get Smart"   
   and "Gunsmoke" before rising to fame in "Star Trek."   
       
   Most recently, he recurred on Fox sci-fi series "Fringe" as maniacal, genius   
   professor William Bell, and he voiced Spock for a 2012 episode of "The Big   
   Bang Theory."   
       
   In addition to his work on "In Search Of.," Nimoy lent his resonant,   
   intelligent voice to a variety of films, TV projects and documentaries,   
   including A&E docu series "Ancient Mysteries."   
       
   He wrote two autobiographies. The first, published in 1977, was called "I Am   
   Not Spock." Though "Star Trek" fans thought he was distancing himself from the   
   beloved character, Nimoy had always enjoyed playing the character but was also   
   using the book to talk about other aspects of his life. The book features   
   dialogue between the thesp and Spock and touched on a self-proclaimed identity   
   crisis because he became so associated with his character. In his second   
   autobiography, "I Am Spock" (1995), he embraced that association.   
       
   He also wrote several books of poetry, including "You and I," "Warmed by Love"   
   and "A Lifetime of Love: Poems on the Passages of Life." Some of his poetry   
   books featured his photos.   
       
   Nimoy studied photography at UCLA in the 1970s, and his work as a photographer   
   was shown in museums, art galleries and in published works, including "The   
   Full Body Project: Photographs by Leonard Nimoy" and "Shekhina." He was active   
   in philanthropy and endowed Hollywood's Temple Israel's Bay-Nimoy Early   
   Childhood Center.   
       
   In music, Nimoy released five albums on Dot Records, the first of which was   
   space-based music and spoken word, "Mr. Spock's Music From Outer Space."   
       
   Nimoy was married twice, first to actress Sandra Zober. They divorced in 1987.   
   In 1988, he married Susan Bay, an actress who is the cousin of helmer Michael   
   Bay.   
       
   He is survived by his wife; two children from his first marriage, son Adam, a   
   director, and daughter Julie; a stepson; and several grandchildren.   
       
       
   Regards,   
       
   Roger   
      
   --- D'Bridge 3.99   
    * Origin: NCS BBS -Houma, LoUiSiAna- (1:3828/7)