Leonard Nimoy(1931-2015)
- Actor
- Director
- Producer
Leonard Simon Nimoy was born in Boston, Massachusetts, to Dora (Spinner) and
Max Nimoy, who owned a barbershop. His parents were Ukrainian Jewish
immigrants. Raised in a tenement and acting in community theaters since
age eight, Nimoy did not make his Hollywood debut until he was 20, with
a bit part in
Queen for a Day (1951) and
another as a ballplayer in the perennial
Rhubarb (1951). After two years in the
United States Army, he was still getting small, often uncredited parts,
like an Army telex operator in
Them! (1954). His part as Narab, a Martian
finally friendly to Earth, in the closing scene in the corny Republic
serial
Zombies of the Stratosphere (1952),
somewhat foreshadowed the role which would make him a household name:
Mr. Spock, the half-human/half-Vulcan science officer on
Star Trek (1966) one of
television's all-time most successful series. His performance won him
three Emmy nominations and launched his career as a writer and
director, notably of
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986),
the story of a humpback whale rescue that proved the most successful of
the Star Trek movies. Stage credits have included "Fiddler on the
Roof", "Oliver", "Camelot" and "Equus". He has hosted the well-known
television series
In Search of... (1976) and
Ancient Mysteries (1994),
authored several volumes of poetry and guest-starred on two episodes of
The Simpsons (1989). In the latter years of his career, he played Mustafa Mond in NBC's telling of
Aldous Huxley's
Brave New World (1998), voiced Sentinel Prime in the blockbuster Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011), and played Spock again in two new Star Trek films, Star Trek (2009) and Star Trek Into Darkness (2013).
Leonard Nimoy died on February 27, 2015 in Bel Air, Los Angeles, California, of end-stage chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. He was 83.
Leonard Nimoy died on February 27, 2015 in Bel Air, Los Angeles, California, of end-stage chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. He was 83.
