Leonard Nimoy, whose furrowed brow, deep voice, and wry sense of humor made Star Trek‘s Spock an icon of sci-fi, died today at home in Los Angeles after a long illness. He was 83.
Nimoy played Spock, the chief science officer on the USS Enterprise, during the series’ original run from 1966 to 1969, and reprised the role in an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation and in seven of the Star Trek films (including a well-received turn as an elderly Spock in the franchise reboot Star Trek). Cerebral, logical, pointy-eared, and largely devoid of emotion, Spock was a half-human, half-Vulcan whose most famous catchphrases epitomized both the series’ hunger for exploration (“fascinating…”) and its Utopian ideals (“Live long and prosper”). He also directed Star Trek III: The Search for Spock and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. (Nimoy’s two autobiographies, I Am Not Spock, from 1975, and I Am Spock from 1995, indicate how thoroughly the character defined his career.)
Born in Boston in 1931, Nimoy began acting at a young age. Starting in 1951, he had small roles in a number of films and television series before his rise to prominence as Spock. Outside of the Star Trek franchise, Nimoy made his biggest mark behind the camera. He directed Three Men and a Baby, the massively popular 1987 comedy about three bachelors forced to care for a child. In addition, Nimoy’s photography work was featured in a number of galleries. He is survived by his wife, Susan Bay, and two children from a previous marriage.
