Leonard Nimoy (born: 26 March 1931 | died: 27 February 2015) was an American actor. He appeared in numerous television series and feature films but is most famous for his portrayal of Mr Spock on the original Star Trek series from 1966-68.
He was also an accomplished director, with credits including Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984), Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986), and Three Men and a Baby (1987).
He played William Bell in "There's More Than One of Everything", the "Fringe" season one finale and then several more times during Season Two. In the episode "Grey Matters", Bell uses the alias "Paris" which, coincidentally, was the name of the character Nimoy played for two seasons on the original Mission: Impossible.
Nimoy announced his retirement from acting on two occasions. Initially, he retired in the mid-2000s in order to focus on his other passion, photography. In 2007-08, however, he came out of retirement in order to reprise the role of Spock in J.J. Abrams' rebooting of the Star Trek franchise. After this, Nimoy agreed to take on the role of William Bell in Fringe. In 2010, Nimoy announced once again that he was retiring from acting.
In February 2014, Nimoy revealed that he had been diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a condition he attributed to a smoking habit he had given up approximately 30 years prior. On February 19, 2015, Nimoy was taken to UCLA Medical Center for chest pain and had been in and out of hospitals for the "past several months".
Death[]
Nimoy died on February 27, 2015, at the age of 83 in his Bel Air home from complications of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a condition he attributed to a smoking addiction he had given up about 30 years earlier.
Nimoy's remains were buried during a funeral service in Los Angeles on March 1, 2015. The service was attended by nearly 300 family members, friends and former colleagues, as well as Zachary Quinto, Chris Pine, and Fringe executive producer, J. J. Abrams. Though Shatner could not attend, he was represented by his daughters.
Partial filmography[]
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1951 | Rhubarb | Young Ball Player | |
| 1952 | Kid Monk Baroni | Paul 'Monk' Baroni | |
| Zombies of the Stratosphere | Narab | ||
| 1953 | Old Overland Trail | Chief Black Hawk | |
| 1958 | The Brain Eaters | Professor Cole | |
| 1963 | The Balcony | Roger | |
| 1964 | The Outer Limits | Judson Ellis | (TV series) (Episode "I, Robot") |
| 1966 | Deathwatch | Jules LaFranc | |
| Star Trek | Mr. Spock (1966-1969) |
(TV series) (80 episodes) | |
| 1969 | Mission: Impossible | Paris (1969-1971) |
(TV series) (49 episodes) |
| 1971 | Catlow | Miller | |
| 1973 | Baffled! | Tom Kovack | (TV) |
| Columbo: A Stitch in Crime | Dr. Barry Mayfield | (TV) | |
| Star Trek: The Animated Series | Mr. Spock (1973-1974) |
(voice) (16 episodes) | |
| 1974 | Rex Harrison Presents Stories of Love | Mick | (TV) |
| 1978 | Invasion of the Body Snatchers | Dr. David Kibner | |
| 1979 | Star Trek: The Motion Picture | Mr. Spock | |
| 1981 | Vincent | Theo Van Gogh | (TV) |
| 1982 | A Woman Called Golda | Morris Meyerson | (TV) |
| Marco Polo | Achmet | (TV mini-series) | |
| Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan | Captain Spock | ||
| 1984 | Star Trek III: The Search for Spock | Captain Spock | |
| The Sun Also Rises | Count Mippipopolous | (TV) | |
| 1986 | Transformers: The Movie | Galvatron | (voice) |
| Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home | Captain Spock | ||
| 1989 | Star Trek V: The Final Frontier | Captain Spock | |
| 1991 | Never Forget | Mel Mermelstein | (TV) |
| Star Trek: The Next Generation | Ambassador Spock| (2 episodes) |
(TV series) (episodes "Unification|: Part 1" & "Unification|: Part 2") | |
| Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country | Captain Spock | ||
| 1993 | The Halloween Tree | Mr. Moundshroud | (voice) |
| 1994 | The Pagemaster | Dr. Henry Jekyll / Mr. Edward Hyde | (voice) |
| 1995 | Bonanza: Under Attack | Frank James | (TV) |
| The Outer Limits | Thomas Cutler | (TV series) (episode "I, Robot") | |
| Titanica | Narrator | (documentary) | |
| 1997 | David | Samuel | (TV) |
| 1998 | Brave New World | Mustapha Mond | (TV) |
| 2000 | Seaman | Narrator | (video game) |
| Sinbad: Beyond the Veil of Mists | Akron/Baraka/King Chandra | (voice) | |
| 2001 | Becker | Professor Emmett Fowler | (TV series) (episode "The TorMentor") |
| Atlantis: The Lost Empire | King Kashekim Nedakh | (voice) | |
| 2005 | Civilization IV | Narrator | (video game) |
|
2009 |
Star Trek| | Spock Prime | |
| Fringe | Dr. William Bell | (TV series) (episode "There's More Than One of Everything") | |
| Land of the Lost | The Zarn |
(voice) |
Director[]
- Vincent: Based on the play "Van Gogh" by Phillip Stephens (1978-1981)
- Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984)
- Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986)
- Three Men and a Baby (1987)
- The Good Mother (1988)
- Funny About Love (1990)
- Holy Matrimony (1994)
- episodes of Night Gallery, T.J. Hooker, The Powers of Matthew Star, and Deadly Games