Leonard Nimoy Dies At 83

Leonard Nimoy, star of “Star Trek” on the small and big screen, has died at the age of 83.

On September 8, 1966, NBC aired the premiere of Star Trek. That show made Leonard Nimoy, who played the now-iconic Mr. Spock, a star, and his stardom continued onto the big screen for the Star Trek movies.

Speaking to MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell, Star Trek’s George Takei this afternoon called Nimoy a “gifted director,” and “noble.” 

In his 1977 biography, Nimoy wrote, “In Spock, I finally found the best of both worlds: to be widely accepted in public approval and yet be able to continue to play the insulated alien through the Vulcan character.”

The New York Times reports Nimoy’s wife, “Susan Bay Nimoy, confirmed his death, saying the cause was end-stage chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.”

Mr. Nimoy announced last year that he had the disease, which he attributed to years of smoking, a habit he had given up three decades earlier. He had been hospitalized earlier in the week.

His artistic pursuits — poetry, photography and music in addition to acting — ranged far beyond the United Federation of Planets, but it was as Mr. Spock that Mr. Nimoy became a folk hero, bringing to life one of the most indelible characters of the last half century: a cerebral, unflappable, pointy-eared Vulcan with a signature salute and blessing: “Live long and prosper” (from the Vulcan “Dif-tor heh smusma”).

The star’s final tweet:

 

Image by Melody Joy Kramer via Flickr and a CC license