Leonard Nimoy dies at 83
American postcard by Classico, San Francisco, no. 105-117. Photo: Paramount Pictures, 1991.
Friday morning 27 February, American actor Leonard Nimoy has died at his home in Los Angeles. The sonorous, gaunt-faced actor won a worshipful global following as Mr. Spock, the resolutely logical human-alien first officer of the Starship Enterprise in the television juggernaut Star Trek (1966–1969). Nimoy was 83.
Born in Boston in 1931, Leonard Simon Nimoy was the second son of Max and Dora Nimoy, Ukrainian immigrants and Orthodox Jews. His father worked as a barber. From the age of 8, Leonard acted in local productions, winning parts at a community college, where he performed through his high school years. In 1949, after taking a summer course at Boston College, he travelled to Hollywood, though it wasn’t until 1951 that he landed small parts in two film comedies, Queen for a Day (Arthur Lubin, 1951) and Rhubarb (Arthur Lubin, 1951). He continued to be cast in little-known films, although he did presciently play an alien invader in the Republic serial Zombies of the Stratosphere (Fred C. Brannon, 1952), and in 1961 he had a minor role on an episode of The Twilight Zone. His first starring role came with Kid Monk Baroni (Harold D. Schuster, 1952), in which he played a disfigured Italian street-gang leader who becomes a boxer. Nimoy served in the Army for two years, rising to sergeant and spending 18 months at Fort McPherson in Georgia, where he presided over shows for the Army’s Special Services branch. He also directed and starred as Stanley in the Atlanta Theater Guild’s production of A Streetcar Named Desire before receiving his final discharge in November 1955. He then returned to California, where he worked as a soda jerk, movie usher and cabdriver while studying acting at the Pasadena Playhouse. He achieved wide visibility in the late 1950s and early 1960s on television shows like Wagon Train, Rawhide and Perry Mason. Her also starred in The Balcony (Joseph Strick, 1963), a cinematic adaptation of Jean Genet's play co-starring Shelley Winters, Peter Falk and Lee Grant.Then came Star Trek.
Leonard Nimoy was teaching Method acting at his own studio when he was cast in the original Star Trek television series. Star Trek, which had its premiere on NBC on 8 Sept. 1966, made him a star. Nimoy relished playing outsiders, and he developed what he later admitted was a mystical identification with Spock, the lone alien on the starship’s bridge. Spock was a cerebral, unflappable, pointy-eared Vulcan with a signature salute and blessing: “Live long and prosper”. Though the series was cancelled after three seasons because of low ratings, a cult like following — the conference-holding, costume-wearing Trekkies, or Trekkers (the designation Mr. Nimoy preferred) — coalesced soon after Star Trek went into syndication. Yet Nimoy also acknowledged ambivalence about being tethered to the character, expressing it most plainly in the titles of two autobiographies: I Am Not Spock, published in 1977, and “I Am Spock,” published in 1995. He tried to break out of him image with the Western Catlow (Sam Wanamaker, 1971) based on a 1963 novel by Louis L'Amour. It stars Yul Brynner as a renegade outlaw determined to pull off a Confederate gold heist. Nimoy mentioned this film in both of his autobiographies because it gave him a chance to break away from his role as Spock on Star Trek. He mentioned that the time he made the film was one of the happiest of his life, even though his part was rather brief. Another interesting film was the Science Fiction thriller Invasion of the Body Snatchers (Philip Kaufman, 1978) starring Donald Sutherland. It is a remake of the 1956 film Invasion of the Body Snatchers, which is based on the novel The Body Snatchers by Jack Finney. The plot involves a San Francisco health inspector and his colleague who discover humans are being replaced by duplicate aliens who appear to be perfect copies of the persons replaced, but devoid of any human emotion. A box office success, Invasion of the Body Snatchers was very well received by critics, and is considered by some to be among the greatest film remakes.
Leonard Nimoy's stardom would endure. The fans’ devotion only deepened when Star Trek was spun off into an animated show, various new series and an uneven parade of films starring much of the original television cast, including — besides Mr. Nimoy — William Shatner (as Capt. James T. Kirk), DeForest Kelley (Dr. McCoy), George Takei (the helmsman, Sulu), James Doohan (the chief engineer, Scott), Nichelle Nichols (the chief communications officer, Uhura) and Walter Koenig (the navigator, Chekov). The first film was Star Trek: The Motion Picture (Robert Wise, 1979). When the director J. J. Abrams revived the Star Trek film franchise in 2009, with an all-new cast — including Zachary Quinto as Spock — he included a cameo part for Mr. Nimoy, as an older version of the same character. Mr. Nimoy also appeared in the 2013 follow-up, Star Trek Into Darkness. His zeal to entertain and enlighten reached beyond “Star Trek” and crossed genres. He had a starring role in the dramatic television series Mission: Impossible and frequently performed onstage, notably as Tevye in “Fiddler on the Roof.” His poetry was voluminous, and he published books of his photography. He also directed films, including two from the Star Trek franchise, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984) and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986), which he helped write, and television shows. Nimoy was also the executive producer and a writer of the movie Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. He then directed the hugely successful comedy Three Men and a Baby (1987), a far cry from his science-fiction work, and appeared in made-for-television movies. He received an Emmy nomination for A Woman Called Golda (Alan Gibson, 1982), in which he portrayed the husband of Golda Meir, the prime minister of Israel, who was played by Ingrid Bergman. It was the fourth Emmy nomination of his career — the other three were for his Star Trek work — although he never won. Leonard Nimoy’s marriage to the actress Sandi Zober ended in divorce. His second wife, Susan Bay Nimoy, confirmed his death, saying the cause was end-stage chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Besides his wife, he is survived by his children, Adam and Julie Nimoy; a stepson, Aaron Bay Schuck; and six grandchildren; one great-grandchild, and an older brother, Melvin.
Sources: Daniel E. Slotnik and Peter Keepnews (New York Times), Wikipedia and IMDb.
Leonard Nimoy dies at 83
American postcard by Classico, San Francisco, no. 105-117. Photo: Paramount Pictures, 1991.
Friday morning 27 February, American actor Leonard Nimoy has died at his home in Los Angeles. The sonorous, gaunt-faced actor won a worshipful global following as Mr. Spock, the resolutely logical human-alien first officer of the Starship Enterprise in the television juggernaut Star Trek (1966–1969). Nimoy was 83.
Born in Boston in 1931, Leonard Simon Nimoy was the second son of Max and Dora Nimoy, Ukrainian immigrants and Orthodox Jews. His father worked as a barber. From the age of 8, Leonard acted in local productions, winning parts at a community college, where he performed through his high school years. In 1949, after taking a summer course at Boston College, he travelled to Hollywood, though it wasn’t until 1951 that he landed small parts in two film comedies, Queen for a Day (Arthur Lubin, 1951) and Rhubarb (Arthur Lubin, 1951). He continued to be cast in little-known films, although he did presciently play an alien invader in the Republic serial Zombies of the Stratosphere (Fred C. Brannon, 1952), and in 1961 he had a minor role on an episode of The Twilight Zone. His first starring role came with Kid Monk Baroni (Harold D. Schuster, 1952), in which he played a disfigured Italian street-gang leader who becomes a boxer. Nimoy served in the Army for two years, rising to sergeant and spending 18 months at Fort McPherson in Georgia, where he presided over shows for the Army’s Special Services branch. He also directed and starred as Stanley in the Atlanta Theater Guild’s production of A Streetcar Named Desire before receiving his final discharge in November 1955. He then returned to California, where he worked as a soda jerk, movie usher and cabdriver while studying acting at the Pasadena Playhouse. He achieved wide visibility in the late 1950s and early 1960s on television shows like Wagon Train, Rawhide and Perry Mason. Her also starred in The Balcony (Joseph Strick, 1963), a cinematic adaptation of Jean Genet's play co-starring Shelley Winters, Peter Falk and Lee Grant.Then came Star Trek.
Leonard Nimoy was teaching Method acting at his own studio when he was cast in the original Star Trek television series. Star Trek, which had its premiere on NBC on 8 Sept. 1966, made him a star. Nimoy relished playing outsiders, and he developed what he later admitted was a mystical identification with Spock, the lone alien on the starship’s bridge. Spock was a cerebral, unflappable, pointy-eared Vulcan with a signature salute and blessing: “Live long and prosper”. Though the series was cancelled after three seasons because of low ratings, a cult like following — the conference-holding, costume-wearing Trekkies, or Trekkers (the designation Mr. Nimoy preferred) — coalesced soon after Star Trek went into syndication. Yet Nimoy also acknowledged ambivalence about being tethered to the character, expressing it most plainly in the titles of two autobiographies: I Am Not Spock, published in 1977, and “I Am Spock,” published in 1995. He tried to break out of him image with the Western Catlow (Sam Wanamaker, 1971) based on a 1963 novel by Louis L'Amour. It stars Yul Brynner as a renegade outlaw determined to pull off a Confederate gold heist. Nimoy mentioned this film in both of his autobiographies because it gave him a chance to break away from his role as Spock on Star Trek. He mentioned that the time he made the film was one of the happiest of his life, even though his part was rather brief. Another interesting film was the Science Fiction thriller Invasion of the Body Snatchers (Philip Kaufman, 1978) starring Donald Sutherland. It is a remake of the 1956 film Invasion of the Body Snatchers, which is based on the novel The Body Snatchers by Jack Finney. The plot involves a San Francisco health inspector and his colleague who discover humans are being replaced by duplicate aliens who appear to be perfect copies of the persons replaced, but devoid of any human emotion. A box office success, Invasion of the Body Snatchers was very well received by critics, and is considered by some to be among the greatest film remakes.
Leonard Nimoy's stardom would endure. The fans’ devotion only deepened when Star Trek was spun off into an animated show, various new series and an uneven parade of films starring much of the original television cast, including — besides Mr. Nimoy — William Shatner (as Capt. James T. Kirk), DeForest Kelley (Dr. McCoy), George Takei (the helmsman, Sulu), James Doohan (the chief engineer, Scott), Nichelle Nichols (the chief communications officer, Uhura) and Walter Koenig (the navigator, Chekov). The first film was Star Trek: The Motion Picture (Robert Wise, 1979). When the director J. J. Abrams revived the Star Trek film franchise in 2009, with an all-new cast — including Zachary Quinto as Spock — he included a cameo part for Mr. Nimoy, as an older version of the same character. Mr. Nimoy also appeared in the 2013 follow-up, Star Trek Into Darkness. His zeal to entertain and enlighten reached beyond “Star Trek” and crossed genres. He had a starring role in the dramatic television series Mission: Impossible and frequently performed onstage, notably as Tevye in “Fiddler on the Roof.” His poetry was voluminous, and he published books of his photography. He also directed films, including two from the Star Trek franchise, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984) and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986), which he helped write, and television shows. Nimoy was also the executive producer and a writer of the movie Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. He then directed the hugely successful comedy Three Men and a Baby (1987), a far cry from his science-fiction work, and appeared in made-for-television movies. He received an Emmy nomination for A Woman Called Golda (Alan Gibson, 1982), in which he portrayed the husband of Golda Meir, the prime minister of Israel, who was played by Ingrid Bergman. It was the fourth Emmy nomination of his career — the other three were for his Star Trek work — although he never won. Leonard Nimoy’s marriage to the actress Sandi Zober ended in divorce. His second wife, Susan Bay Nimoy, confirmed his death, saying the cause was end-stage chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Besides his wife, he is survived by his children, Adam and Julie Nimoy; a stepson, Aaron Bay Schuck; and six grandchildren; one great-grandchild, and an older brother, Melvin.
Sources: Daniel E. Slotnik and Peter Keepnews (New York Times), Wikipedia and IMDb.