As 'Spock,' Leonard Nimoy boldly went into space on TV's 'Star Trek'

Nimoy died at his home Friday. Though he was an accomplished writer, director, and stage actor, most people think of the Boston native as the Vulcan science officer on the starship Enterprise.

|
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP/File
In this 2013 file photo, Leonard Nimoy arrives at the LA premiere of "Star Trek Into Darkness" at The Dolby Theater in Los Angeles.

Leonard Nimoy, famed for his portrayal of Mr. Spock on the "Star Trek" science fiction TV series and movies, has died, the New York Times reported on Friday. He was 83.

The paper, citing confirmation from his wife, Susan Bay Nimoy, said Nimoy, who had grappled with a love-hate relationship for his logical human-alien screen self, died Friday morning at his Los Angeles home.

Last year, Nimoy disclosed on Twitter that he had been diagnosed with a progressive lung disease.

"I quit smoking 30 years ago. Not soon enough," he tweeted to his 810,000 followers. "Grandpa says, quit now!!"

Nimoy had other roles during a long career in TV, film and theater, and directed successful movies, wrote books, composed poetry, published photographs and recorded music. But he will be forever linked to the half-Vulcan, half-human Spock in the original 1960s "Star Trek" TV series and subsequent movies.

Known for suppressing his emotions and using strict logic to guide his actions, Spock became one of the best-known and most beloved sci-fi characters of the late 20th century.

For years, Nimoy resented that Spock defined him but came to accept that his life would be intertwined with the alien who inspired a fervent fan following for "Star Trek."

Nimoy had often battled "Star Trek" creators during the original series over their conception of Spock, and his input was responsible for developing many aspects of the character.

He came up with the Vulcan nerve grip that rendered foes unconscious, as well as the split-fingered Vulcan "live long and prosper" salute, which he said was inspired by a gesture he had seen worshippers make in his synagogue when he was a boy.

Nimoy signed off his tweets with "LLAP," an abbreviation of Spock's trademark phrase "live long and prosper."

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

QR Code to As 'Spock,' Leonard Nimoy boldly went into space on TV's 'Star Trek'
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/The-Culture/2015/0227/As-Spock-Leonard-Nimoy-boldly-went-into-space-on-TV-s-Star-Trek
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe