# Leonard Nimoy

| Leonard Nimoy |
| --- |
| Leonard Nimoy in May 2011 |
| Born | Leonard Simon Nimoy (1931-03-26)March 26, 1931 Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Died | February 27, 2015(2015-02-27) (aged 83) Bel Air, Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Cause of death | Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease |
| Resting place | Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery, Culver City, California |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation(s) | Actor, film director, poet, photographer, singer, songwriter |
| Years active | 1951–2013 |
| Television | *Star Trek* |
| Spouse(s) | Sandra Zober (m. 1954-1987, divorced) Susan Bay (m. 1989-2015, his death) |
| Children | * Adam Nimoy
* Julie Nimoy
 |
| Website | leonardnimoyphotography.com |

**Leonard Simon Nimoy** (March 26, 1931 – February 27, 2015) was an American actor, movie director, poet, musician and photographer. He was famous for playing the character of *Spock* on *Star Trek,* an American television series that was made for three years in the late 1960s.

## Early life

Nimoy was born and raised in Boston, Massachusetts. His parents were immigrants from Ukraine. They were Dora Spinner and Max Nimoy. He took acting classes at Boston College and the Pasadena Playhouse.

## Career

Nimoy as Spock, 1967
Nimoy began his career in his early twenties, teaching acting classes in Hollywood and making minor movie and television appearances through the 1950s, as well as playing the title role in *Kid Monk Baroni*.

In 1965, he made his first appearance in the rejected *Star Trek* pilot "The Cage", and went on to play the character of Spock until 1969. He followed his role of Spock by eight feature movie and guest slots in the various spin-off series. The character has had a significant cultural impact and earned Nimoy three Emmy Award nominations; *TV Guide* named Spock one of the 50 greatest TV characters. After the original *Star Trek* series, Nimoy starred in *Mission: Impossible* for two seasons, hosted the documentary series *In Search of...*, narrated *Civilization IV*, and made several well-received stage appearances. He also had a recurring role in the science fiction series *Fringe*.

### Later career

Nimoy's fame as Spock was such that both of his autobiographies, *I Am Not Spock* (1975) and *I Am Spock* (1995), were written from the viewpoint of sharing his existence with the character. Nimoy has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 2011, Nimoy voiced the main villain, Sentinel Prime, in *Transformers: Dark of the Moon*. In 2009 and in 2013, Nimoy played Spock Prime in the J. J. Abrams Star Trek movies: *Star Trek* and *Star Trek Into Darkness*. He also voiced Master Xehanort in *Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep* and *Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance*.

## Personal life

Nimoy in September 2012
Nimoy was married twice. In 1954, he married actress Sandra Zober (1927–2011), whom he divorced in 1987. On New Year's Day of 1989, he married actress Susan Bay, cousin of director Michael Bay. Nimoy had a daughter and son by his first wife.

## Death

Shortly after he was photographed in a wheelchair and using an oxygen mask, Nimoy said in February 2014 that he had been diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Little over a year later, Nimoy died from the disease on February 27, 2015 at the age of 83 in his Bel Air home.

Nimoy was laid to rest in a private service in Los Angeles on March 1, 2015 at the Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery in Culver City, California. He was buried on a Sunday since Jewish tradition does not allow such services on a Saturday.

## Movies

### 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 *T.J. Hooker*, *The Powers of Matthew Star*, and *Deadly Games*

### Actor

* *Kid Monk Baroni* (1951)
* *Rhubarb* (1951)
* *Zombies of the Stratosphere* (1952)
* *Them!* (1954)
* *Satan's Satellites* (1958)
* *The Brain Eaters* (1958)
* *Harbor Command* (Episode - Contraband Diamonds) (1958)
* *The Twilight Zone* – "A Quality of Mercy" (1961)
* *General Hospital* (1963)
* *Perry Mason* (1963)
* *Combat! (1965) Two Episodes*
* *Deathwatch* (1966)
* *The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (1966)*
* *Get Smart* (1966)
* *Star Trek* (1966-1969): Lieutenant Commander/Commander Spock
* *Mission Impossible* (1969-1971) The Indomitable Paris
* *The Alpha Caper* (1973) (TV)
* *Columbo* (1973) (TV)
* *Star Trek: The Animated Series* (1973-1974)
* *Equus* (1977) (Broadway Play) Dr. Martin Dysart
* *Invasion of the Body Snatchers* (1978)
* *Vincent: Based on the play "Van Gogh" by Phillip Stephens* (1978-1981)
* *Star Trek: The Motion Picture* (1979)
* *A Woman Called Golda* (1982) (TV)
* *Marco Polo* (1982) (mini) TV Series
* *Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan* (1982)
* *Star Trek III: The Search for Spock* (1984)
* *The Sun Also Rises* (1984) (mini) TV Series
* *The Transformers: The Movie* (1986) Galvatron (voice only)
* *Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home* (1986)
* *Star Trek V: The Final Frontier* (1989)
* *The Simpsons*, "Marge vs. the Monorail" (1993) as himself
* *Never Forget* (1991) (TV)
* *Star Trek: The Next Generation* – "Unification" (1991) (two-part episode): Ambassador Spock
* *Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country* (1991)
* *Lights: The Miracle of Chanukah* (1993) (voice)
* *The Halloween Tree* (1993) (voice)
* *The Pagemaster* (1994) Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde (voice)
* *The Time Machine* (1994) (audio drama) The Time Traveller
* *The Simpsons*, "The Springfield Files" (1997) as himself
* *Brave New World* (1998)
* *Futurama*, "Space Pilot 3000" (1999)
* *Seaman* (2000): Narrator (voice)
* *Atlantis: The Lost Empire* (2001): King Kashekim Nedakh (voice)
* *Becker* (2001)
* *Futurama*, "Where No Fan Has Gone Before" (2002)
* *Civilization IV* (2006): Narrator (voice)
* *What's going on up there?* (2006): Narrator/Introduction (voice)
* *Star Trek (movie)* (2009): as Spock
* *Transformers: Dark of the Moon* (2011): as Sentinal Prime (voice)
* *Star Trek Into Darkness* (2013): as Spock

### Music videos

* 1967: "The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins" by Leonard Nimoy
* 1985: "Going Down to Liverpool" by The Bangles
* 2011: "The Lazy Song" by Bruno Mars (alternate official video)

## Related pages

* List of poets from North America

## Other websites

* Leonard Nimoy on IMDb
* Leonard Nimoy's entry at Startrek.com Archived 2010-07-12 at the Wayback Machine
* Archive of American Television Interview with Leonard Nimoy Nov 2, 2000 on Google Video
* Leonard Nimoy Poetry and Photography
* Leonard Nimoy Official Fan Club Archived 2020-10-30 at the Wayback Machine
* Leonard Nimoy's Photography
* Maiden Wine
* Leonard Nimoy at TV.com