Leonard Nimoy

**Leonard Simon Nimoy** (March 26, 1931February 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 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 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.

### 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's entry at Startrek.com
- Archive of American Television Interview with Leonard Nimoy Nov 2, 2000 on Google Video
- Leonard Nimoy Poetry and Photography
- Leonard Nimoy Official Fan Club
- Leonard Nimoy's Photography
- Maiden Wine

## Infobox (actor)

- **name**: Leonard Nimoy
- **image**: Leonard Nimoy by Gage Skidmore.jpg
- **caption**: Leonard Nimoy in May 2011
- **birthname**: Leonard Simon Nimoy
- **birth place**: Boston, Massachusetts, United States, U.S.
- **death place**: Bel Air, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
- **death cause**: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
- **resting place**: Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery, Culver City, California
- **television**: _Star Trek: The Original Series, Star Trek_
- **nationality**: American
- **occupation**: Actor, film director, poet, photographer, singer, songwriter
- **years active**: 1951–2013
- **spouse**: Sandra Zober
(m. 1954-1987, divorced)
Susan Bay
(m. 1989-2015, his death)