Leonard Nimoy/Star Trek/During

Late in 1963, Nimoy landed a guest role on The Lieutenant, a series starring Gary Lockwood and created by Gene Roddenberry. The episode he appeared in, entitled "In the Highest Tradition," co-starred Roddenberry's future wife, Majel Barrett. Roddenberry was also developing a science fiction series at the time and thought Nimoy would be perfect for it. Although he was initially up for the role of the ship's chief medical officer, Nimoy accepted the role as a half-Vulcan/half-Human named Spock on Roddenberry's series, entitled Star Trek, which made his career and changed his life.
Nimoy along with Majel Barrett had his first day for "The Cage" at the Desilu Culver Stage 15 on , performing color makeup tests inside the Menagerie set.
The first Star Trek pilot, , was filmed in November and December of . Although the pilot was rejected by NBC, the studio allowed Roddenberry to produce a second pilot, which became . Many cast changes were made between the first pilot and the second, and Nimoy was the only principal cast member from "The Cage" to return for the second pilot. Following this pilot, Star Trek was picked up as a series.
During his time on Star Trek, Nimoy was responsible for many traits which have become associated with Spock or Vulcans in general, including the Vulcan salute and the Vulcan nerve pinch. For his supporting role as Spock, Nimoy was nominated for an Emmy Award for each of the show's three years. Despite this, it was while working on Star Trek that Nimoy became an alcoholic. He never drank during the day or during work, but the moment work was done, he would desperately want a drink; because of that, he also became suicidal and depressed.Star Trek - After They Were Famous Part Four Fortunately, Nimoy was able to attain remissions of these illnesses and continue his acting career.
Low ratings led to Star Treks cancellation in . Including the two pilots, Nimoy appeared in all 79 episodes of the series, the only actor to do so.