Leonard Nimoy
Leonard Simon Nimoy (born
March 26,
1931) is an
American actor,
film director,
poet,
musician and
photographer best known for playing the character
Spock in the
Star Trek franchise, beginning in 1966 with
the original television series.
Born in
Boston, Massachusetts to
Ukrainian-
Jewish immigrants, Nimoy spent much of his early career in the
1950s doing small parts in
B-movies,
TV shows such as
Dragnet, and
serials such as
Republic Pictures Zombies of the Stratosphere in
1952. In
1961 he had a minor role in
The Twilight Zone episode "
A Quality of Mercy". His Boston area heritage can be heard in his pronunciation, for example in his pronunciation of the word "rather" in
Star Trek episodes.
Nimoy served in the
U.S. Army Reserve, receiving final discharge in November
1955 as a
Sergeant. His commanding officer was
Ben Stern. According to the
National Archives and Records Administration, Nimoy's U.S. Army service record was destroyed in the
1973 National Archives Fire.
Nimoy has long been active in the
Jewish community, and is an adherent of
Reform Judaism. One of his better-known roles was that of
Tevye the milkman, in the musical
Fiddler on the Roof, based on the series of short stories by
Yiddish author
Sholom Aleichem. In
1997 he narrated the
documentary A Life Apart: Hasidism in America, about the various sects of
Hasidic Orthodox Jews. In
October 2002 Nimoy published
Shekhina, a photographic study of women intended to visualize the feminine aspect of
God's presence, inspired by
Kabbalah (esoteric Jewish mysticism).
Stage and screen
Nimoy's most famous role is the half-
Vulcan, half-human
Spock from
Star Trek, the original series (
TOS;
1966â€"
69). He earned three
Emmy nominations for playing this character.
In a strange twist of fate, Nimoy and
William Shatner (who would go on to play Spock's commanding officer,
Captain James T. Kirk) found themselves on the opposite side of the
Iron Curtain in the
1964 episode of
The Man from U.N.C.L.E., "The Project Strigas Affair". With his saturnine looks, Nimoy was predictably the villain, with Shatner playing a reluctant U.N.C.L.E. recruit. Nimoy went on to reprise Spock's character in a voice-over role in
Star Trek: The Animated Series, in two episodes of
Star Trek: The Next Generation, and in six Star Trek
motion pictures featuring the original cast.
Following the cancellation of
TOS, Nimoy played a
spy called Paris in the hit television series
Mission Impossible from
1969â€"
71. Although Nimoy said he enjoyed working with
Peter Graves and other cast members, he regarded
Mission Impossible as one of the low points of his career. He considered the work boring and unchallenging. He has often said there are times he barely remembers doing the show. It was during the run of the show that Nimoy fell deathly ill with a
stomach ulcer. Only expert medical attention saved his life, and the symptoms to this day have not recurred.
He co-starred with
Yul Brynner and
Richard Crenna in the
Western movie Catlow (1971). Nimoy also appeared in various made for
television films in this period such as
Assault On The Wayne (
1970),
Baffled (
1972),
The Alpha Caper (
1973),
The Missing Are Deadly (
1974),
Seizure: The Story Of Kathy Morris (
1980),
Marco Polo (
1982) and he received an
Emmy award nomination for best supporting actor for the TV film
A Woman Called Golda (
1982). In
1973, Nimoy also appeared on an episode of the popular television series
Columbo called "A Stitch In Crime". He played a murderous doctor and was one of the few criminals that Columbo ever really became angry at. In the late
1970s, he hosted and narrated the television series
In Search of..., which investigated
paranormal or unexplained events or subjects. He also has a memorable part as a new-age psychologist in
Philip Kaufman's remake of
Invasion of the Body Snatchers. It was during this time that Nimoy won acclaim for a series of stage roles as well. He has appeared in such plays as
Fiddler On The Roof,
The Man In The Glass Booth,
Oliver,
Six Rms Riv Vu,
Full Circle,
Camelot,
One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest,
The King And I,
Caligula,
The Four Poster,
Twelfth Night,
Sherlock Holmes and
My Fair Lady. When a new
Star Trek series was planned in the late
1970s, Nimoy was to be in only two out of every eleven episodes, but when the show was elevated to a feature film, he agreed to reprise his role.
After directing a few television show episodes, Nimoy broke into film directing in
1984 with the successful third installment of the Star Trek film series (
Star Trek III: The Search for Spock). Nimoy would go on to direct
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (
1986) and move beyond the Trek universe with
Three Men and a Baby in
1987. Nimoy also did occasional work as a
voice actor in animated feature films including the character of
Galvatron in
Transformers: The Movie in
1986 and
The Pagemaster in
1994.
Literary works
Nimoy has written two
autobiographies, the first one called
I Am Not Spock (
1977). The title of this
book was controversial, as many fans incorrectly assumed that Nimoy was distancing himself from the Spock character; however, Nimoy's stated intention was merely to remind the public at large that Spock and Nimoy were not one and the same. In the book, Nimoy conducts dialogues between himself and Spock.
|
Nimoy signing autographs at a Star Trek convention (circa 1980). |
His second autobiography was entitled
I Am Spock (
1995), and this title was meant to communicate that he finally realized that his years of portraying the Spock character had led to a much greater identification between the
fictional character and the real person. Over the years, Nimoy had much input into how Spock would act in certain situations, and, conversely, Nimoy's contemplation of how Spock acted gave him cause to think about things in a way that he never would have thought if he had not portrayed this character. As such, in this autobiography Nimoy maintains that in some meaningful sense, he really is now Spock, and Spock is him, while at the same time maintaining the distance between fact and fiction.
Nimoy has also written several volumes of
poetry, some published along with a number of his
photographs. His latest effort is entitled
A Lifetime of Love: Poems on the Passages of Life (
2002). His poetry can be found in the Contemporary Poets index of
The HyperTexts.Music career
During and following
TOS, Nimoy also released several albums of vocal recordings on
Dot Records, including Trek-related songs and
cover versions of popular tunes. These recordings are generally regarded as unintentionally
camp, though his tongue-in-cheek performance of "
The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins" received a fair amount of airplay when
Peter Jackson's
Lord of the Rings films were released.
In addition to his own music career he also directed a
1985 music video for
The Bangles' "Going Down to Liverpool". He makes a brief cameo appearance in the video as their driver. This came about because his son
Adam Nimoy (now a frequent television director) was a friend of
Bangles lead singer
Susanna Hoffs from college.
Current work
Starting in
1995, Nimoy began to narrate the
Ancient Mysteries series on
The History Channel including "The Sacred Water of
Lourdes" and "The Last Days of the
Romanovs". He also appeared in advertising in the
United Kingdom for the computer company
Time Computers in the late
1990s. Later, in 1999 and onwards, he had cameos in
Futurama, usually as either himself or Spock. In
2003, he announced his retirement from acting in order to concentrate on his photography, but has subsequently appeared in several popular
television commercials with
William Shatner for
Priceline.com. He also appeared in a commercial for
Aleve, an
arthritis pain medication, which aired during
the 2006 Super Bowl. Nimoy also provided a comprehensive series of voiceovers for the 2005
computer game Civilization IV.
Director
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,
Deadly Games, and
The SimpsonsActor
Kid Monk Baroney (1951)
Zombies of the Stratosphere (1952)
Them! (1954) (uncredited)
Satan's Satellites (1958)
The Brain Eaters (1958)
The Twilight Zone â€" "
A Quality of Mercy" (1961)
Deathwatch (1966)
Star Trek (1966-1969):
Lieutenant Commander/
Commander Spock
Star Trek: The Animated Series (1973-1974)
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)
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
*Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986)
*Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989)
*The Simpsons (1989): Himself (voice)
*Never Forget (1991) (TV)
*Star Trek: The Next Generation â€" "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)
*Brave New World (1998)
*Atlantis: The Lost Empire'' (2001): King Kashekim Nedakh (voice)
Writer
Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979) (uncredited)
Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984) (uncredited)
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986)
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)
See also: Leonard Nimoy discography (includes compilations and re-issues)Leonard Nimoy Presents Mr. Spock's Music From Outer Space (Dot Records), (
1967).
The Two Sides of Leonard Nimoy (Dot Records), (
1968).
The Way I Feel (Dot Records), (
1968).
The Touch of Leonard Nimoy (Dot Records), (
1969).
The New World of Leonard Nimoy (Dot Records), (
1970).
* Nimoy came up with the
Vulcan nerve pinch during the discussion of an early
TOS episode where Spock was supposed to pistol-whip another character. He suggested the "pinch" as a non-violent illustration of Vulcans' mysterious powers.
* Nimoy also devised the
Vulcan Salute consisting of a raised hand, palm forward with the fingers parted between the middle and ring finger. It is said to be based on the traditional
kohanic blessing, which is performed with both hands, thumb to thumb in this position; a position thought to represent the
Hebrew letter
shin (ש). (This letter is often used as a symbol of God in Judaism, as it is an abbreviation for God's name
Shaddai. This usage is seen, for example, on every
mezuzah.) Nimoy may also have derived the accompanying spoken blessing, "
Live long and prosper" from this source, as the last phrase of the blessing is "May the Lord be forbearing unto you and give you peace" (Numbers 6:24-26). Nimoy was asked to read the verses as part of his narration for
Civilization IV.
* The surname "Nimoy" is a direct transliteration of the common slavic word немой (nemoi, pronounced ), meaning "mute". When used as a surname, however, it does not actually mean mute. In the past, Slavs often applied it to foreigners, such as Germans or Hungarians, who did not speak the local language.
* His army service number was
ER 11 229 770.
* Nimoy provided narration for the English-language version of the
Sega Dreamcast video game Seaman.
* A
sample of Nimoy as Spock saying "Pure Energy" was used in the 1988
Information Society dance hit "What's On Your Mind?" Usage of digital samples in pop music was almost unheard of at the time and the rights issues proved difficult, but the band was eventually allowed to use this and other Star Trek clips in part thanks to the efforts of Leonard's son
Adam, who was working as a copyright lawyer and was a friend-of-a-friend of the band. This sample has since been used by other artists, including
DJ Shadow.
* Standing in at 6'1" (1.85 meters), Nimoy was the tallest member of the original
Star Trek cast.
* Was the only actor to appear in every episode of the original series, including the pilot "
The Cage" featuring
Christopher Pike as well as every animated episode and every motion picture starring the original cast.
* Is of the same ethnicity as
TOS co-star Shatner (Ukrainian Jewish), whose birthdate is four days before Nimoy's.
* Nimoy appeared in both versions of
The Outer Limits. He was in
The Production and Decay of Strange Particles,
I, Robot (both
1964), and in the
1995 remake of
I, Robot.
* Nimoy replaced
Martin Landau in
Mission: Impossible. Ironically, Landau turned down the Spock role to play the "Rollin Hand" character in
Mission Impossible.
*
"Let's see if this actually works", said on an episode of
Futurama regarding the Vulcan neck pinch
*
"Visual contact established. Requesting permission to land." sampled on
Space Tribe track entitled "Machine Elf" (
TIP Records, 1996)
*
"I'd say this vessel could do at least Warp 5.", said as himself, as celebrity
emcee of the maiden voyage of the
Springfield Monorail on an episode of
The Simpsons*
*
Leonard Nimoy Poetry and Photography *
Leonard Nimoy Official Fan Club*
Leonard Nimoy's Photography*
"Thanks to Leonard Nimoy" an extensive fan site
