"Of all
the souls I have encountered in my travels, his was the most....human."
~William Shatner as Admiral James T. Kirk from the film Star Trek II The
Wrath of Khan.
 |
| Leonard Simon Nimoy (March 26, 1931 - February 27, 2015) |
On Friday, February 27, 2015, the world mourned the loss of legendary actor and director Leonard Simon Nimoy, best known for his outstanding role as Commander Spock of Vulcan in the Star Trek franchise. Nimoy (aged 83 years) died as a result of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in his home in Los Angeles, California, USA.
As I sit in write this, I am listening to one of my
favorite episodes of the original Star Trek TV series on MeTV, the
Spock-centered episode: Amok Time
(season 2, episode 1), considered by Trek fans as one of the most iconic
episodes of the series - it was the first occasion where the now famous Vulcan hand salute and the line: "Live long and prosper" were
first introduced by the character.
As an avid and life-long science fiction fan, Leonard
Nimoy is a name I have known my entire life. As a young boy, I would often stay
up late on weekends to watch reruns of the original Star Trek series. As a child of the 80s, I grew up watching the big
screen Trek films, as well as the subsequent spinoff series of the Star Trek franchise. I consider myself a
Trekker - not to be confused with a Trekkie - one who appreciates the
hopeful future depicted in the Trek
franchise and walks with those who promote that future, as opposed to someone
who just sits and watches the movies and series because its Star Trek.
Though I loved all the characters in the original
series, it was Mr. Spock who interested me. Not because he had a bowl-shaped
haircut, or because of the pointed ears; but because it was through the
outstanding acting talent of Leonard Nimoy that Mr. Spock lived on the screen
as a half-human-half-Vulcan science officer of the UFP Starship Enterprise. It was fun to see Mr. Spock, a being constantly at conflict with his
emotional human half and hiding it behind a stoic logical mask of his Vulcan
heritage, save for that one iconic raised eyebrow. It was also fun to see that
logic tested by the other characters on the show, particularly in verbal jousts
with the ship's chief medical officer, the highly emotional Dr. Leonard McCoy
played marvelously by the late DeForest Kelley.
Not only did I appreciate Nimoy's character role as
the Mr. Spock, but also for a number of his other great roles - most notably
as the psychiatrist Dr. David Kibner in the 1978 remake of the classic Invasion of the Body Snatchers and as the
narrator and host of the TV series In Search Of... and Ancient Mysteries.
One other notable role he did that stuck with me for
years and had an impact on my life was his outstanding role as Mel
Mermelstein, in the 1991 TV movie Never Forget, about a survivor of the
Nazi death camp Auschwitz, and his real life lawsuit brought against a group of
organizations engaged in Holocaust denial.
Not only was he a marvelous actor, but an accomplished director for the films: Star Trek III The Search For Spock (1984), Star Trek IV The Journey Home (1986), and the non-Trek film: Three Men And A Baby (1987).
In his final message on Twitter, Nimoy wrote:
Leonard Nimoy left this world a much better place for having been in it and touching all our lives in some profound way or
another.
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