Leonard Nimoy poses with Donald Sutherland and Brooke Adams during filming of the 1978 remake of the film, Invasion of the Bodysnatchers.
AP
Leonard Nimoy (from left), Robert Wise, Gene Roddenberry, DeForest Kelley and William Shatner confer on the set of the movie, Star Trek: The Motion Picture, on Nov. 8, 1978. The popularity of the original Star Trek TV show resulted in 11 feature films. Nimoy reprised his role as Spock in six of the films as well as in Star Trek: The Animated Series, and two episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation.
AP
Filming Marco Polo on location in Beijing on Oct. 30, 1981.
William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy went on to act together in another TV series when Nimoy guest -starred in an episode of T.J. Hooker on Jan. 29, 1983. Nimoy portrayed Shatner's former partner, who was pursuing a man who had attacked his daughter.
Bertil Unger Evening Standard/Getty Images
US actor Leonard Nimoy as Mr Spock from the film Star Trek - The Motion Picture, 1979.
AP
America's Space Shuttle is shown in the background after it's first showing in Palmdale, California, in Sept. 1976. In the foreground is the crew of the television series Star Trek, whose ship was also named Enterprise. From left are Leonard Nimoy who portrayed Mr. Spock, George Takei who played Mr. Sulu, DeForest Kelly who played Dr. McCoy, and James Doohan, who played Scotty.
Wally Fong AP
Leonard Nimoy (center) as he received his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1985, (left to right) with Greg Schwartz; Julie Nimoy Schwartz; his then-wife, Sandi Nimoy; his son, Alan; and his son's fiance, Nancy Plutkin.
Kevin Winter Getty Images for Paramount Pictures
Actor Leonard Nimoy and his current wife Susan Bay arrive at the Premiere of Paramount Pictures' Star Trek Into Darkness in Hollywood, California in 2013.
Actor Leonard Nimoy gives a "live long and prosper" sign after being awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree during Boston University's commencement exercises on the school's campus in Boston in 2012. The gesture was made popular by Nimoy while performing in the role of Spock during the television broadcast of the science fiction series Star Trek.
Matt Sayles AP
Actor Leonard Nimoy died Friday in Los Angeles at the age of 83.
Matt Sayles AP
Actor Leonard Nimoy died Friday in Los Angeles at the age of 83.
Actor Leonard Nimoy, best known for his role as Mr. Spock, the logical half-Vulcan, half-human in the original Star Trek series and several movies, has died at his home in Los Angeles. He was 83.
The cause was end-stage chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, his wife, Susan Bay Nimoy, told The New York Times. The Associated Press quotes Nimoy's son, Adam, as also confirming the actor's death.
NPR's Neda Ulaby, who is reporting on the story, tells our Newscast unit:
"Leonard Nimoy started acting as a teenager at a settlement house theater in Boston where he grew up. His father was a barber, a Jewish refugee from Ukraine. Nimoy felt stifled by Spock at times during his career. He also appeared on Broadway, wrote poetry and plays and directed a few blockbuster movies, including Star Trek 4. He eventually made peace with the character. Spock could have been just pointy ears and punch lines. Leonard Nimoy gave him gravitas."
Nimoy reprised the role he is most famous for in the J.J. Abrams' reboot of the franchise. He told NPR's Guy Raz in 2009: "I know why they wanted me in this last film, which was to create a bridge between the original cast and the new. But that's been done. So I would suspect that there's no need for my presence again."
Actor Zachary Quinto, who took over as Mr. Spock in the reboot and its sequel, told NPR in 2013 that Nimoy "was very supportive from the beginning, and we became incredibly good friends."
Copyright 2015 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.
