Leonard Nimoy, circa 1952
His landed his first major role at 17, as Ralphie in an amateur production of Clifford Odets’ Awake and Sing!. His career in film and television began in 1951, but after receiving the title role in the 1952 film Kid Monk Baroni most of his early career was spent playing small parts in B movies and television shows such as Dragnet and serials such as Republic Pictures’ Zombies of the Stratosphere in 1952.
Nimoy appeared as “Sonarman” in two episodes of the 1957–1958 syndicated military drama, The Silent Service, based on actual events of the submarine section of the United States Navy. He had guest roles in the Sea Hunt series from 1958 to 1960 and had a minor role in The Twilight Zone episode “A Quality of Mercy” in 1961. He also appeared in Highway Patrol. Throughout the 1960s Nimoy appeared in a number of other TV series including Bonanza, Two Faces West, The Untouchables, The Eleventh Hour, Combat!, Perry Mason, The Outer Limits, The Virginian and Get Smart. He appeared again in the 1995 Outer Limits, again in the episode “I, Robot”.
Nimoy and William Shatner first worked together in an episode of The Man from U.N.C.L.E. titled “The Project Strigas Affair”. Their characters were from either side of the Iron Curtain, though with his saturnine looks, Nimoy was predictably the villain, with Shatner playing a reluctant U.N.C.L.E. recruit.
Nimoy first worked with DeForest Kelley in an episode of The Virginian from season two titled “Man of Violence”, with Kelley as the doctor and Nimoy as the patient.
Nimoy was cast as the Vulcan science officer, Mr. Spock, for Star Trek‘s first pilot, “The Cage”. One of the things that NBC’s executives had to say about the show was, “get rid of the guy with the ears.” When NBC asked for a second pilot, Nimoy’s character was the only one not replaced.
The Vulcan salute, which is instantly associated with Star Trek by fans and non-fans alike, was created by Nimoy based on how Jewish priests held their hands when giving blessings. Nimoy also invented the Vuclan neck pinch because he felt that Spock should be able to incapacitate a foe without violently bashing them in the back of the head.
He continued to play Spock for Star Trek‘s original three seasons and, after the show was canceled, he reprised his role as Spock for The Animated Series, six feature-length films, and several video games.
After the cancellation of the original Star Trek series, Mr Nimoy co-starred with Yul Brynner and Richard Crenna in the Western movie Catlow. He also appeared in various made for television films such as Assault on the Wayne, Baffled, The Alpha Caper, The Missing Are Deadly, Seizure: The Story Of Kathy Morris, and Marco Polo. He also had roles in Night Gallery and Columbo (1973) where he played a murderous doctor who was one of the few criminals with whom Columbo became angry.
In 2003 Nimoy announced his retirement from acting so that he might concentrate on photography. Since that announcement, he has appeared in several priceline.com commercials with William Shatner and a commercial for Aleve which aired during the 2006 Super Bowl. In January of 2009 he was interviewed by William Shatner on the Biography Channel’s Shatner’s Raw Nerve.
In April, 2010, Nimoy again announced his retirement citing his age and the desire to let Zachary Quinto enjoy full media attention with the Spock character.
Leonard Nimoy’s photography can be purchased online at www.leonardnimoyphotography.com, but be warned, these photos are not necessarily what you think of when the name “Spock” comes up.
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