Leonard Nimoy
Leonard Nimoy | |
---|---|
Born | Leonard Simon Nimoy March 26, 1931 Boston, Massachusetts, USA |
Nationality | American |
Occupation(s) | Actor, film director, poet, photographer, singer, accordion player, songwriter |
Years active | 1951–present |
Television | Star Trek |
Spouse(s) | Sandra Zober (1954–1987) Susan Bay (1988–present) |
Leonard Simon Nimoy (/[invalid input: 'icon']ˈniːmɔɪ/ NEE-moy; born March 26, 1931) is an American actor, film director, poet, singer, accordion player and photographer. Nimoy is best known for his role of Spock in the original Star Trek series (1966–1969), and in multiple film, television, and video game sequels.
Nimoy began his career in his early twenties, teaching acting classes in Hollywood and making minor film and television appearances through the 1950s, as well as playing the title role in Kid Monk Baroni. In 1953, he served in the United States Army. In 1965, he made his first appearance in the rejected Star Trek pilot, "The Cage", and would go on to play the character of Mr. Spock until 1969, followed by seven feature films and guest slots in various sequels. His character of Spock had a significant cultural impact and garnered Nimoy three Emmy Award nominations; TV Guide named Spock one of the 50 greatest TV characters.[1][2] After the original Star Trek series, Nimoy starred in Mission: Impossible for two seasons, hosted the documentary series In Search of..., and narrated Civilization IV, as well as making several well-received stage appearances.
Nimoy's fame as Spock is such that both his autobiographies, I Am Not Spock (1975) and I Am Spock (1995), detail his existence as being shared between the character and himself.[3][4]
Early life
Nimoy was born in Boston, Massachusetts in the West End,[5] to Yiddish-speaking Orthodox Jewish immigrants from Iziaslav, Soviet Union (now Ukraine). Nimoy is four days younger than his Star Trek co-star William Shatner. [6][7][8][9] His father, Max Nimoy, owned a barbershop in the Mattapan section of the city. His mother, Dora Nimoy (née Spinner), was a homemaker.[10][11] Nimoy began acting at the age of eight in children's and neighborhood theater. His parents wanted him to attend college and pursue a stable career, or even learn to play the accordion—with which, his father advised, Nimoy could always make a living—but his grandfather encouraged him to become an actor.[12] His first major role was at 17, as Ralphie in an amateur production of Clifford Odets' Awake and Sing!.[13] Nimoy took drama classes at Boston College in 1953 but failed to complete his studies,[14] and in the 1970s studied photography at the University of California, Los Angeles.[12] He has an MA in Education from Antioch College, an honorary doctorate from Antioch University in Ohio,[15] and an honorary doctorate of humane letters from Boston University.[16]
Nimoy served as a sergeant in the U.S. Army from 1953 through 1955,[17] alongside fellow actor Ken Berry and architect Frank Gehry.
Career
Stage and screen
Nimoy's film and television acting career began in 1951, but after receiving the title role in the 1952 film Kid Monk Baroni, a story about a street punk turned professional boxer, he played more than 50 small parts in B movies, TV shows such as Perry Mason,[18] and Dragnet, and serials such as Republic Pictures' Zombies of the Stratosphere (1952). To support his family Nimoy often worked other jobs, such as delivering newspapers in the morning.[19]
He played an Army sergeant in the 1954 science fiction thriller, Them!, a professor in the 1958 science fiction movie The Brain Eaters, and had a role in The Balcony (1963), a film adaptation of the Jean Genet play. Together with Vic Morrow, he produced a 1966 version of Deathwatch, an English language film version of Genet's play Haute Surveillance, adapted and directed by Morrow and starring Nimoy.
On television 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 1961 in The Twilight Zone episode "A Quality of Mercy". He also appeared in the syndicated Highway Patrol. starring Broderick Crawford.
In 1959, Nimoy he was cast as Luke Reid in the episode "Night of Decision" of the ABC/Warner Brothers western series, Colt .45, starring Wayde Preston. The episode was directed by Leslie H. Martinson.[20]
Nimoy appeared three times in ethnic roles on NBC's Wagon Train, the No. 1 program of 1962. He portrayed Bernabe Zamora in "The Estaban Zamora Story" (1959), "Cherokee Ned" in "The Maggie Hamilton Story" (1960), and Joaquin Delgado in "The Tiburcio Mendez Story" (1961).
Throughout the 1960s, Nimoy appeared in Bonanza (1960), The Rebel (1960), Two Faces West (1961), Rawhide (episode, Incident Before Black Pass. 1961), The Untouchables (1962), The Eleventh Hour (1962), Combat! (1963, 1965), Daniel Boone, The Outer Limits (1964), The Virginian (1965), Get Smart (1966), and Mission Impossible (TV series) (1969-1971). He appeared again in the 1995 Outer Limits series.
On the stage, Nimoy played the lead-role in a short run of Gore Vidal's Visit to a Small Planet in 1968, shortly before the end of the Star Trek series. This play was staged at the Pheasant Run Playhouse in St. Charles, Illinois (which has since been closed).[21]
Nimoy and William Shatner first worked together on an episode of The Man from U.N.C.L.E., "The Project Strigas Affair" (1964). Their characters were from opposite sides of the Iron Curtain, though with his saturnine looks, Nimoy was predictably[opinion] the villain, with Shatner playing a reluctant U.N.C.L.E. recruit.
Nimoy first worked with DeForest Kelley in "Man of Violence", a season two episode of The Virginian.
Star Trek
For the first time I had a job that lasted longer than two weeks and a dressing room with my name painted on the door and not chalked on
— Nimoy, on being cast as Spock[22]
Nimoy's greatest prominence came from his role in the original Star Trek series. As the half-Vulcan, half-human Spock—a role he chose instead of one on the soap opera Peyton Place—Nimoy became a star, and the press predicted that he would "have his choice of movies or television series."[19] He formed a long-standing friendship with Shatner, who portrayed his commanding officer, saying of their relationship, "We were like brothers."[23] Star Trek: The Original Series was broadcast from 1966 to 1969. Nimoy earned three Emmy nominations for his work on the iconic program that has defined American television science fiction, both for fans of science fiction, and beyond.[original research?]
He went on to reprise the Spock character in Star Trek: The Animated Series and two episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation. The six Star Trek movies feature the original Star Trek cast including Nimoy, who also directed two of the films. He played the elder Spock in the 2009 Star Trek movie, directed by J. J. Abrams.
Spock's Vulcan salute became a recognized symbol of the show and was identified with him. Nimoy created the sign himself from his childhood memories of the way kohanim (Jewish priests) held their hand when giving blessings. During an interview, he translated the Priestly Blessing which accompanied the sign[24] and described it during a public lecture:[25]
- May the Lord bless and keep you and may the Lord cause his countenance to shine upon you. May the Lord be gracious unto you and grant you peace.
Nimoy was asked to read these verses as part of his narration for Civilization IV.[citation needed]
After Star Trek
Following Star Trek in 1969, Nimoy immediately joined the cast of the spy series Mission: Impossible, which was seeking a replacement for Martin Landau. Nimoy was cast in the role of Paris, an IMF agent who was an ex-magician and make-up expert 'The Great Paris'. He played the role during the fourth and fifth seasons of the show from 1969 to 1971.
He co-starred with Yul Brynner and Richard Crenna in the Western movie Catlow (1971). He also had roles in two episodes of Rod Serling's Night Gallery (1972 and 1973) and Columbo (1973) where he played a murderous doctor who was one of the few criminals with whom Columbo became angry. Nimoy appeared in various made for television films 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), and Marco Polo (1982). He received an Emmy award nomination for best supporting actor for the TV film A Woman Called Golda (1982).
In 1975, Leonard Nimoy filmed an opening introduction to Ripley's World of the Unexplained museum located at Gatlinburg, Tennessee and Fisherman's Wharf at San Francisco, California. 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 character part as a psychiatrist in Philip Kaufman's remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers.
During this time, Nimoy also won acclaim for a series of stage roles. He appeared in such plays as Vincent, Fiddler on the Roof, The Man in the Glass Booth, Oliver!, Six Rms Riv Vu, Full Circle[disambiguation needed], Camelot, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, The King and I, Caligula, The Four Poster, Twelfth Night, Sherlock Holmes, Equus and My Fair Lady.
Star Trek films
When a new Star Trek series was planned in the late 1970s, Nimoy was to be in only two out of 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 started film directing in 1984 with the third installment of the film series. Nimoy would go on to direct the second most successful film (critically and financially) in the franchise after the 2009 Star Trek film, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986), and Three Men and a Baby, the highest grossing film of 1987, made him a star director.[22] At a press conference promoting the 2009 Star Trek movie, Nimoy made it clear that he had no further plans or ambition to direct:
No. No, I'm done with all that, thank you. I never set out to be a director. After Spock had died, sort of, in Star Trek II, they brought me in for a meeting and asked if I'd like to be involved in Star Trek III, in the making of it, and I had been told that I should be directing. I took it as an insult because I thought, "what's wrong with my acting?" But I thought maybe now I should do that and I said I'd like to direct the movie, and I suddenly found myself with a directing career which I had enjoyed and I had enough of it. I directed I think five or six films – I had a good time.[26]
Other work after Star Trek
In 1978, Nimoy played Dr. David Kibner in Invasion of the Body Snatchers. He also did occasional work as a voice actor in animated feature films, including the character of Galvatron in The Transformers: The Movie in 1986.
Nimoy was featured as the voice-over narrator for the CBS paranormal series Haunted Lives: True Ghost Stories in 1991.
In 1991, Nimoy teamed up with Robert B. Radnitz to produce a movie for TNT about a pro bono publico lawsuit brought by public interest attorney William John Cox on behalf of Mel Mermelstein, an Auschwitz survivor, against a group of organizations engaged in Holocaust denial. Nimoy also played the Mermelstein role and believes: "If every project brought me the same sense of fulfillment that Never Forget did, I would truly be in paradise."[27]
Nimoy performed as Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in The Pagemaster in 1994. In 1998, he had a leading role as Mustapha Mond in the made-for-television production of Aldous Huxley's Brave New World.
Together with John de Lancie, another ex-actor from the Star Trek series, Nimoy created Alien Voices, an audio-production venture that specializes in audio dramatizations. Among the works jointly narrated by the couple are The Time Machine, A Journey to the Center of the Earth, The Lost World, The Invisible Man, and The First Men in the Moon, as well as several television specials for the Sci-Fi Channel. In an interview published on the official Star Trek website, Nimoy said that Alien Voices was discontinued because the series didn't sell well enough to recoup costs.
From 1994 until 1998, Nimoy narrated the Ancient Mysteries series on A&E including "The Sacred Water of Lourdes" and "Secrets of the Romanovs". He also appeared in advertising in the United Kingdom for the computer company Time Computers in the late 1990s. In 1997, Nimoy played the prophet Samuel, alongside Nathaniel Parker, in The Bible Collection movie "David". He had a central role in Brave New World, a 1998 TV-movie version of Aldous Huxley's novel where he played a character reminiscent of Spock in his philosophical balancing of unpredictable human qualities with the need for control. Nimoy has also appeared in several popular television series—including Futurama and The Simpsons—as both himself and Spock.
Nimoy appeared in Hearts of Space program number 142 – "Whales alive."
In 1999, he voiced the narration of the English version of the Sega Dreamcast game Seaman and promoted Y2K educational films.[28]
In 2000, he provided on-camera hosting and introductions for 45 half-hour episodes of an anthology series entitled Our 20th Century on the AEN TV Network. The series covers world news, sports, entertainment, technology, and fashion using original archive news clips from 1930 to 1975 from the National Archives in Washington, D.C. and other private archival sources.
In 2003, he announced his retirement from acting to concentrate on photography, but subsequently appeared in several television commercials with William Shatner for Priceline.com. He appeared in a commercial for Aleve, an arthritis pain medication, which aired during the 2006 Super Bowl.
Nimoy provided a comprehensive series of voiceovers for the 2005 computer game Civilization IV. He did the TV series Next Wave where he interviewed people about technology. He is the host in the documentary film The Once and Future Griffith Observatory currently running in the Leonard Nimoy Event Horizon Theater located at the recently reopened Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles, California.
In 2007, he produced the play, Shakespeare's Will by Canadian Playwright Vern Thiessen. The one-woman show starred Jeanmarie Simpson as Shakespeare's wife, Anne Hathaway. The production was directed by Nimoy's wife, Susan Bay.[29][30][31]
Nimoy was given casting approval over who would play the young Spock in the newest film.[32]
On January 6, 2009, he was interviewed by William Shatner on Biography Channel's Shatner's Raw Nerve.
In May 2009, he made an appearance as the mysterious Dr. William Bell in the season finale of Fringe, which explores the existence of a parallel universe. Nimoy returned as Dr. Bell in the autumn for an extended arc, and according to Roberto Orci, co-creator of Fringe, Bell will be "the beginning of the answers to even bigger questions."[33][34] This choice led one reviewer to question if Fringe's plot might be a homage to the Star Trek episode "Mirror, Mirror", which featured an alternate reality "Mirror Universe" concept and an evil version of Spock distinguished by a goatee.[35]
On the May 9, 2009 episode of Saturday Night Live, Nimoy appeared as a surprise guest on the skit "Weekend Update". During a mock interview, Nimoy called old Trekkies who did not like the new movie "dickheads". In the 2009 Star Trek movie, he plays the older Spock from the original Star Trek timeline; Zachary Quinto portrays the young Spock.
Starring with Will Ferrell in the TV-based movie Land of the Lost in June 2009, he voiced the part of "The Zarn", an Altrusian.
Nimoy is also a frequent and popular reader for "Selected Shorts", an ongoing series of programs at Symphony Space in New York City (that also tours around the country) which features actors, and sometimes authors, reading works of short fiction. The programs are broadcast on radio and available on websites through Public Radio International, National Public Radio and WNYC radio. Nimoy was honored by Symphony Space with the renaming of the Thalia Theater as the Leonard Nimoy Thalia Theater.
Nimoy has also provided voiceovers for the Star Trek Online massively multiplayer online game, released in February 2010,[36] as well as Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep as Master Xehanort, the series' leading villain. Tetsuya Nomura, the director of Birth by Sleep, stated that he chose Nimoy for the role specifically because of his role as Spock.
Retirement
In April 2010, Leonard Nimoy announced that he was retiring from playing the signature character of Star Trek's Spock, citing both his advanced age and the desire to give Zachary Quinto the opportunity to enjoy full media attention with the Spock character.[37] Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep was to be his final performance. However, in February 2011, he announced his definite plan to return to Fringe and reprise his role as William Bell.[38] His retirement from acting has not included voice acting, as his appearance in the third season of Fringe includes his voice (his character appears only in animated scenes), and he provided the voice of Sentinel Prime in Transformers: Dark of the Moon. In May 2011 Nimoy starred in the alternate version music video of Bruno Mars' The Lazy Song. Aaron Bay-Schuck, the Atlantic Records executive who signed Bruno Mars to the label, is Nimoy's stepson.[39] Nimoy provided the voice of Spock as a guest star in a Season 5 episode of the CBS sitcom, The Big Bang Theory. The episode is titled "The Transporter Malfunction" and aired on March 29, 2012,[40] and is frequently mentioned by several of the main characters (especially Sheldon Cooper, who idolizes Nimoy). He also lent his voice as narrator to the free documentary "Destiny in Space" showcasing video and images of space from nine shuttle missions over four years time. In Spring 2012, Nimoy reprised his role of William Bell in Fringe, in the fourth season episodes "Letters of Transit" and "Brave New World" parts 1 & 2.[41] Nimoy reprised his role as Master Xehanort in the recent title Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance. On August 30, 2012, Mr. Nimoy narrated a satirical segment about Mitt Romney's life on Comedy Central's "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart."
Photography
Nimoy's interest in photography began in childhood; he still owns a camera that he rebuilt at the age of 13. His photography studies at UCLA occurred after Star Trek and Mission: Impossible, when Nimoy seriously considered changing careers. His work has been exhibited at the R. Michelson Galleries in Northampton, Massachusetts[12] and the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art.
Writing
Nimoy has written two volumes of autobiography. The first was called I Am Not Spock (1975) and was controversial, as many fans incorrectly assumed that Nimoy was distancing himself from the Spock character. In the book, Nimoy conducts dialogues between himself and Spock. The contents of this first autobiography also touched on a self-proclaimed "identity crisis" that seemed to haunt Nimoy throughout his career. It also related to an apparent love/hate relationship with the character of Spock and the Trek franchise.
I went through a definite identity crisis. The question was whether to embrace Mr. Spock or to fight the onslaught of public interest. I realize now that I really had no choice in the matter. Spock and Star Trek were very much alive and there wasn’t anything that I could do to change that.[42]
The second volume, I Am Spock (1995), saw Nimoy communicating that he finally realized his years of portraying the Spock character had led to a much greater identification between the fictional character and himself. 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 the character. As such, in this autobiography Nimoy maintains that in some meaningful sense he has merged with Spock 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 titled A Lifetime of Love: Poems on the Passages of Life (2002). His poetry can be found in the Contemporary Poets index of The HyperTexts.[43] In the mid-1970s Nimoy wrote and starred in a one-man play called Vincent based on the play Van Gogh by Phillip Stephens.
In 1995, Nimoy was involved in the production of Primortals, a comic book series published by Tekno Comix about first contact with aliens, which had arisen from a discussion he had with Isaac Asimov. There was a novelization by Steve Perry.
Music
During and following Star Trek, Nimoy also released five albums of vocal recordings on Dot Records,[44] including Trek-related songs such as "Highly Illogical", and cover versions of popular tunes, such as "Proud Mary". He has described how his recording career got started:
- "Charles Grean of Dot Records had arranged with the studio to do an album of space music based on music from Star Trek, and he has a teenage daughter who's a fan of the show and a fan of Mr. Spock. She said, 'Well, if you're going to do an album of music from Star Trek, then Mr. Spock should be on the album.' So Dot contacted me and asked me if I would be interested in either speaking or singing on the record. I said I was very interested in doing both. ...That was the first album we did, which was called Mr. Spock's Music from Outer Space. It was very well received and successful enough that Dot then approached me and asked me to sign a long-term contract.[45]"
The albums were popular and resulted in numerous live appearances and promotional record signings that attracted crowds of fans in the thousands. The early recordings were produced by Charles Grean, who may be best known for his version of "Quentin's Theme" from the mid-sixties goth soap opera Dark Shadows. 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 The Lord of the Rings films were released.
In addition to his own music career he 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. He released a version of Johnny Cash's song "I Walk the Line".
Nimoy's voice appeared in sampled form on a song by the pop band Information Society in the late Eighties. The song, "What's on Your Mind (Pure Energy)" (released in 1988), reached No. 3 on the US Pop charts, and No. 1 on Dance charts. The group's self-titled LP contains several other samples from the original Star Trek television series.
Nimoy also appears in the alternate music video for the song "Lazy Song" by pop artist Bruno Mars.[46]
Personal life
Nimoy has long been active in the Jewish community, and he can speak and read Yiddish. 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 The Shekhina Project, a photographic study exploring the feminine aspect of God's presence, inspired by Kabbalah.
Nimoy has been married twice. In 1954, he married actress Sandra Zober (1927–2011), whom he divorced in 1987.[12] He had two children with her, director Adam Nimoy and Julie Nimoy, who both appeared in an Oldsmobile commercial, with the tagline "This is not your father's Oldsmobile". In 1988, he married actress Susan Bay, who is a cousin of director Michael Bay.[47]
In a 2001 DVD,[48] Nimoy revealed that he became an alcoholic while working on Star Trek and ended up in rehab.[49] William Shatner, in his 2008 book Up Till Now: The Autobiography, speaks about how later in their lives Nimoy tried to help Shatner's alcoholic wife.
Nimoy still has the last pair of Spock's ears he wore on the series, as a memento. He has said that the character of Spock, which he played twelve to fourteen hours a day, five days a week, influenced his personality in private life. Each weekend during the original run of the series, he would be in character throughout Saturday and into Sunday, behaving more like Spock than himself: more logical, more rational, more thoughtful, less emotional and finding a calm in every situation. It was only on Sunday in the early afternoon that Spock's influence on his behavior would fade off and he would feel more himself again – only to start the cycle over Monday morning.[50]
Nimoy also introduced the Vulcan nerve pinch in an early Star Trek episode "The Enemy Within".[51] Initially, Spock was supposed to knock out an evil Kirk in the Engineering room by striking him on the back of the head. Nimoy felt that the action was not in keeping with the nature of Spock's character, so he suggested the "pinch" as a non-violent alternative, suggesting that Vulcans have the ability to emit energy from their fingertips, which, if applied to the correct nerve cluster, could render a human unconscious.[51] Nimoy explained this to the episode's director and, according to Nimoy, the director had no idea what he was talking about. However, Nimoy would express relief in later interviews and appearances that when he explained the concept to William Shatner, he understood it immediately, and Nimoy credits Shatner's reaction to the nerve pinch in the episode as what really sold it. In early scripts for Star Trek, the nerve pinch was referred to as the "F.S.N.P.", which stood for "Famous Spock Neck Pinch."[52][53]
He has remained good friends with co-star William Shatner (also of Ukrainian-Jewish descent) and was best man at Shatner's third marriage in 1997. Shatner is only four days older than Nimoy. He also remained good friends with DeForest Kelley until Kelley's death in 1999.
The Space Foundation named Nimoy as the recipient of the 2010 Douglas S. Morrow Public Outreach Award[54] for creating a positive role model that inspired untold numbers of viewers to learn more about the universe.
In 2009, Nimoy was honored by his childhood hometown when the Office of Mayor Thomas Menino proclaimed the date of November 14, 2009 as Leonard Nimoy Day in the City of Boston.[55]
Filmography
1950s
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1951 | Rhubarb | Young Ball Player | |
1952 | Kid Monk Baroni | Paul 'Monk' Baroni | |
1952 | Zombies of the Stratosphere | Narab | |
1952 | Francis Goes to West Point | Football player | Uncredited |
1953 | Old Overland Trail | Chief Black Hawk | |
1954 | Them! | Army Staff Sergeant | |
1954 | Dragnet | Julius Carver | (TV series, 1 episode: "The Big Boys") |
1956 | The West Point Story | Tom Kennedy | (TV series, 1 episode: "His Brother's Fist") |
1957 | Highway Patrol | Harry Wells | (TV series, 1 episode: "Hot Dust") |
1958 | The Brain Eaters | Professor Cole | |
1958 | Highway Patrol | Ray | (TV series, 1 episode: "Bloody Money") |
1958-1960 | Sea Hunt | Indio | (TV series, 6 episodes) |
1959 | Dragnet | Karlo Rozwadowski | (TV series, 1 episode: "The Big Name") |
1960s
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1960 | Bonanza | Freddy | (TV series, 1 episode: "The Ape") |
1960 | M Squad | Bob Nash | (TV series, 1 episode: "Badge for a Coward") |
1960-1961 | The Tall Man | Deputy Sheriff Johnny Swift | 2 episodes: "A Bounty for Billy" and "A Gun Is for Killing" |
1961 | The Twilight Zone | Hansen | (TV series, 1 episode: "A Quality of Mercy") |
1961 | Rawhide | Anko | (TV series, 1 episode: "Incident Before Black Pass") |
1963 | Perry Mason | Pete Chennery | (TV series, 1 episode: "The Case of the Shoplifter's Shoe") |
1963 | The Balcony | Roger | |
1963 | The Virginian | Lt. Beldon M.D. | (TV series, 1 episode: "Man of Violence") |
1964 | The Outer Limits | Konig | (TV series, 1 episode: "Production and Decay of Strange Particles") |
1964 | The Outer Limits | Judson Ellis | (TV series, 1 episode: "I, Robot") |
1964 | The Man From U.N.C.L.E. | Vladeck | (TV series, 1 episode: "The Project Strigas Affair") |
1966 | Get Smart | Stryker | (TV series, 1 episode: "The Dead Spy Scrawls") |
1966 | Gunsmoke | John Walking Fox | (TV series, 1 episode: "Treasure of John Walking Fox") |
1966 | Daniel Boone | Oontah | (TV series, 1 episode: "Seminole Territory") |
1966 | Deathwatch | Jules Lefranc | |
1966-1969 | Star Trek | Mr. Spock | (TV series, 79 episodes) Nominated-Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series (1967, 1968, 1969) |
1969-1971 | Mission: Impossible | Paris | (TV series, 49 episodes) |
1970s
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1971 | Assault on the Wayne | Commander Phil Kettenring | |
1971 | Catlow | Miller | |
1973 | Baffled! | Tom Kovack | |
1973 | Columbo: A Stitch in Crime | Dr. Barry Mayfield | |
1973-1974 | Star Trek: The Animated Series | Mr. Spock | (TV series, 22 episodes) |
1974 | Rex Harrison Presents Stories of Love | Mick | |
1976-1982 | In Search of... | Narrator | (TV series) |
1978 | Invasion of the Body Snatchers | Dr. David Kibner | Nominated-Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor |
1979 | Star Trek: The Motion Picture | Mr. Spock | Nominated-Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor |
1980s
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1981 | Vincent | Theo van Gogh | |
1982 | A Woman Called Golda | Morris Meyerson | Nominated-Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie |
1982 | Marco Polo | Achmet | (TV mini-series) |
1982 | Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan | Captain Spock | |
1983 | T.J. Hooker | Paul McGuire | (TV series, 1 episode: "Vengeance is Mine") |
1984 | Star Trek III: The Search for Spock | Captain Spock | Nominated-Saturn Award for Best Director |
1984 | The Sun Also Rises | Count Mippipopolous | |
1986 | The Transformers: The Movie | Galvatron | (voice) |
1986 | Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home | Captain Spock | Nominated-Saturn Award for Best Actor Nominated-Saturn Award for Best Director |
1986 | Faerie Tale Theatre | The Evil Moroccan Magician | (TV series, 1 episode: "Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp") |
1989 | Star Trek V: The Final Frontier | Captain Spock |
1990s
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1991 | Never Forget | Mel Mermelstein | |
1991 | Haunted Lives: True Ghost Stories | Narrator | |
1991 | Star Trek: The Next Generation | Ambassador Spock | (TV series, 2 episodes) |
1991 | Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country | Captain Spock | |
1993 | The Halloween Tree | Mr. Moundshroud | (voice) |
1994 | The Pagemaster | Dr. Henry Jekyll/Mr. Edward Hyde | (voice) |
1995 | Bonanza: Under Attack | Frank James | |
1995 | The Outer Limits | Thomas Cutler | (TV series, 1 episode: "I, Robot") |
1995 | Titanica | Narrator | (documentary) |
1997 | "A Life Apart: Hasidism in America" | Narrator | (documentary)[56] |
1997 | David | Samuel | |
1997 | Duckman: Private Dick/Family Man | Cameos | (TV series, 1 episode: "Where No Duckman Has Gone Before" |
1998 | The Harryhausen Chronicles | Narrator | (documentary) |
1998 | Brave New World | Mustapha Mond |
2000s
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2000 | Seaman (video game) | Narrator | (video game) (voice) |
2000 | Sinbad: Beyond the Veil of Mists | Akron/Baraka/King Chandra | (voice) |
2001 | Becker | Professor Emmett Fowler | (TV series, 1 episode: "The TorMentor") |
2002 | Futurama | Himself | (TV series, 2 episodes: "Space Pilot 3000", "Where No Fan Has Gone Before") |
2002 | Atlantis: The Lost Empire | King Kashekim Nedakh | (voice) |
2005 | Civilization IV | Narrator | (video game), (voice) |
2009 | Star Trek | Spock Prime | |
2009 | Land of the Lost | The Zarn | (voice) |
2009-2012 | Fringe | Dr. William Bell | (TV series, 11 episodes) Saturn Award for Best Guest Starring Role on Television |
2010s
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2010 | Star Trek Online | Mr. Spock (Narrator) | (video game), (voice) |
2010 | Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep | Master Xehanort[57] | (video game), (voice)[58] |
2011 | Transformers: Dark of the Moon | Sentinel Prime | (voice)[59] Nominated-Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Screen Ensemble (shared with the entire cast) |
2012 | The Big Bang Theory | Action Figure Spock | (voice)[60] |
2012 | Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance | Master Xehanort | (video game), (voice)[61] |
2012 | Zambezia | Sekhuru | (voice) |
Director
- Vincent: Based on the play "Van Gogh" by Phillip Stephens (1978–1981)
- 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 Night Gallery, T.J. Hooker, The Powers of Matthew Star and Deadly Games
Videography
Music videos
- "Bilbo Baggins" by Leonard Nimoy
- "Going Down to Liverpool" by The Bangles (1985)
- "The Lazy Song" by Bruno Mars (2011)
Writer
Bibliography
- I Am Not Spock (1975)
- Vincent: Based on the play "Van Gogh" by Phillip Stephens (1978)
- Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979) (Contributions uncredited)[citation needed]
- Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984) (Contributions uncredited)[citation needed]
- Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986)
- Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)
- I Am Spock (1995)
- Shekhina photography (2005) (ISBN 978-1-884167-16-4)
- The Full Body Project (2008)
Poetry
- You & I (1973) (ISBN 978-0-912310-26-8)
- Will I Think of You? (1974) (ISBN 0912310701)
- We Are All Children Searching for Love: A Collection of Poems and Photographs (1977) (ISBN 978-0-88396-024-0)
- Come be With Me (1978) (ISBN 978-0-88396-033-2)
- These Words are for You (1981) (ISBN 978-0-88396-148-3)
- Warmed by Love (1983) (ISBN 978-0-88396-200-8)
- A Lifetime of Love: Poems on the Passages of Life (2002) (ISBN 978-0-88396-596-2)
Discography
- See also: Leonard Nimoy discography (includes compilations and re-issues)
- Leonard Nimoy Presents Mr. Spock's Music From Outer Space (Dot Records), (1967).
- Two Sides of Leonard Nimoy (Dot Records), (1968).
- The Way I Feel (Dot Records, Stereo DLP 25883), (1968).
- The Touch of Leonard Nimoy (Dot Records, Stereo DLP 25910), (1969).
- The New World of Leonard Nimoy (Dot Records, Stereo DLP 25966), (1970).
References
- ^ "Leonard Nimoy". Retrieved February 3, 2009.
- ^ "Spock". Top 50 TV Characters. UGO. Retrieved February 3, 2009.
- ^ Nimoy (1975) pp. 1–6.
- ^ Nimoy (1995), pp. 2–17.
- ^ Sommarco, Antssiahony Mitchell. Boston's West End. (Charleston: Arcadia Publishing, 1998) 85.
- ^ "The Official Leonard Nimoy Fan Club, Biography Page". Retrieved June 22, 2010.
- ^ Leonard Simon Nimoy genealogy
- ^ Ellin, Abby (May 20, 2007). "Leonard Nimoy – a paladin for the plump / Ex-actor's images sing out in praise of naked plus-size body". The San Francisco Chronicle.
- ^ Sfgate: Leonard Nimoy – a paladin for the plump
- ^ Leonard Nimoy Biography (1931–)
- ^ Leonard Nimoy Biography – Yahoo! Movies
- ^ a b c d "Leonard Nimoy". Shatner's Raw Nerve, January 6, 2009.
- ^ From 'Spock': The beauty of big women – International Herald Tribune
- ^ "Story book – BCM – Spring 2005". Bcm.bc.edu. Retrieved August 2, 2010.
- ^ http://www.mcgregor.edu/PDF/alumni_news0011.pdf
- ^ Laskowski, Amy (May 22, 2012). "Leonard Nimoy Urges CFA Grads to "Live Long and Prosper" | BU Today | Boston University". Bu.edu. Retrieved June 14, 2012.
- ^ NNDB Profile for actor Leonard Nimoy (accessed September 11, 2009)
- ^ "The Case of the Shoplifter's Shoe".
- ^ a b Kleiner, Dick (December 4, 1967). "Mr. Spock's Trek To Stardom". Warsaw Times-Union. Warsaw, Indiana. Newspaper Enterprise Association. p. 7. Retrieved May 7, 2011.
- ^ "[[Colt .45 (TV series)|Colt .45]]". ctva.biz. Retrieved December 22, 2012.
{{cite web}}
: URL–wikilink conflict (help) - ^ Roufs, David. "A Visit to a Small Planet". The Billboard. Retrieved July 12, 2011.
- ^ a b Harmetz, Aljean (October 30, 1988). "Leonard Nimoy at the Controls". The New York Times. Retrieved May 24, 2011.
- ^ "Pioneers of Television: Leonard Nimoy". Retrieved January 5, 2010.
- ^ Pogrebin, Abigail. Stars of David: Prominent Jews Talk About Being Jewish, Random House (2007) p. 198
- ^ "YouTube – Leonard Nimoy: The Origin of Spock's Greeting"
- ^ Powers, Nicole (May 3, 2009). "Interviews > Leonard Nimoy And Zachary Quinto: The Two Faces Of Spock". Suicidegirls.com. Retrieved August 2, 2010.
- ^ Nimoy, Leonard, I Am Spock, New York: Hyperion, 1995.
- ^ "Y2K". YouTube. Retrieved August 2, 2010.
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(help) - ^ "Exclusive Interview with Leonard Nimoy". Leonardnimoy.de. June 28, 2007. Retrieved June 14, 2012.
- ^ Kadosh, Dikla. "Youngest Torme, Shakespeare, photography, poetry, enamelwork | Picks and Clicks". Jewish Journal. Retrieved June 14, 2012.
- ^ "Leonard Nimoy and Zachary Quinto: The Two Faces of Spock". SuicideGirls.com. May 3, 2009. Retrieved March 4, 2009.
- ^ Nimoy Joins Fringe
- ^ O'Connor, Mickey (April 8, 2009). "Fringe: Meet Dr. William Bell". TV Guide. Retrieved April 9, 2009.
- ^ ifmagazine.com – V Review: FRINGE – SEASON ONE – 'The Road Not Taken' by Emerson Parker
- ^ "Leonard Nimoy joins 'Star Trek Online' crew". USA Today. December 22, 2009.
- ^ "Parallel Universe: Mr. Spock Set to Hang Up His Pointy Ears". Paralleluniverse.msn.com. Retrieved August 2, 2010.
- ^ "Leonard Nimoy Confirms Return To Fringe". trekmovie.com. Retrieved February 25, 2011.
- ^ "Watch: Leonard Nimoy Gets "Lazy" In Bruno Mars Music Video (UPDATED)". trekmovie.com. May 26, 2011. Retrieved June 3, 2011.
- ^ "Listings - BIG BANG THEORY, THE on CBS". TheFutonCritic.com. March 29, 2012. Retrieved June 14, 2012.
- ^ "@naddycat #FringeLiveTweet We did.". Twitter.com. Retrieved 2012-05-05.
- ^ "caribbean cruises low air fare at". United-scifi.com. Retrieved August 2, 2010.
- ^ http://www.thehypertexts.com The HyperTexts
- ^ "The LPs (page 2)". The Musical Touch of Leonard Nimoy. Maidenwine.com. September 8, 1966. Retrieved May 29, 2011.
- ^ "Homepage". The Musical Touch of Leonard Nimoy. Maidenwine.com. September 8, 1966. Retrieved May 29, 2011.
- ^ "Bruno Mars – The Lazy Song [Official Alternate Version". YouTube. Retrieved December 10, 2011.
- ^ Michael Bay's Transformers DVD audio commentary, 2007, Paramount Pictures/DreamWorks
- ^ Mind Meld: Secrets Behind the Voyage of a Lifetime, (2001) a documentary released to home video
- ^ "SHOWBIZ | Star Trek 'drove Nimoy to drink'". BBC News. October 31, 2001. Retrieved August 2, 2010.
- ^ Bring Back Star Trek, Channel 4, The UK, broadcast on 9.00–10.35 pm 09/05/2009
- ^ a b "Leonard Nimoy ("Spock" TOS)". Star Trek.com. May 13, 1999. Retrieved June 7, 2009.
- ^ William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy: The Twenty-Five Year Mission Tour: Video
- ^ Leonard Nimoy: Star Trek Memories: Television program
- ^ – Space Foundation Douglas S. Morrow Public Outreach Award
- ^ Clark, Shaula (November 14, 2009). "Hardly Illogical: Leonard Nimoy Day, November 14". Boston Phoenix. Retrieved March 31, 2012.
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- ^ "A Life Apart".
- ^ Dengeki PlayStation Vol.474: Japanese video game magazine
- ^ "RETURN TO THE MAGICAL REALM OF KINGDOM HEARTS ON SEPTEMBER 7, 2010 | SQUARE ENIX". Release.square-enix.com. May 17, 2010. Retrieved August 2, 2010.
- ^ "Leonard Nimoy is the Voice of Sentinel Prime". ComingSoon.
- ^ "Big Bang Theory Exclusive: Leonard Nimoy Finally Agrees to Cameo – But There's a Twist!". TVLine.com. Retrieved February 29, 2012.
- ^ "The Voice Talent of KINGDOM HEARTS 3D". Sqaure Enix. Retrieved May 31, 2012.
External links
- Leonard Nimoy's personal website
- Leonard Nimoy at IMDb
- Template:Amg name
- Leonard Nimoy at Memory Alpha
- Leonard Nimoy's entry at Startrek.com
- Leonard Nimoy at Alien Voices
- Interview with Leonard Nimoy at hossli.com
- Leonard Nimoy Poetry and Photography on The HyperTexts
- Interview with Leonard Nimoy by the Archive of American Television (2000)
- 2010 Interview with Nimoy about his "Secret Selves" show at Mass MoCA
Media
- Newsmaker of the Week: Leonard Nimoy (30-min. interview, free)
- Archive of American Television Interview with Leonard Nimoy Nov 2, 2000
- Interview with Leonard Nimoy about photography, on The Callie Crossley Show
{[Portal box|Biography|Massachusetts|California|Film|Television|Music}}
- Ill-formatted IPAc-en transclusions
- Articles with links needing disambiguation from June 2011
- 1931 births
- Living people
- American film actors
- American film directors
- American military personnel of the Korean War
- American poets
- American people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent
- American television actors
- American television directors
- American voice actors
- American video game actors
- Antioch College alumni
- English-language film directors
- Jewish actors
- Dot Records artists
- Actors from Boston, Massachusetts
- United States Army soldiers
- 20th-century actors