Leonard Nimoy, Star Trek’s Mr. Spock, Has Died

Leonard Nimoy, the venerable actor best known for his portrayal of Spock in the classic Star Trek television series and eight feature films, has died. He was 83. His wife, Susan Bay Nimoy, confirmed his death this morning from end-stage chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Nimoy himself announced his condition last year, attributing it to a smoking habit he had given up three decades before.

While Nimoy will forever be known as the stoic Vulcan from Star Trek, he had many other contributions to film. As an actor, his credits ranged from science fiction, like Invasion of the Body Snatchers and The Brain Eaters, to Westerns including Old Overland Trail. Transformers fans know him as the voice of Galvatron in Transformers: The Movie, and the voice of Sentinel Prime in Transformers: Dark of the Moon. In addition to Trek, he had a television starring role on Mission: Impossible.

Nimoy directed two of the Star Trek feature films, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, which was the franchise’s highest-grossing entry until the J.J. Abrams reboot in 2009. Nimoy’s other directorial credits included Three Men and a Baby and Funny About Love, starring Gene Wilder.

Nimoy last appeared on screen in his immortal role of Spock in Star Trek Into Darkness in 2013.

via The New York Times