Leonard Nimoy, the actor best known for playing Spock on the sci-fi TV series Star Trek, has passed away at the age of 83.
Last week, the actor was sent to the hospital after experiencing severe chest pains. His wife, Susan Nimoy, reported to The New York Times that Nimoy had died in his Los Angeles, California home on Friday morning.
Nimoy revealed that he had been diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) on his Twitter account last year, which was the cause of his death. His disease was reportedly linked to a smoking habit he had quit more than 30 years ago.
The actor was born on March 26, 1931 in Boston, Massachusetts. He had been acting since the early 50s, but it wasn’t until he landed the role of Spock on Star Trek that Nimoy’s work began to be widely recognized. The show’s original run was from 1966 to 1969, and Nimoy starred alongside William Shatner, George Takei, DeForest Kelley and Nichelle Nichols.
He also starred in such Star Trek films as Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, Star Trek V: The Final Frontier and Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. Nimoy also made appearances as Spock Prime in the recent Star Trek reboot films such as 2009’s Star Trek and 2013’s Star Trek Into Darkness.
Multiple films were also directed by Nimoy as well, included The Search for Spock, The Voyage Home and Three Men and a Baby. Specifically, Three Men and a Baby was wildly successful, being the highest grossing movie of 1987.
His Star Trek co-star William Shatner tweeted, “I loved him like a brother. We will all miss his humor, his talent, and his capacity to love.”
Nimoy’s contributions to the world of TV and film will not soon be forgotten, and we will always remember to “live long and prosper.”
Source: The New York Times
Quote Source: Twitter
