Leonard Nimoy, the actor best known for playing Mr Spock in the ubiquitous sci-fi series Star Trek, passed away today at the age of 83.
The New York Times has a full obituary for Nimoy, who was taken to the hospital earlier this week after suffering chest pains, and died this morning from end-stage chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Update: Our friends at io9 have written a lovely celebration of the man and his work.
Nimoy, who first starred as the half-Vulcan Spock in the original Star Trek series from 1966 to 1969, went on to appear in various shows, films, and video games both in the world of Star Trek and elsewhere. He starred as himself in the 2000 Dreamcast game Seaman and did voicework for two Kingdom Hearts games as well as the strategy game Civilisation IV. One of his most memorable performances came in a classic episode of The Simpsons, “The Springfield Files,” in which he narrates.
He also had this wonderful moment in “Marge vs The Monorail”:
Nimoy’s last tweet is pretty perfect:
A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved, except in memory. LLAP
— Leonard Nimoy (@TheRealNimoy) February 23, 2015
Comments
19 responses to “Leonard Nimoy Dies At 83”
Oh man, talk about my ultimate childhood hero.
SO glad he got work for his entire career, for an actor, it so often isn’t the case.
Poetry aside, I always enjoyed everything he did, and as a kid, based a reasonable part of my moral code around ‘what would Spock do’.
Thanks for all of it LN.
edit: Oh crap, I’m actually tearing up.
He was very good at what he did. I’m sad he’s gone.
Very saddened by this. Goodbye, Mr Nimoy, and thankyou
Not afraid to say I started crying over this. Leonard was a major childhood, teenage and adult hero too. I loved his work as Spock but came to genuinely respect him as a human being after listening to him talk on interviews, youtube and such over various topics. He was very well versed in philosophy, an incredibly intelligent man.
The selfish side of me wishes he had of stayed alive and continued acting, but given how sick he was, given how much pain he was in, it’s only fair he’s at rest, out of pain. Thank you for everything you ever gave us, thank you for sharing your talent with us and thank you for the profound impact you’ve had on our entire culture with your life Leonard. It feels like we haven’t just lost someone who inhabited a role on a scifi show, it feels like we’ve lost a friend.
To paraphrase one of your own Star Trek II quotes, you have always been and will always be our friend Leonard. Rest in peace.
He’s really not dead, as long as we remember him. So everyone watch Three Men and a Baby.
His considered placement of a Cardboard Ted Danson mixed with VHS quality freeze frame tech left me scared of my curtains for weeks!
He’s provided hours and hours of joy and entertainment and will continue to do so. That’s a great legacy to leave behind and something I can only dream of. Of course that doesn’t make this news any less incredibly sad. Growing up he was just always there, a staple of sci-fi 🙁
Rest in peace
Sad sad day 🙁
I’m really bummed out by this 🙁
Never feel the need to comment when celebs die but this is really sad news about Mr Nimoy’s passing.
I wonder how big bang theory will handle it? The ep where he voiced the action figure was on only a few days ago (yeah, I know 9 repeats the show so much that every episode feels like it was on only a few days ago).
The geek world has lost a long-lived symbol today. He returns now to the stars.
Kinda makes me think of this:
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x18sd0z_leonard-nimoy-my-work-is-done-here_shortfilms
So sad. Pop culture has lost one of its icons today.
Sad to hear. Was just talking about star trek yesterday.
Live long and prosper. Will be remembered forever.
Leonard Nimoy. I have and will always be your fan RIP, #LLAP
This is the saddest I’ve been at the passing of someone I can only dream of having the pleasure to meet. I grew up watching Star Trek and like countless others, the Spock character had a great effect on me. RIP Leonard Nimoy. Live long and prosper.
Had to hear about this in Wow this morning, thought it was just a joke, until I came here. LLAP indeed.
Today is truly a sad day for the world.
All hail Galvatron