Line #65 Creator/LeonardNimoy


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6	[[quoteright:219:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/LeonardNimoy_Grant_11128908_453.jpg]]
7	[[caption-width-right:219:[[Franchise/StarTrek He lived long. And he did prosper.]]]]
8
9	->''"A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved, except in memory. LLAP"''
10	-->-- '''Leonard Nimoy's [[https://twitter.com/therealnimoy/status/569762773204217857 final tweet]]'''
11
12	'''{{T\|ropeCodifier}}he''' [[TheSpock Spock]].
13
14	Leonard Simon Nimoy (March 26, 1931 -- February 27, 2015) was an American actor and director who is best known for playing Mr. [[Characters/StarTrekTheOriginalSeriesSpock Spock]] on ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries''. He was so much remembered for this role, and little else, that he went on to write an autobiography called ''IAmNotSpock'', a reference to the fact that he didn't like being typecast and taken less seriously as an actor. The title led to a lot of confusion by fans, who assumed he resented Spock as a role, obliging him to write a ''second'' book entitled ''[[IAmNotLeonardNimoy I Am Spock]]''.
15
16	Nimoy was born and raised in Boston, Massachusetts. His parents, Dora Spinner and Max Nimoy, were both immigrants from Ukraine. Nimoy began his acting career in his early twenties, making minor appearances in both [[BMovie B-Movies]] and television throughout the 1950s. In 1965, however, he was signed on for the pilot of an upcoming sci-fi show, and the rest is history.
17
18	Beginning with ''Film/StarTrekIIITheSearchForSpock'', Nimoy started up a low key directing career that included ''Film/StarTrekIVTheVoyageHome'' and ''Film/ThreeMenAndABaby''. As detailed below, he had a distinguished stage career in both modern and classical plays. As well, his distinctive voice led to several roles in animation and video games.
19
20	He also recorded several albums in the late 1960s. Surprisingly, he isn't as bad as you would think--or at least, not as campy as Creator/WilliamShatner; he was a decent baritone who generally stuck to ballads or FolkMusic material, though he also did his fair share of Shatner-esque recitations. He appeared on many of the ''Golden Throats'' collections issued by Creator/RhinoRecords. His first two albums (''Leonard Nimoy Presents Mr. Spock's Music From Outer Space'' and ''Two Sides of Leonard Nimoy'') are especially great for a laugh, since he actually portrays Spock on both of them (though, as the title implies, the second album also includes straight song performances as himself). ''Two Sides'' is highlighted by his best-known song, the {{Camp}} classic FilkSong "The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins", a jaunty re-telling of Tolkien's ''Literature/TheHobbit''.
21
22	He became semi-retired in the mid-'90s, only taking on the occasional role that really interested him. Retired from on-screen acting completely after a stint as TheGhost William Bell in ''Series/{{Fringe}}''. After that he basically said "If you want to talk about Spock from now on, speak to [[Creator/ZacharyQuinto my replacement]]." He did voice acting, as he played the voice of Sentinel Prime in ''Film/TransformersDarkOfTheMoon''. Fittingly enough, his final roles in any media would end up being a reprisal of Spock Prime in ''Film/StarTrek2009'' and its first sequel.
23
24	Interested in photography from a very young age, he had a whole second career as a photo artist, with many exhibitions in galleries and several books.
25
26	He passed away on February 27, 2015 at the age of 83 from end-stage COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), [[https://twitter.com/TheRealNimoy/status/554102742084370432 which he acquired as a result of smoking in his earlier years.]]
27
28	In memory of his father, his son, Adam Nimoy, produced a documentary about his father, ''For the Love of Spock'', which was released in 2016. Adam would later marry [[ItRunsInTheFamily fellow Trek alum]] Creator/TerryFarrell on March 26th, 2018, what would have been his father's 87th birthday.
29	----
30	!![[IAmNotSpock Other roles]] include:
31
32	[[AC:Film]]
33	* ''Queen for a Day'' (1951): film debut as Chief [[note]](Yes, this was a film adaptation of [[Series/QueenForADay the infamous game show of the same name.]])[[/note]]
34	* ''Film/{{Them}}'' (1954): appears briefly as a telegrapher who is quickly eaten by a giant ant.
35	* ''Film/TheBalcony'' (1963): Roger
36	* ''Film/{{Deathwatch\|1966}}'' (1966): as Lefranc
37	* ''[[Film/InvasionOfTheBodySnatchers1978 Invasion of the Body Snatchers]]'' (1978): as Dr. David Kibner
38	* ''A Woman Called Golda'' (1982): as Morris Meyerson
39	* ''WesternAnimation/TheTransformersTheMovie'' (1986): as Galvatron (voice)
40	* ''Literature/BraveNewWorld'' (1998): as Mustapha Mond
41	* ''WesternAnimation/AtlantisTheLostEmpire'' (2001): as King Kashekim Nedakh (voice)
42	* ''Film/TransformersDarkOfTheMoon'' (2011): as Sentinel Prime (voice)
43	* ''WesternAnimation/ThePagemaster'' (1994): as Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde (voice)
44
45	[[AC:Music]]
46	* Played a car driver in the music video for Music/TheBangles' "Going Down to Liverpool".
47	* Played a grumpy version of himself in the alternate music video for Music/BrunoMars's "The Lazy Song".
48	* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGF5ROpjRAU "The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins"]], as mentioned above, has gained notoriety.
49
50	[[AC:Other]]
51	* Appeared on an early promotional [[UsefulNotes/LaserDisc laserdisc]] promoting Magnavox's "[=MagnaVision=]" laserdisc players.[[note]]This was before Pioneer became the primary maker of laserdisc players. The article has more info.[[/note]] Furthermore, this was done in a science fiction setting.
52
53	[[AC:Television]]
54	* Six years before ''Star Trek'' he appeared in eight episodes of ''Series/SeaHunt''.
55	* Five years before ''Star Trek'' he appeared in ''Series/{{The Twilight Zone\|1959}}'' episode "[[Recap/TheTwilightZone1959S3E15AQualityOfMercy A Quality of Mercy]]" (1961)
56	* Paris in ''Series/MissionImpossible''
57	* Tom Kovack in ''Baffled!'', 1973, a made-for-TV movie intended as a pilot for a ParanormalDetective series.
58	* He was also the narrator on ''Series/InSearchOf'', a paranormal documentary series that aired between 1976 and 1982. Was parodied on ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' during its eighth season (on the episode hosted by Ron Howard) with Joe Piscopo as Nimoy.
59	* William Bell on ''Series/{{Fringe}}''.
60	* Voiced himself on two episodes of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': season four's "Marge vs. The Monorail" and season eight's "The Springfield Files" (a.k.a "the {{Crossover}} episode with Mulder and Scully from ''Series/TheXFiles''")
61	** Also voiced himself on two episodes of ''The Simpsons''' sister show, ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' as one of many celebrities whose heads have been preserved in jars in the year 3000: the premiere episode "Space Pilot 3000" and the ''Franchise/StarTrek'' ShoutOut episode "Where No Fan Has Gone Before."
62	* Voiced a Spock action figure in ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'' episode "The Transporter Malfunction".
63	* Hosted ''Standby: Lights, Camera, Action!'', a [[TheEighties 1980s]] Creator/{{Nickelodeon}} behind-the-scenes series documenting the making of movies.
64	* The villain's put-upon secretary in ''Series/TheManFromUNCLE'' episode "The Project Strigas Affair." The episode also featured Creator/WilliamShatner, two years before ''Star Trek'', although the two share the screen only briefly.
65	* VillainOfTheWeek, Doctor Barry Mayfield, in ''Series/{{Columbo}}'' episode "[[Recap/ColumboS02E06 A Stitch in Crime]]" (1973).
66	* Moundshroud in the Creator/HannaBarbera TV special ''The Halloween Tree''.
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68	[[AC:Theater]]
69	* ''Theatre/MyFairLady''
70	* Tevye in ''Theatre/FiddlerOnTheRoof''
71	* ''Literature/OneFlewOverTheCuckoosNest''
72	* ''Caligula''
73	* ''Theatre/TheKingAndI''
74	* ''Film/TheManInTheGlassBooth''
75	* ''Theatre/TwelfthNight''
76	* ''Franchise/SherlockHolmes''
77	* ''Vincent'' (as the [[MinimalistCast only character]] Theo van Gogh, Vincent's brother)
78	* ''Theatre/{{Equus}}''
79
80	[[AC:VideoGames]]
81	* Narrated a quotation related to each discovered technology in the base game of ''VideoGame/{{Civilization}} IV''[[note]]Techs added in the expansions had their lines jarringly voiced by someone else.[[/note]], including...
82	-->"Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep."
83	--> --'''Sputnik I'''
84	* [[Characters/KingdomHeartsMasterXehanort Master Xehanort]] in ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'', specifically in ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsBirthBySleep'' and ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts3DDreamDropDistance''.
85	* The narrator in the Dreamcast game ''VideoGame/{{Seaman}}''.
86
87	!!Leonard Nimoy and his works provide examples of:
88
89	* AmbiguouslyJewish: Nimoy imbued Spock with this by basing the Vulcan salute and its accompanying greetings "Live long and prosper" and "Peace and long life" on the hand gesture ''Kohanim''[[note]]Members of the ancient Jewish priestly class, descended from Aaron[[/note]] used when delivering the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Priestly_Blessing Priestly Blessing.]] (In a sly reference, he would later read part of the Blessing as the tech quote for Priesthood in ''Civilization IV''.)
90	* BecomingTheMask: {{Discussed\|Trope}} in his autobiographies, ''I Am Not Spock'' and ''I Am Spock''.
91	* BigBeautifulWoman: He did a series of photographs [[http://www.rmichelson.com/artists/leonard-nimoy/the-full-body-project/ featuring a group of burlesque dancers called "The Fat Bottom Revue".]]
92	* CatchPhrase: Nimoy adopted Spock's classic greeting "Live long and prosper" and accompanying hand gesture for use in real life. He even signed all his tweets with "LLAP".
93	* ClintSquint: Was the default state of his eyes. All the better to compliment the FascinatingEyebrow.
94	* CoolOldGuy: In his later years, he was the epitome of this trope, both onscreen and in real life.
95	* FascinatingEyebrow: His reaction shots as Spock using these are the stuff of legend. Hail to the Master.
96	* HollywoodNewEngland: Born and raised in Boston, his accent sneaked in from time to time. This was portrayed in the [[https://www.youtube.com//watch?v=MHK2-BVfUzs introduction of the Mugar Omni Theater at the Boston Museum of Science.]]
97	* IAmNotLeonardNimoy: Which helps him become a {{Trope Namer\|s}}...
98	* IAmNotSpock: [[invoked]] ...Through he later wrote a follow-up book ''I Am Spock''.
99	* IdenticalStranger: Richard Michelson, the art gallery owner who exhibits and sells Leonard's photography, has commented that not only did he feel Leonard was a father figure of sorts, but that he was often mistaken for Leonard's son when appearing in public together. [[http://www.rmichelson.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/RM-and-Nimoy.jpg It's not hard to see why.]]
100	* IntergenerationalFriendship: His "Prime" Spock had this kind of relationship with Creator/ZacharyQuinto's Spock. This crossed to some extent to real life, too; the latter was approved by Nimoy himself to be the successor to the role of Spock and the two became good friends.
101	* LargeHam: Nimoy was clearly having the time of his life while voicing the BigBad of the ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'' series, Master Xehanort. His hamminess was so legendary, it gave the likes of Creator/JamesWoods, Creator/BrianBlessed, Creator/BillyZane, and Creator/PaulStPeter a run for their money.
102	* TheMentor: His "Prime" Spock had this kind of relationship with Creator/ZacharyQuinto's Spock. This crossed to some extent to real life, too; the latter was approved by Nimoy himself to be the successor to the role of Spock.
103	* NiceGuy: Leonard Nimoy was a kind, decent guy who was respectful, friendly, and affectionate towards his friends and fans.
104	----
105	-->''[[Film/StarTrekIITheWrathOfKhan "I have been, and always shall be, your friend. Live long and prosper."]]''

Context Creator / LeonardNimoy