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After being taken to the hospital complaining of chest pains a few days ago, actor Leonard Nimoy has passed away at age 83. He’d been suffering from COPD in recent years.

Nimoy portrayed Mr. Spock in the original Star Trek series and became the first mass media nerd icon, a symbol of SF via his pointed ears, Vulcan salute and Vulcan Nerve Pinch. Images of Spock were shorthand for early nerd culture, and Nimoy’s sensitive portrayal of the emotion-repressing half-human Vulcan was one of the best things about any and all Treks he appeared in.

Nimoy the man was generally loved, and held a gentle philosophy that carried him well through life. He wrote a book of poems called “I Am Not Spock” published in the 70s as a protest against his best known role, but later on fully embraced his part in pop culture history. He retired from conventions in 2011 although he appeared in Fringe and Star Trek: Into Darkness.

Although he and William Shatner had a sometimes testy relationship, in their twilight years, they became good friends, and NImoy was best man at Shatner’s most recent wedding. The two reunited for a car commercial last year.

Nimoy also made an album, and even among bad album aficionados, this was one of the worst. I won’t speak ill of the dead, but google Ballad of Bilbo Baggins.

Twitter is pouring out it’s remembrances now.

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3 COMMENTS

  1. “I Am Not Spock is Leonard Nimoy’s first autobiography. […] the book was criticized by some fans because of the perception that Nimoy was rejecting the character Spock. He maintained he was only clarifying the difference between himself and Spock, whom he always enjoyed playing.”

  2. He’s dead, Jim…

    R.I.P. Leonard Nimoy — a true sci-fi legend. Naturally, he’ll forever be etched in our brains as the iconic Mr. Spock. Perhaps, younger audiences got to know him in his last significant role, William Bell on “Fringe”.

    This being a comics blog, I suppose we’d be remiss to not mention his, however minor, contribution to comics. Anyone remember the, short-lived, Tekno Comix from the mid-90s? They published several titles by Neil Gaiman as well as properties created by notable sci-fi and fantasy writers including Gene Roddenberry, Isaac Asimov, and Micky Spillane. Mr. Nimoy’s creation, and lone contribution, was PRIMORTALS, which, I believe, was one of the more successful books in the line.

  3. It should also be noted that he did several audio drama adaptations of classic science fiction all bowls with his short-lived company Alien Voices with John DeLancie. I think you can find the digital downloads on CDBaby. Worth checking out.

    Lance Roger Axt
    AudioComics

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