Leonard Nimoy just passed away on February 27, 2015 and what better time to celebrate his life than on the first birthday since his passing.
Nimoy was born on March 26, 1931 in Boston, Massachusetts to Jewish immigrants and started acting at the early age of 8. It was at age 17 that Nimoy knew he didn’t want to do anything else but act.
Nimoy’s first title role was as the street-thug turned boxer Kid Monk in 1952’s Kid Monk Baroni. Nimoy appeared in several television shows over the years like Dragnet, Bonanza, Get Smart, Rawhide, SeaHunt, Outer Limits, Twilight Zone, Wagon Train mostly reprising his role as a thug or a hood.
It was not until 1966 that a significant reoccurring role would change his life forever.
Nimoy played Spock for three years on the TV show that launched a billion dollar franchise. Despite the “five-year mission”alluded to in the opening credits( delivered by Bill Shatner’s Captain Kirk) the show only ran from from 1966-1969.
Nimoy’s devilish looking Mr. Spock proved so popular during the show’s run that it shocked NBC executives and concerned Shatner. Today Spock is considered to be one of the most significant characters in pop-culture history on par with Superman & Mickey Mouse.
Nimoy loved the character Spock so much so that he had sought the character’s advice on several occasions in the past.
Nimoy played the beloved character for what would be his final time in J.J. Abrhams Star Trek: Into Darkness (2013). Dying at age of 83, he left a void in the hearts of millions of fans everywhere.
Check-out Nimoy in his first starring role in Kid Monk Baroni (1952). https://archive.org/details/Kid_Monk_Baroni
