Nimoy Dead At Eighty-Three
4 min read
Leonard Nimoy, Star Trek‘s Mr. Spock, has died at the age of eighty-three.
The actor passed away this morning at his home in Los Angeles.
The actor had been rushed to the hospital last week with chest pains, but the cause of death, according to his wife Susan Bay Nimoy, was chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, which was caused by Nimoy’s years of smoking.
Diagnosed with COPD in 2013, Nimoy spoke out to his fans, encouraging them to quit now. The actor stopped smoking in the early 1980s, but the damage had been done. “This is unfair,” said Nimoy at the time. “I quit long ago. Why is this happening to me? But it’s a lesson I had to learn. I damaged the lung cells many years ago.”
Nimoy was born in Boston on March 26, 1931, the son of Ukrainian Jewish immigrants. He began acting early; at age eight Nimoy was already acting in local productions.
His career dated back to the early 1950s, and included roles on many classic shows of the early days of pre-cable television. Nimoy worked steadily as an actor and director up until a few years ago when he retired to enjoy his hobby of photography.
Nimoy is survived by his wife, Susan; son Adam, daughter Julie, and six grandchildren.
Nimoy’s granddaughter Dani posted the news on Twitter, saying “Hi all, as you all know, my Grandpa passed away this morning at 8:40 from end-stage chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. He was an extraordinary man, husband, grandfather, brother, actor, author-the list goes on- and friend. Thank you for the warm condolences. May you all LLAP. – Dani.”
Nimoy’s last Twitter post on Monday said “A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved, except in memory. LLAP.
Reaction is coming in to Twitter from the Star Trek world; from the producers, writers, and actors from the series and movies and from fandom in general. Paramount Pictures used a famous quote from Spock to honor Nimoy. “I have been, and always shall be, your friend. RIP Leonard Nimoy.”
Rick Berman: “First Hurley, now Leonard. This has to be the saddest week for Star Trek in its (nearly) fifty year history. My heart goes out to Susan.”
Brannon Braga: “RIP Leonard Nimoy. We’ve lost a great artist and Trek legend.”
“I loved him like a brother,” said William Shatner. “We will all miss his humor, his talent, and his capacity to love.”
Rod Roddenberry said, “We have been, and always shall be, your friends.”
From Roberto Orci: “Nimoy lived long and prospered. So grateful for his warmth and wisdom.”
“My heart is broken,” said Zachary Quinto. “Love you profoundly my dear friend. and I will miss you everyday. May flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.”
Simon Pegg: “RIP Leonard. Lived long and prospered”
The Next Generation actors also paid tribute to Nimoy. “Farewell Leonard,” said Brent Spiner. “Glad I knew you. Thinking of Susan, Adam, and his entire family. And his vast extended family of Star Trek.”
Wil Wheaton: “We stood on your shoulders, and wouldn’t have had a galaxy to explore if you hadn’t been there, first. Thank you, Leonard, Rest in peace.”
Jonathan Frakes: “#LLAP RIP to the best First Officer.”
LeVar Burton: “God Bless You, Leonard Nimoy… May Angels guide thee to thy rest!”
From Deep Space Nine, Voyager and Enterprise actors:
Nana Visitor: “You were always lovely lovely lovely to me. # Leonard Nimoy”
Chase Masterson: “We will always, always love you, @TheRealNimoy. Thank you for your beautiful heart, and for the good man you were. So very sad to lose you.”
Robert Picardo: “A sad day for all of us. Live long and prosper … then rest in peace.”
Jeri Ryan: “RIP, Mr. Nimoy. You really did live long and prosper, and we were all the richer for it.”
Jolene Blalock: “Goodbye my dear friend. #LLAP”
And finally from NASA and Astronaut Chris Hadfield. NASA: “RIP Leonard Nimoy. So many of us at NASA were inspired by Star Trek. Boldly go.” Hadfield: “Leonard, you lived long and prospered, and were an inspiration to me and to millions. Rest in peace.”
Rest in peace, Mr. Nimoy. You will be sorely missed, not only by your family, but by your loving fans. In this reporter’s opinion, you WERE Star Trek. I began watching Star Trek back in 1971 as a young teenager and your portrayal of the conflicted half-human, half-Vulcan was very compelling to a person trying to get through the tricky business of adolescence. Thank you.
About The Author
In many ways, Nimoy WAS Star Trek. The loss is incalculable.
You Lived Long And Prospered Mr Nimoy and you brought so
much joy to this world that all I can say is THANK YOU.
He’s really not dead as long as we remember him.
I actually typed that before reading the article, and now I see that T’Bonz and I were thinking the exact same thing.
A tremendous actor has been lost today. He gave us one of the most memorable characters in television and film history. My condolences to his family, friends, and fellow fans. Rest in peace, Mr. Nimoy.
His final message on Twitter is beautiful:
“A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved, except in memory. LLAP”
I know. :'(
He forced Star Trek to become better.
The original script for Wrath of Khan really wasn’t up to standards, and he wouldn’t agree to do it unless Nicholas Meyer did a rewrite — and Meyer reportedly rewrote the script in two days.
For that alone, Nimoy is worthy of our gratitude!
Great job, Bonz. Thank you for the article. Reading this, and keeping in mind the loss of someone like Mr. Nimoy, who was my childhood, all I can say is that I promise I will never pick up a cigarette.
Rest in peace, Leonard. You were Star Trek. /**
Man, what do you say? The man was a legend. It sucks that the people that bring us so much joy can’t last forever, especially the ones that influence so many people in a positive way and shape the course of not only your life, but so many others. But that is not the plan. Peace to his family and thank you Mr Nimoy for bringing Mr Spock to life. Live Long and Prosper.
He was an extraordinary man.
spock’s gone? my heart is broken. ;_;
this comes to my mind at this sad, sad moment:
McCoy: He’s not really dead. As long as we remember him.
Kirk: It’s a far, far better thing I do than I have ever done before. A far better resting place that I go to than I have ever known.
Carol Marcus: Is that a poem?
Kirk: No. Something Spock was trying to tell me. On my birthday.
McCoy: You okay, Jim? How do you feel?
Kirk: Young. I feel young.
One happy note. So many people die alone or unloved. The fans had decades to let Mr. Nimoy know how much they loved him.
His final message was a beautiful, bittersweet thought from a man who was at peace and knew he was loved by family, friends, and the world.
Thank you for everything, Mr. Nimoy
By the time I finished reading this article I had a few tears running down my face. Such an impact he made on Sci Fi, American culture, later drifting into other countries as Star Trek grew. If Gene had picked some other actor- Star Trek would be just another forgotten series. See you on the other side my friend.
Good to know I’m not alone. I think more tears came to me this evening than the first time I watch Star Trek II. I may never have met the man, but he did have an impact on my life.
I was so mad at him for being part of those damn reboots. Today however, none of that matters. I feel like a big part of my childhood just died. 🙁
RIP Leonard Nimoy thank you for entertaining me. No one can fill your ears like you did. However I still welcome Zachary John Quinto to the family as a young Spock.
I will miss knowing Leonard Nimoy is alive and well on planet earth.
Most everything I am today, emotionally, cognitive reasoning, critical thinking and common sense I learned watching Star Trek. Learning about race relations, poverty, war and love were all part of the canon of Star Trek stories.
Knowing Spock, and that Vulcans had emotions, yet strived to suppress them was an amazing parallel to my recognizing myself as a gay teen in the mid 1970’s. I envied Spock, I copied his example and I learned to repress many aspects of my life. I wasn’t a sad teen, quite the opposite in fact. Yet I had this tool I learned from Star Trek, self control or repression.
As I grew older and continued my love of all things Star Trek, I became aware that Spock learned to appreciate his emotions and his human half. In a sense, he “outed” his emotions and allowed others to truly know him. I think this in part empowered me to share and be open with who I am.
I have been out as gay man since my 20’s and this is just a small facet of all that I am! Thank you Leonard Nimoy and Star Trek for contributing to my 54 years! Peace, live long and prosper Leonard! Engage and make it so!
One of the saddest things about Nimoy’s death is that Spock Prime will now be forever trapped in the crappy JJverse
I’m known around where I live as the old guy who gives everyone the Vulcan salute, in the grocery store, drug store, at restaurants and even the fast food drive-thru. And everyone knows what it means, or at least, where it came from. I’ll be a little hesitant today when me and the missus go out to dinner, but I’ll do it anyway. :/
I’ll see Spock when I watch Star Trek later tonight so I won’t miss HIM. But I will miss Leonard for the rest of my life. He was our friend even though most of us never even met him. Sleep well Leonard.
AirSarge, this is really sad news for all Star Trek fans. Possibly it’s not the best time to take a swipe at the new movies? It just seems totally inconsequential and unimportant at this time. Just a thought.
Thank you Leonard. My first memory of life is of Star Trek and Spock. I’ll never forget you, nor the impact you made on me. God bless you and your family. As someone else just said above, Live long and prosper…. then rest in peace.
Those not fans of Trek can never truly understand how this loss has impacted many of us here. Why it’s more than just a celebrity death, though of course all deaths are tragic. For many of us Star Trek expanded our minds at critical times in our lives. When your parents, grandparents, and other friends and family are having a lot to do with your development it wasn’t always easy to form your own path. Not that our family had ill intentions, but for example if you come from a family of Catholics or Republicans, etc, those values and beliefs are somewhat forced/taught to you as well.
At 12 years old I’ll never forget Star Trek helping me think beyond such basic principles of right and wrong, life and death, racial equality, poverty, and respect for others. Many other lessons were taught as well with great adventures along the way. The show was simply thought provoking and stimulated my mind more than any Sunday school class or political lecture from the family.
In that regard it was and will always be far more than just a television show to me. Mr. Spock was a very very big part of that impact and there is no denying that unlike any other celebrity I can think of this wonderful man was part of not only something important, but something important to me personally. Simply put, Nimoy was a part of my development as a person today and I will forever be grateful for the character he created that taught me much about my own humanity.
Shatner says he can’t make the funeral due to a prior commitment in Florida he evidently can’t get out of.
As much of an egoist as Shatner is, I hope people like George Takei don’t use this as another opportunity to slam him publicly.
I’m sure as an actor Leonard would understand – the show must go on. Rest in peace, my surrogate friend and father.
Please, no political or religious jabs. That can be done at another time.
Excuse me? I didn’t take a jab at all. My examples being that family will obviously influence you with what they know and Star Trek for me was an entirely different set of ideals that also influenced me. Didn’t say anything bad about religion or politics, just that for me Trek taught me some fantastic lessons I’d otherwise not be taught.
I have read so many wonderful, beautiful comments. And I have shed tears, somehow we all felt your mighty presence with us. LLAP to his family and.Close friends. I am humbled in his powerful message his life has let us all with…..