Nimoy was 83 and passed away from COPD,which is a pulmonary diseases that usually is present in people that have at one time or currently smoke.
Nimoy spent much of his later life advising people not to smoke.
I'm not going to run Nimoy's total resume',many links have that available,although I was surprised to know that he directed the 80's hit Three Men and a Baby and was doing voice work even into the late stages of his life.
And of course,he was most known as Mr.Spock on Star Trek,which I'll write about later,but Nimoy took advantage of being known as Spock as Star Trek boomed in syndication,but before the films were made as the host of "In Search Of'",which as a child,I watched every week and learned about various investigations from the Lincoln assassination to Loch Ness monster and more.
Having Nimoy lent credibility to the audience that might be interested in the show and as a result exposed many young Trek fans to more learning,even if it was just from television.
In Search Of lasted six seasons and was quite groundbreaking for its time.
Nimoy also had a co-starring role in Mission Impossible after Star Trek and there was well,the singing.
Campy and not very good,but as my family could tell you-I listen to those "gems" all the time!
I just love stuff like that and Nimoy gave tons of "great" material with covers Gentle on my mind,Ruby, don't take your love to town and If I had a hammer among many.
Those songs,as bad as they were,imposed a human quality to Nimoy among his fans.
Between playing the cerebral Spock,the intelligence and the voice,I have always thought that the albums is what made Nimoy truly connect with fans as a person-flawed like the rest of us in a time when stars didn't always seem so normal.
And then there was Spock.
I would bet if you asked most fans of the original Star Trek series-Spock would overwhelmingly win a contest for most popular character.
In an era,where the main character in adventure shows were usually a swaggering yet charming womanizer that was a leader of men,Spock was different.
Spock showed that even when one tried to show indifference and be ruled by only the facts that humanity (he was half human) always will creep in somehow.
Fans loved the catch phrases that became part of pop culture to this day-"Fascinating","Highly Illogical" and of course "Live long and prosper" yet they brought a bit of wonderment and calmness that only when you think about them,one can see far more than just the detached words of the character.
Leonard Nimoy brought Spock to life and I then brought his Mego figure to life.Star Trek was bigger in 70's syndication than it was in it's 60's NBC run and I had lots of Trek stuff,much of which either disappeared over the year from phaser games to communicator walkie talkies,but I still have my original figures and those spent lots of time playing until their eventual arrival (and better care on a shelf).
I was often a lonely little boy with limited friends and I learned quickly to play alone and be imaginative in how I played.
From a hot attic in order to play alone to a dirt pile at my parents cabin to imaginary environments in bedrooms in a house long torn down,my attachment to three shows from my childhood remain to this day-Wild Wild West,Batman and Star Trek and of all,Spock might be my favorite.
I was never going to be a James West or James Kirk,a strutting ladies man,but one could be a Spock-intellectual and insular personality.
That character spoke to me and made me a fan for life.
Thanks for the memories and to all the Star Trek fans,your memory will indeed-live long and prosper.
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