The man who really made Mr. Spock a feasible, memorable and well-loved character has passed away. Leonard Nimoy did such a great job that it made the character’s death at the end of Star Trek II a pop culture touchstone.
However, I always knew there was more to him. After Star Trek, I remembered him as an operative in the latter half of Mission:Impossible when I was a kid, I think he replaced Martin Landau. He was this cool Turkish advisor to Kublai Khan in a Marco Polo miniseries I loved. There was his appearance in the 1978 remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers to aid my nightmares.
My adulthood is when Leonard took off doing funny stuff as himself twice on The Simpsons and again on Futurama. He was a bright spot in the rather uneven Atlantis cartoon from Disney. As much as I hate the JJ Abrams movies, the car plug Leonard did with Zachary Quinto is amusing.
I’m bummed I never got any facetime with him as I did at the fan conventions. The closest I ever got was his autograph on a special photo he obliged to those who bought the William Shatner VIP pass in 2013. I can always imagine William going to Leonard’s house, asking if he could help out.
Farewell Mr. Nimoy. Thank you for fleshing out the first real breakout character in Sci-Fi television. We are all going to miss you yet I’m grateful for the years of joy you gave me.