Last year, the actor revealed he was suffering chronic lung disease COPD, despite stopping smoking 30 years ago. It was reported last week he had been taken to hospital on 19 February after suffering from chest pains.
Before he died on Friday 27th March, he posted what was to be his final tweet, "A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved, except in memory. LLAP" (a reference to his character's famous catchphrase, "Live long and prosper")
George Takei, who played Hikaru Sulu on Star Trek and was a friend of Nimoy's, paid tribute to the actor. "The word extraordinary is often overused but I think it's really appropriate for Leonard. He was an extraordinarily talented man but he was also a very decent human being."
William Shatner, who as Captain Kirk acted alongside Nimoy for years in Star Trek, said he loved the actor like a brother."We will all miss his humor, his talent, and his capacity to love," he posted on Twitter.
Actor Zachary Quinto, who took over as Mr. Spock in the reboot and its sequel, posted a photo of the actor on Instagram on Friday after hearing news of his death alongside the message: "My heart is broken. i love you profoundly my dear friend. and i will miss you everyday. may flights of angels sing thee to thy rest."
Even the US president took a moment on Friday to appreciate Nimoy’s most famous character. “Long before being nerdy was cool, there was Leonard Nimoy,” Barack Obama said. “I loved Spock.”
It was Nimoy's casting as Spock in 1966 that made him in a star and, in many ways, defined his acting career. He played the character in all three of the original series of the programme and later in several big-screen spin offs. Nimoy had an ambivalent relationship with Spock, seeming to both cherish and resent his close association with the role.
After serving in the Army in 1953 he made an appearance in the rejected Star Trek pilot 'The Cage' in 1965 and started when the full series began a year later. He played Spock until 1969 then appeared in eight feature films and a number of spin-offs. In 1967, the Vulcan salute appeared - consisting of a raised hand, palm forward with the fingers parted between the middle and ring finger - and stood for 'live long and prosper'. Nimoy devised the gesture and made it popular around the world. It is now used by fans - sometimes known as 'Trekkies' - everywhere.
He directed two of the Star Trek films, The Search for Spock and The Voyage Home, and in 1987 helmed the hit comedy Three Men and a Baby, one of the highest-grossing films of that year.
Nimoy earned three Emmy Awards for the role of Mr Spock, meaning he could land almost any television or movie role he wanted. But he could never really escape the role that took him overnight from bit-part actor status to TV star, and in a 1995 interview he sought to analyze the popularity of Spock, the green-blooded space traveler who aspired to live a life based on pure logic.
People identified with Spock because they 'recognize in themselves this wish that they could be logical and avoid the pain of anger and confrontation,' Nimoy concluded. 'How many times have we come away from an argument wishing we had said and done something different?' he asked. 'Of course the role changed my career— or rather, gave me one. It made me wealthy by most standards and opened up vast opportunities. It also affected me personally, socially, psychologically, emotionally. ... What started out as a welcome job to a hungry actor has become a constant and ongoing influence in my thinking and lifestyle.'
In 1954 he married Sandra Zober, a fellow student at the Pasadena Playhouse, and they had two children, Julie and Adam. The couple divorced, and in 1988 he married Susan Bay, a film production executive.
One of his hobbies was as a private pilot and during his life owned his own plane. He also had success outside of his Spock costume, in both acting and directing, and he pursued music, painting, and photography.
Star Trek Fans will always remember Leonard Nimoy and his wonderful act as Mr.Spock, may he live long and prosper ♥
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Mini Biography:
1931 Born in Boston, Massachusetts, to Jewish immigrants Dora (Spinner) and Max Nimoy
1951 Bit-part Hollywood debut in Queen for a Day
1954 Marries Sandra Zober. Two children, Julie and and Adam, follow.
1966 Cast as Spock in Star Trek, which turns Nimoy into a star
1969 Joins cast of Mission: Impossible and plays The Great Paris for two years
1979 Reprises role as Spock in the first big-screen version of Star Trek
1987 Directs the hugely successful comedy Three Men and a Baby
1989 Stars in Star Trek V and then Star Trek VI in 1991
2009 Comes out of retirement to play Spock in new Star Trek films directed by JJ Abrams
2014 Reveals diagnosis with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, a progressive lung condition
2015 Passes away in Los Angeles
