‘Star Trek’ icon Leonard Nimoy dead at 83; read his recent poem

Very sad news is breaking this morning: Legendary actor Leonard Nimoy, who is known around the world as Mr. Spock on the original “Star Trek,” has died following a battle with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. He was 83 years old. This news was confirmed by his wife Susan to the New York Times.

While Nimoy had dozens upon dozens of film and TV credits to his name even before assuming his famous role, this is where his celebrity soared to new heights. An interesting fact about the original series is that while it may be viewed now as iconic, it did not even run for 100 episodes. It did not even make it to the 88 that is today the milestone needed to make it to syndication. The original series just had tremendous staying power, and it also helped that he voiced the character in the animated series, and also went on to play him in a variety of feature films, including the recent motion-picture remakes starring Zachary Quinto as a young Spock.

Nimoy was semi-retired from acting over the course of the past decade, and other thank playing Spock, most of his roles were voice-only, such as when he voiced his own action figure on “The Big Bang Theory.” (There was a popular scene on the show in which Penny managed to acquire his DNA, and then gave it to Sheldon as a Christmas gift.) The one exception to this is “Fringe,” where he recurred as Dr. William Bell across multiple seasons.

We could do one of those “celebrities react” pieces that are all over the internet, but we feel it best here to close with some of Nimoy’s own remarks. Specifically, the final two messages he shared on Twitter. One was only a matter of days ago, and it is a reminder to enjoy life and everything that comes with it.

Nimoy will be greatly missed.