Leonard Simon Nimoy (/ˈniːmɔɪ/; March 26, 1931 – February 27, 2015) was an American actor, filmmaker photographer, author, singer, and songwriter. He is best known for playing Spock in the Star Trek franchise for almost 50 years, from a pilot episode shot in 1964 to his final film performance in 2013. Nimoy directed films including Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984), Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986) and the 1987 comedy Three Men and a Baby.
Nimoy began his career in his early twenties, teaching acting classes in Hollywood and making minor film and television appearances through the 1950s, as well as playing the title role in Kid Monk Baroni. Foreshadowing his fame as a semi-alien, he played Narab, one of three Martian invaders, in the 1952 movie serial Zombies of the Stratosphere. From 1959 to 1962 he appeared in four episodes of Wagon Train.
In February 1965, he made his first appearance in the rejected Star Trek television pilot "The Cage", and went on to play the character of Spock until the end of the production run in early 1969, followed by eight feature films and guest appearances in later spin-offs in the franchise. Spock made a significant cultural impact and earned Nimoy three Emmy Award nominations. TV Guide named Spock one of the 50 greatest TV characters. After the original Star Trek series, Nimoy starred in Mission: Impossible for two seasons, hosted the documentary series In Search of..., made several well-received stage appearances, and played villain Doctor Kibner in the 1978 remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers.
Nimoy's public profile as Spock was so strong that both his autobiographies, I Am Not Spock (1975) and I Am Spock (1995), were written from the viewpoint of sharing his existence with the character. In 2015, after Nimoy's death, an asteroid was named 4864 Nimoy in his honor. The documentaries For the Love of Spock (2016) and Remembering Leonard Nimoy (2017) were produced by his son and daughter respectively; they cover his life, career, and later his illness.