Star Trek is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry that follows the adventures of the starship and its crew, led by Captain James T. Kirk ( William Shatner ), first officer Spock ( Leonard Nimoy ), and chief medical officer Dr. Leonard McCoy ( DeForest Kelley ), in the 23rd century.

Initially, Filmation was only going to use the voices of William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, James Doohan and Majel Barrett.

" Exquisite chemistry " among Kelley, William Shatner, and Leonard Nimoy manifested itself in their performances as McCoy, Captain James T. Kirk and science officer Spock, respectively.

Captains: Robert April ( James Doohan, Gene Roddenberry ), Christopher Pike ( Jeffrey Hunter ), James T. Kirk ( William Shatner ), Willard Decker ( Stephen Collins ) ( refit ), Spock ( Leonard Nimoy ) ( refit )

According to Shatner, early Star Trek reviews called his performance " wooden ", with most of the show's acting praise and media interest going to Nimoy.

Reportedly, Leonard Nimoy was asked to wear it and refused, so it was passed on to Shatner ; when he also refused, Nimoy reluctantly agreed to wear it.

Nimoy as Spock with William Shatner as Kirk, 1968.

Nimoy and William Shatner first worked together on an episode of The Man from U. N. C. L. E., " The Project Strigas Affair " ( 1964 ).

Their characters were from opposite sides of the Iron Curtain, though with his saturnine looks, Nimoy was predictably the villain, with Shatner playing a reluctant U. N. C. L. E.

William Shatner, in his 2008 book Up Till Now: The Autobiography, speaks about how later in their lives Nimoy tried to help Shatner's alcoholic wife.

However, Nimoy would express relief in later interviews and appearances that when he explained the concept to William Shatner, he understood it immediately, and Nimoy credits Shatner's reaction to the nerve pinch in the episode as what really sold it.

Shatner is only four days older than Nimoy.

According to Shatner, much of Star Treks acting praise and media interest went to Nimoy.

" Many of the openings featured non-celebrities, but some featured stars from TV shows, most of which broadcast over CBS, such as The Bob Newhart Show and One Day at a Time, as well as other characters with a connection to the network, including William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy, dressed as Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock ; characters from the Peanuts cartoons ; and Fred Rogers from Mister Rogers ' Neighborhood.

Kelley became good friends with Star Trek cast mates William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy from their first meeting in 1964.

Only Shatner and Nimoy were listed in the opening credits.

Despite the show's recognition of Kelley as one of its stars he was frustrated by the greater attention that Shatner received as its lead actor, and Nimoy received because of " Spockamania " among fans.

Meyer and Bennett divided the story between them and wrote different parts of the script, requiring approval from Nimoy, lead actor William Shatner and Paramount.

Nimoy chose Hicks after inviting her to lunch with Shatner and witnessing a chemistry between the two.

As William Shatner was unwilling to return, Nimoy and Bennett spent eight months considering a prequel concept by Ralph Winter about the characters at Starfleet Academy, before Shatner received a pay increase and signed on to star.

Once Nimoy, Bennett, and Meyer were happy, they showed the script to Shatner, who offered his own notes for another round of rewrites.

However, the process of ungluing the ears was painful for Nimoy, and meant that he had to come in an hour and a half early before filming, and stay behind for a half hour each day after filming, to apply and remove the glued pieces.

The discovery of each technology is announced by the game's narrator, Leonard Nimoy.

The record received good reviews, and the video for " Liverpool " featured Leonard Nimoy, which helped to generate further publicity.

As Kelley's role grew in importance during the first season he received a pay raise to about $ 2, 500 per episode, and received third billing starting in the second season after Nimoy.

Like other Star Trek actors Kelley received little of the enormous profits that the franchise generated for Paramount, until Nimoy, as executive producer, helped arrange for Kelley to be paid $ 1 million for Star Trek VI ( 1991 ) which would eventually be his final live action film appearance.

The Voyage Home received mostly positive reviews — Nimoy called it the most well-received of all Star Trek films made at that point — and it appealed to general audiences in addition to franchise fans.

The show so typecast the actors, however — as early as March 1970, Nichelle Nichols complained of Star Trek having " defined so narrowly as an actress "— that only Shatner and Nimoy continued working steadily during the 1970s, and even their work received little attention unless it was Star Trek-related.

She received an Anonymous Was A Woman Award for 2007 and was the USA Artists Nimoy Fellow in 2009.

Reception towards the voice acting in Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep, however, was decidedly mixed, with praise aimed at the performances of Jesse McCartney, Mark Hamill and Leonard Nimoy, while Willa Holland and Jason Dohring's performances received a more mixed reaction, with GameSpot referring to Dohring's performance as " abysmal ".

With Leonard Nimoy the film's executive producer, the 71-year old Kelley was paid US $ 1 million for the role, assuring a comfortable retirement for the veteran actor.

Nimoy, who had earlier requested $ 1 million to cameo on The Next Generation, appeared in the episode " Unification " that aired during November 1991 to increase interest in the feature film.

During Star Treks original run from 1966 to 1969, William Shatner was the highest paid cast member at $ 5, 000 per episode ($ today ), with Leonard Nimoy and the other actors paid much less.

In Spring 2012, Nimoy reprised his role of William Bell in Fringe, in the fourth season episodes " Letters of Transit " and " Brave New World " parts 1 & 2.

For example, the Garth Brooks episode ( aired as episode # 2 ) features a cameo from Leonard Nimoy.

* Jeff Nimoy: U. S. Director of Digimon Adventure, Digimon Adventure 02, and Digimon Data Squad ( Savers ).

Alexander's background recalls the association of both Nimoy and Patrick Stewart with Shakespeare roles, as well as the film turn by Shakespearean Christopher Plummer as a Klingon.

For Star Trek III: The Search for Spock ( 1984 ) director Leonard Nimoy and writer-producer Harve Bennett wanted the Klingons to speak a proper language instead of made-up gibberish and so commissioned Okrand to develop the phrases Doohan had come up with into a full language.

Leonard Nimoy and DeForest Kelley declined to appear.

Nimoy turned down the chance to direct the feature as well as reprise the role of Spock.

Leonard Nimoy refused to sign up to lend his voice to the series unless Nichelle Nichols and George Takei were added to the cast — claiming that Sulu and Uhura were of importance as they were proof of the ethnic diversity of the 23rd century and should not be recast.

It is included on his first 1967 album Leonard Nimoy Presents Mr. Spock's Music From Outer Space.

A very abridged spoken word reading of " There Will Come Soft Rains " and " Usher II " was made in 1975 with Leonard Nimoy as narrator.

Data is in many ways a successor to the original Star Treks Spock ( Leonard Nimoy ), in that the character offers an " outsider's " perspective on humanity.

The 1970 cast from left: Leonard Nimoy, Greg Morris, Lesley Ann Warren, Peter Lupus, and Peter Graves.

For example, " The Great Paris " ( Leonard Nimoy ), Hand's replacement in the fourth and fifth seasons, was also an actor, make-up artist, magician and " master of disguise.

According to the DVD commentary of the film, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, actors Leonard Nimoy and Kirstie Alley, portraying Spock and Saavik respectively, spoke their lines in English, and later dubbed in alien dialogue ( at least partially designed by linguist Marc Okrand ) that corresponded with the movements of their mouths in the scene.

The neck pinch itself ( referred to in scripts as ' FSNP ', or ' Famous Spock Neck Pinch ') was created by Leonard Nimoy, who objected to a scene in one early episode that required Spock to knock a guard unconscious by hitting him over the head.

Nimoy thought that such overt violence was uncharacteristic of the strictly-logical Spock, and suggested the neck pinch as a less-emotional alternative.