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 )

The gesture actually emulates the initial Shin of the Shema ( Nimoy has also commented that the " sh " could also indicate Shaddai, or the Almighty ; more recently, on William Shatner's Raw Nerve, he associated it with Shekhinah.

Nimoy as Spock with William Shatner as Kirk, 1968.

In 1991, Nimoy teamed up with Robert B. Radnitz to produce a movie for TNT about a pro bono publico lawsuit brought by public interest attorney William John Cox on behalf of Mel Mermelstein, an Auschwitz survivor, against a group of organizations engaged in Holocaust denial.

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.

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.

" 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.

The Scott character, as conceived, would have been a semi-regular, but with fellow cast members Leonard Nimoy ( Spock ) and DeForest Kelley ( Dr. McCoy ), was elevated in importance to leads alongside William Shatner's Captain James T. Kirk.

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.

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.

Among other special features, it contains a text commentary by Michael Okuda and an audio commentary from director Leonard Nimoy and star William Shatner.

The original cast of Star Trek, including William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, James Doohan, George Takei, Nichelle Nichols, and Walter Koenig, provided their voices for the CD version of the game.

In 1996, MCA Records released a single-CD compilation of Shatner and Nimoy's collected music output, under the title Spaced Out: The Very Best of Leonard Nimoy & William Shatner.

* Spaced Out: The Very Best of Leonard Nimoy & William Shatner ( 1996 ) – compilation

* Golden Throats, a compilation of celebrity singers including William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy.

The title song " Lost in the Stars " enjoyed a measure of popular success, and versions of it were recorded by Anita O ' Day, Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Sarah Vaughan, Generation Gap, Leonard Nimoy, William Shatner and many others.

The actors and actresses include, but are not limited to: Robert Vaughn, David McCallum, Leo G. Carroll, Robert Culp, James Doohan, Carroll O ' Connor, Slim Pickens, Anne Francis, Richard Kiel, Roger Carmel, William Marshall and, in one episode (" The Project Strigas Affair "), William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy, who never appeared together in any of their scenes.

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.

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.

Shatner is only four days older than Nimoy.

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

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.

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

Nimoy and Shatner each received $ 2. 5 million for the film, less than their original demands, but the film cast's rising salaries caused Paramount to create a new television series, Star Trek: The Next Generation ( 1987 ), with less-expensive, unknown actors.

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

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

Nimoy first worked with DeForest Kelley in " Man of Violence ", a season two episode of The Virginian.

The first was called I Am Not Spock ( 1977 ) and was controversial, as many fans incorrectly assumed that Nimoy was distancing himself from the Spock character.

The contents of this first autobiography also touched on a self-proclaimed " identity crisis " that seemed to haunt Nimoy throughout his career.

In 1995, Nimoy was involved in the production of Primortals, a comic book series published by Tekno Comix about first contact with aliens, which had arisen from a discussion he had with Isaac Asimov.

Even Nimoy got in on the act ; assuming the Spock character, Nimoy recorded a number of novelty songs, the first being " Highly Illogical ", in which Spock pointed out the foibles of human thought, such as relationships, automobiles, and greed.

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.

Since The Voyage Home was the first Star Trek film to show the operations at Starfleet Command, Bennett and Nimoy visited NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory to learn how a real deep space command center might look and operate.

The idea of a parallel universe and the concept of deja vu was a major plot line of the first season finale of Fringe, guest-starring Leonard Nimoy of Star Trek.

Nimoy directed, the first Star Trek cast member to do so.

The footage from the original pilot was subsequently adapted into the later series in a two-part episode entitled " The Menagerie ," despite continuity differences in the way Leonard Nimoy portrayed Mr. Spock due to alterations in the character's appearance and personality between filming the first pilot and the eventual series.

Although he sometimes commands the ship when both Captain Kirk and first officer Spock ( Leonard Nimoy ) are off the ship ( as third senior officer ), Scotty asserts in the TNG episode " Relics " that he " never wanted to be anything else but an engineer ".

The story was first adapted for the Abrams Planetarium at Michigan State University in 1966 featuring the voice of Leonard Nimoy, as Asimov wrote in his autobiography In Joy Still Felt.

According to Whitney, in the first season, only William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy were guaranteed to appear in every episode.

In his second autobiography, Nimoy explains that the title of the first book had been his idea, over the objections of his publishers.

Finally, Friday brought " Adventure Night ", first hosted by Richard Widmark and later by Howard Duff and then by Leonard Nimoy.

In the 1950s he started producing films, first working as assistant ( and later associate ) producer for Jack Broder and Realart Pictures on such films as Bride of the Gorilla, Battles of Chief Pontiac ( featuring Lon Chaney, Jr .), Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla and Kid Monk Baroni ( featuring a 21-year-old Leonard Nimoy as a street kid turned boxer ).

With issue 11's cover photo of Leonard Nimoy, Castle of Frankenstein was the first magazine to feature Star Trek as a major cover story.