Had Nimoy turned down the role, Roddenberry would have approached Martin Landau.

Nimoy turned to his friend Leonard Rosenman, who had written the music to Fantastic Voyage, Ralph Bakshi's The Lord of the Rings, and two Planet of the Apes sequels.

* Leonard Nimoy as Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde: The fictional scientist who turned into the horrific monster.

Leonard Nimoy was not originally considered for the role as the celebrity at the maiden voyage of the monorail, as the writing staff did not think he would accept, because William Shatner had previously turned the show down.

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 ).

Faced with producing a new film in time for Star Treks 25th anniversary, Flinn and Meyer, the director of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, wrote a script based on a suggestion from Leonard Nimoy about what would happen if " the wall came down in space ", touching on the contemporary events of the Cold War.

Nimoy visited Meyer's house and suggested, " if the wall comes down in outer space?

Nimoy mentioned this film in both of his autobiographies because it gave him a chance to break away from his role as Spock on Star Trek.

" Like Green, he enjoys the acting: " Nimoy gets a chance to ham it up here, and it really pays off.

Nimoy would go on to direct the second most successful film ( critically and financially ) in the franchise after the 2009 Star Trek film, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home ( 1986 ), and Three Men and a Baby, the highest grossing film of 1987, made him a star director.

At a press conference promoting the 2009 Star Trek movie, Nimoy made it clear that he had no further plans or ambition to direct:

After directing The Search for Spock, cast member Leonard Nimoy was asked to direct the next feature, and given greater freedom regarding the film's content.

Before The Search for Spock was released, its director Leonard Nimoy was asked to return to direct the next film in the franchise.

Nimoy's hiring of Meyer was not only beneficial because Meyer knew the material and could write fast ( having produced The Wrath of Khans screenplay in twelve days ), but if Meyer was to direct it would offset any acrimony from Shatner, whose ire would have been aroused if Nimoy returned to direct his third Star Trek feature after The Search for Spock and The Voyage Home.

Nimoy went on to direct The Search for Spocks sequel, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.

Nimoy found the most difficult scene to direct was one in which Leonard McCoy talks to the unconscious Spock in sickbay, en route to Vulcan.

When asked by Paramount Pictures if he wanted to reprise the role for the third feature, Nimoy agreed and told them, " You're damned right, I want to direct that picture!

The six Star Trek movies feature the original Star Trek cast including Nimoy, who also directed one of the films.

When a new Star Trek series was planned in the late 1970s, Nimoy was to be in only two out of eleven episodes, but when the show was elevated to a feature film, he agreed to reprise his role.

First portrayed by Leonard Nimoy in the original Star Trek series, Spock also appears in the animated Star Trek series, two episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation, seven of the Star Trek feature films, and numerous Star Trek books, comics, and video games.

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.

In the four years of its run, Highway Patrol would feature many actors who would later become successful stars in their own right, among them Stuart Whitman, Clint Eastwood, Robert Conrad, Bill Bixby, Barbara Eden, and Leonard Nimoy.

* This is the only series episode to feature three actors who appeared in the pilot The Cage: Leonard Nimoy, Majel Barrett, and Jon Lormer.

Gene Roddenberry had distributed a memo that suggested that though it would be unlikely to feature Leonard Nimoy as Spock on the series due to financial considerations, he suggested a reasonable alternative would be to feature Mark Lenard, who played Spock's father, Sarek.

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.

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.

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.

After the original Star Trek series, Nimoy starred in Mission: Impossible for two seasons, hosted the documentary series In Search of ..., and narrated Civilization IV, as well as making several well-received stage appearances.

In an interview published on the official Star Trek website, Nimoy said that Alien Voices was discontinued because the series didn't sell well enough to recoup costs.

Nimoy has also provided voiceovers for the Star Trek Online massively multiplayer online game, released in February 2010, as well as Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep as Master Xehanort, the series ' leading villain.

" 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.

Wyatt commented that although she generally disliked working with actors who were directing, she found Nimoy an exception because he could concentrate on being part of the cast as well as setting up the crew.

Nimoy was interviewed on the Paramount lots and discussed his acting career as well as his favorable opinion of the widescreen format.

Shatner's Star Trek co-star Leonard Nimoy guested in the second season episode " Vengeance is Mine ", as well as directing " The Decoy ", also in the second season.

The film's main visual effects company, Industrial Light & Magic, based most of Sentinel Prime's features on actor Sean Connery, and after Leonard Nimoy was cast to voice the role, the effects were altered to incorporate Nimoy's acting as well.

On the topic of Spock's future, Nimoy notes that the Star Trek franchise shows no sign of dying, and that as far as he is concerned, Spock is still alive and well working on Romulus ( as seen in the two-part episode " Unification " of Star Trek: The Next Generation ).

When Leonard Nimoy finally agreed to reprise Spock, his Vulcan replacement as Science Officer became Commander Sonak, and appeared briefly in the film ; after only a few lines of dialogue, he was killed in a transporter accident.

As the half-Vulcan, half-human Spock — a role he chose instead of one on the soap opera Peyton Place — Nimoy became a star, and the press predicted that he would " have his choice of movies or television series.

Nimoy was cast in the role of Paris, an IMF agent who was an ex-magician and make-up expert ' The Great Paris '.

Nimoy also played the Mermelstein role and believes: " If every project brought me the same sense of fulfillment that Never Forget did, I would truly be in paradise.

Tetsuya Nomura, the director of Birth by Sleep, stated that he chose Nimoy for the role specifically because of his role as Spock.

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.

Nimoy reprised his role as Master Xehanort in the recent title Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance.

The Space Foundation named Nimoy as the recipient of the 2010 Douglas S. Morrow Public Outreach Award for creating a positive role model that inspired untold numbers of viewers to learn more about the universe.

In the 2009 film Star Trek, Nimoy reprised his role alongside Zachary Quinto, who played a younger, alternate-timeline version of the character, and Jacob Kogan playing Spock as a child.

After DeForest Kelley in 1964 stated his non-interest in playing the role, Roddenberry cast Nimoy because he knew him from a guest appearance in his pilot The Lieutenant ; after Roddenberry saw Nimoy's thin face and sharp features, no other actors were considered-Kelley, on the other hand, would later be cast as Dr. McCoy, the highly emotional human who became Spock's frequent foil.

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.

Nimoy approached Beverly Hills Cop writer Daniel Petrie, Jr. to write the screenplay when a concept that executive producer Jeffrey Katzenberg described as " either the best or worst idea in the world " arose — Star Trek fan Eddie Murphy wanted a starring role.

" On learning about the scene, Kirk Thatcher, an associate producer on the film, convinced Nimoy to let him play the role ; Thatcher shaved his hair into a mohawk and bought clothes to complete the part.

He described it as different to working on many other films because Nimoy appreciated the role of sound effects and made sure that they were prominent in the film.

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.

Frank Welker provided Spock's screams, and Steve Blalock doubled for Nimoy, so that a total of seven actors contributed to the role.

Nimoy wanted someone with " power and magic " for the ethereal role.

Nimoy said that Lloyd brought a welcome element of theatricality to the role.

With the release of The Transformers: The Movie animated film in 1986, he took on the role of the Autobot Wheelie and afterwards, took over the role of Galvatron ( which coincidentally was voiced by his Star Trek III castmate Leonard Nimoy ).