Leonard Nimoy, famous as Mr Spock on 'Star Trek,' dies

Leonard Nimoy, the actor known and loved by generations of Star Trek fans as the pointy-eared, purely logical science officer, Mr Spock, has died.

Nimoy died yesterday of end-stage chronic obstructive pulmonary disease at his Los Angeles home, with family at his side, said his son, Adam Nimoy. He was 83.

Although Nimoy followed his 1966-69 Star Trek run with a notable career as an actor, director, writer and photographer, in the public's mind, he would always be Spock. His half-human, half-Vulcan character was the calm counterpoint to William Shatner's often-emotional Captain Kirk on one of TV and film's most revered cult series.

"He affected the lives of many," Adam Nimoy said. "He was also a great guy and my best friend."

Nimoy displayed ambivalence to the famous role in the titles of his two autobiographies: 'I Am Not Spock' (1975) and 'I Am Spock' (1995).

After Star Trek ended, the actor immediately joined the hit adventure series Mission Impossible as Paris, the mission team's master of disguises.

From 1976 to 1982, he hosted the syndicated TV series 'In Search of ... ,' which attempted to probe such mysteries as the legend of the Loch Ness Monster and the disappearance of aviator Amelia Earhart.

He played Israeli leader Golda Meir's husband opposite Ingrid Bergman in the TV drama, A Woman Called Golda, and Vincent van Gogh in, Vincent, a one-man stage show on the life of the troubled painter. He continued to work well into his 70s, playing gazillionaire genius, William Bell in the Fox series, Fringe.

He also directed several films, including the hit comedy, Three Men and a Baby, and appeared in such plays as, A Streetcar Named Desire, 'Cat on a Hot Tim Roof, 'Fiddler on the Roof, 'The King and I, My Fair Lady and Equus. He also published books of poems, children's stories and his own photographs.

Besides his wife, son and daughter, Nimoy is survived by his stepson, Aaron Bay Schuck. Services will be private, Adam Nimoy said.