‘Star Trek’ star Nimoy dies at 83

 Los Angeles, February 28 

He had tweeted on January 14 that he had the lung disease. “I quit smoking 30 years ago. Not soon enough. I have COPD. Grandpa says, quit now!!” As he always did, Nimoy signed off with the acronym LLAP, short for ‘Live Long and Prosper’, his ‘Star Trek’ character’s most celebrated phrase.

Nimoy was a vagabond TV character actor when he made his debut as the sombre Spock on NBC’s drama ‘Star Trek’, which debuted on September 8, 1966.

He went on to play or voice the half-Vulcan, half-human on live-action shows, cartoons, films, video games, among others all the way through JJ Abrams’ movie sequel ‘Star Trek Into Darkness’ (2013) — marking an amazing span of nearly 50 years.

In the 1970s, Nimoy replaced Martin Landau in the cast of ‘Mission: Impossible’ TV series, playing Paris, a master of disguise.

Recently, he recurred on the science-fiction drama ‘Fringe’ as William Bell, the founder of the Massive Dynamic corporation.

Nimoy was born on March 26, 1931, in the West End section of Boston. When he was 20, he made his first film appearance, in ‘Queen for a Day’ (1951). — PTI