Spock actor Leonard Nimoy's great career started with him playing a boxer
Leonard Nimoy, the famed actor who played Spock in the "Star Trek" television series and movies, died Friday at the age of 83.
Nimoy was taken to a Los Angeles hospital earlier this week and died at his home. His wife said the cause was end-stage chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, which Nimoy first announced he had last year.
His lengthy and storied career goes back all the way to the early 1950's, when he landed his first Hollywood movie roles. His first starring role came in 1952's "Kid Monk Baroni," in which he played a disfigured Italian street-gang leader who becomes a boxer. You can get your hands on a copy of that here.
Here's a screen grab of the young Nimoy in action, gloves at the ready:
Nimoy's turn as an athlete is the third of 134 credits as an actor listed on his IMDb page. He has another 12 as a director. But it will always be Mr. Spock -- the logical, pointy-eared Vulcan Starfleet officer -- that defines him. The original "Star Trek" series ran from 1966-1969 and spawned a slew of movies and spin-off series. He also appeared as Spock in the two J.J. Abrams-directed "Star Trek" re-boot movies of 2009 and 2013. The latter is, fittingly, his last credited acting role.
He had a couple pretty good turns as a guest star on "The Simpsons" as well, including this one:
Despite the old-school roots, Nimoy was an avid tweeter. And his final tweet, sent Sunday, is beautiful in hindsight:
So long, Mr. Nimoy. Live long and prosper.
