Description
Star Trek is an American science fiction entertainment franchise created by Gene Roddenberry and under the ownership of CBS and Paramount. Star Trek: The Original Series and its live action TV spin-off shows, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager, and Star Trek: Enterprise as well as the Star Trek film series make up the main canon, while the canonicity of Star Trek: The Animated Series is debated and the expansive library of Star Trek novels and comics whilst still part of the franchise, are generally considered non-canon.
Star Trek has been a cult phenomenon for decades. Fans of the franchise are called Trekkies or Trekkers. The franchise spans a wide range of spin-offs including games, figurines, novels, toys, and comics. Star Trek had a themed attraction in Las Vegas which opened in 1998 and closed in September 2008. At least two museum exhibits of props travel the world. The series has its own full-fledged constructed language, Klingon. Several parodies have been made of Star Trek. Its fans, despite the end of Star Trek episodes on TV, have produced several fan productions to fill that void.
Spock, commonly Mr. Spock, is a character in the Star Trek media franchise. First portrayed by Leonard Nimoy in the original Star Trek series, Spock also appears in the animated Star Trek series, a two-part episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, eight of the Star Trek feature films, and numerous Star Trek novels, comics, and video games. In addition to this, numerous actors portrayed the various stages of Spock’s rapid growth due to the effects of the Genesis Planet in the 1984 Star Trek film Star Trek III: The Search For Spock. In the 2009 film Star Trek and its 2013 sequel Star Trek Into Darkness, Nimoy reprised his role alongside Zachary Quinto, who depicted a younger version of the character, existing within an alternate timeline, and Jacob Kogan playing Spock as a child.
Spock serves aboard the starship Enterprise, as science officer and first officer, and later as commanding officer of two iterations of the vessel. Spock’s mixed human-Vulcan heritage serves as an important plot element in many of the character’s appearances. Along with Captain James T. Kirk and Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy, he is one of the three central characters in the original Star Trek series and its films. After retiring from Starfleet, Spock serves as a Federation ambassador, contributing toward the easing of the strained relationship between the Federation and the Klingon Empire. In his later years, he serves as Federation ambassador to the Romulan Star Empire and becomes involved in the ill-fated attempt to save Romulus from a supernova.
The character was initially depicted as the USS Enterprise’s science officer for the original pilot, “The Cage” (1964). Although “The Cage” did not air, Spock’s eleven years of service under the command of Captain Christopher Pike are referred to and depicted in “The Menagerie” (1966) and other episodes. The character’s first broadcast appearance is in “The Man Trap” (1966), which introduces him as the ship’s science officer and first officer under Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner). Star Trek depicts a trio of Spock, Kirk, and Doctor Leonard McCoy (DeForest Kelley); while McCoy often acts as Kirk’s conscience, Spock offers the captain an emotionally detached, logical perspective. The character also offers an “outsider’s” perspective on “the human condition”.
Spock, as originally described in Gene Roddenberry’s 1964 pitch for Star Trek, is “probably half Martian, he has a slightly reddish complexion and semi-pointed ears”. Early versions had the character ingest energy through a plate in his stomach. Writer Samuel A. Peeples told Roddenberry these attributes made Spock too alien, and suggested “he should at least be half-human and have the problems of both sides”, believing the human traits made the character more interesting and able to comment on the human condition more believably. Spock’s home planet was changed because Roddenberry thought if the show was a success, humans might actually walk on Mars during the series’ run.
Roddenberry sought an alien-sounding name when he created “Spock”, and did not know until later of Dr. Benjamin Spock, the pediatrician and author. In the initial, rejected pilot, “The Cage” (1964), Spock is greenish yellow and from the planet Vulcan. After DeForest Kelley in 1964 turned down the role, Roddenberry’s second choice to portray the character was Adam West, who at the time happened to be busy working on the film Robinson Crusoe on Mars (1964), and as a result, turned to Nimoy, already known to him from a guest appearance in his pilot The Lieutenant. Nichelle Nichols was also considered for the role of Spock. After Roddenberry saw Nimoy’s thin face and sharp features, no other actors were considered.
The “pointy ears” worn by Nimoy while portraying Spock are a form of facial prosthesis, mainly composed from molded and painted syntactic foam, made by noted make-up artist John Chambers. The foam was made by filling a ceramic matrix with hollow particles called microballoons, which result in a low density prosthesis that is easily worn. However, the process of ungluing the ears was painful for Nimoy, and meant that he had to come in an hour and a half early before filming, and stay behind for a half hour each day after filming, to apply and remove the glued pieces. The pain and inconvenience were so great that when producer Robert H. Justman jokingly proposed plastic surgery, Nimoy momentarily considered doing so.
Nimoy recalled, more than a decade after the show’s cancellation: “The “Star Trek” phenomenon continues to amaze and confound me. It was incredible, and it still is, although it is gentler now than it used to be. For a time, it was hysterical – it was so wild I had to be very careful where I went. If I went to a restaurant, I had to plan my entrances and my exits so I wouldn’t be mobbed and hurt. Same thing in hotels and airports – any public place. It isn’t that hysterical any more, but it is still a potent force.”
NASA made Spock an informal mascot of the space agency.
Leonard Simon Nimoy (born March 26, 1931) is an American actor, film director, poet, singer, and photographer. Nimoy is best known for his role of Spock in the original Star Trek series (1966–69), and in multiple film, television, and video game sequels.
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. Foreshadowing his fame as a semi-alien, he played Narab, one of three Martian invaders in the 1952 movie serial Zombies of the Stratosphere.
In 1953, he served in the United States Army. In 1965, he made his first appearance in the rejected Star Trek pilot, “The Cage,” and would go on to play the character of Mr. Spock until 1969, followed by eight feature films and guest slots in the various spin-off series. His character of Spock has had a significant cultural impact and garnered Nimoy three Emmy Award nominations; TV Guide named Spock one of the 50 greatest TV characters. 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. More recently, he also had a recurring role in the science fiction series Fringe.
Nimoy’s fame as Spock is such that both of his autobiographies, I Am Not Spock (1975) and I Am Spock (1995), were written from the viewpoint of sharing his existence with the character.
Spock’s Vulcan salute became a recognized symbol of the show and was identified with him. Nimoy created the sign himself from his childhood memories of the way kohanim (Jewish priests) held their hand when giving blessings. During an interview, he translated the Priestly Blessing which accompanied the sign and described it during a public lecture: “May the Lord bless and keep you and may the Lord cause his countenance to shine upon you. May the Lord be gracious unto you and grant you peace. The accompanying spoken blessing, ‘Live long and prosper'”.
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