88 years ago on this day, March 26th, Leonard Nimoy was born, and as we take a moment to remember his career, it’s hard not to notice the reflection of the Vulcan edict in it: Infinite diversity in infinite combinations.
Like any actor, it took him years of working in Hollywood before he was cast in his breakthrough role, and it was one that brought him notoriety and opportunity for nearly five decades. Of course, we’re talking about Star Trek‘s Mr. Spock, the coldly logical first officer of the USS Enterprise in the original TV series, which ran from 1966 to 1969.
The actor would reprise the part across several films as well, and even showed up in the rebooted Star Trek movies. Nimoy tried getting behind the camera a few times throughout his career, too, including Star Trek III: The Search for Spock and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.
But there was more to Leonard Nimoy than just Mr. Spock, even if he could never fully step away from the character. An artistic renaissance man, he would go on to explore writing, music and photography at various points in his career, all while continuing to work hard as an actor in many, many films, television shows and stage productions, putting together an impressive and varied list of credits.
From courtrooms to monorails, from adventures in outer space to secret spy missions across the globe, Leonard Nimoy had an incredible career and an amazing life, and to this day, we still miss him dearly. His contributions to the Star Trek franchise and pop culture as a whole will never be forgotten and millions of fans around the world will always hold a special place for him in their hearts.