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Leonard Nimoy has passed away at the age of 83.



The actor and filmmaker, who rose to fame as Mr Spock in the Star Trek TV series and movies, died from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, his wife confirmed to The New York Times.

Nimoy revealed last year that he was suffering from the disease, caused by smoking in his younger years. He had been treated in hospital earlier this week.

Nimoy began his career in the early '50s teaching acting and appearing in B movies, such as 1952's Kid Monk Baroni, and TV roles. He also served in the United States Army in 1953.

In 1965, Nimoy played Mr Spock for the first time in the rejected Star Trek pilot 'The Cage'. He retained the role when the show was taken to series and portrayed the character on the small screen until 1969.

After success as Spock, Nimoy played Paris for two seasons on Mission: Impossible and appeared in Invasion of the Body Snatchers before Star Trek: The Motion Picture brought the original cast to the big screen in 1979.

Nimoy played Spock in several more sequels, directing '80s outings Star Trek III: The Search for Spock and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.

After a long absence from the role, he returned to play Spock twice more in JJ Abrams's Star Trek (2009) and Star Trek Into Darkness (2013). Nimoy's 'Spock Prime' provided a bridge between the classic Trek and the new timeline led by Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto.

He penned two autobiographies - titled I Am Not Spock (1975) and I Am Spock (1995) - that grappled with his iconic sci-fi role. He signed off his final tweet on February 23 with Spock's iconic line "live long and prosper".

Nimoy's other notable acting parts include the Abrams-produced TV series Fringe and voice roles in Transformers: The Movie and The Simpsons' monorail episode.

Nimoy also recorded several albums, with 1968's Two Sides of Leonard Nimoy featuring 'The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins', a song that received a second life following the release of Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Behind the camera, Nimoy made six feature films and directed episodes of Night Gallery, TJ Hooker and Deadly Games. Outside of the Trek films, his most notable directing outing was 1987's 3 Men and a Baby.

Nimoy is survived by his wife Susan Bay and children Adam Nimoy and Julie Nimoy.