Rare Photos of a Very Young Leonard Nimoy in the 1950s

Leonard Simon Nimoy (March 26, 1931 – February 27, 2015) was an American actor and director, famed for playing Spock in the Star Trek franchise for almost 50 years. In addition to acting and filmmaking, Nimoy was a photographer, author, singer, and songwriter.

Nimoy was living hand-to-mouth in the 1950s, as a struggling actor in TV and movies, before his stardom on Star Trek and Mission: Impossible. He landed the leading role in the feature film Kid Monk Baroni (1952), but spent most of his early career in TV in small roles, in such series as Dragnet and The Twilight Zone.

“The work that I was useful for when I was hired, which was rare in those days, were always offbeat nasty guys. Ethnic characters of one kind or another. Guys who beat up people and that sort of thing. They were always in trouble. The good guys were guys that looked like Tab Hunter. The look at that time was a look that wasn’t me. They say, you have small eyes, or you have a crooked nose, or, you know, ‘No, no, no, no, no! Next. Next.’”

From 1953 to 1955, Nimoy served in the United States Army as a Sergeant in the Special Services, an entertainment branch of the American military.

He originated and developed Spock beginning with the 1964 Star Trek television pilot “The Cage” and 1965’s “Where No Man Has Gone Before,” through series’ end in early 1969, followed by eight feature films and guest appearances in spin-offs. From 1967 to 1970, Nimoy had a music career with Dot Records, with his first and second albums mostly as Spock. After the original Star Trek series, Nimoy starred in Mission: Impossible for two seasons, hosted the documentary series In Search of..., appeared in Columbo, and made several well-received stage appearances.