Leonard Nimoy's Real Name: Leonard Simon Nimoy

Quick answer: The actor is known professionally as Leonard Nimoy. Britannica and the BBC independently identify him as Leonard Simon Nimoy and date his birth to March 26, 1931, in Boston. Britannica, the BBC, and the Associated Press independently date his death to February 27, 2015, in Los Angeles (Britannica; BBC).

Real name and early life

He is known professionally as Leonard Nimoy. Britannica gives the fuller form Leonard Simon Nimoy and dates his birth to March 26, 1931, in Boston, Massachusetts, saying he grew up in Boston's West End. A BBC obituary independently says Leonard Simon Nimoy was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on 26 March 1931, to Orthodox Jewish parents who had emigrated from an area of the Soviet Union that is now in Ukraine. Britannica also notes early training at the Pasadena Playhouse and early credits including Queen for a Day (1951), Zombies of the Stratosphere (1952), and Kid Monk Baroni (1952).

Career highlights

Britannica says he became widely known as Spock on Star Trek, which it dates from 1966 to 1969, later joining Mission: Impossible for two seasons (1969–71) as Paris and voicing an animated Star Trek series (1973–74). It says he reprised Spock in later feature films, appeared in a 1978 remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and directed Three Men and a Baby, which it calls the most lucrative film released in 1987. Britannica also names two memoirs, I Am Not Spock (1975) and I Am Spock (1995), and an appearance in J.J. Abrams's 2009 Star Trek remake. The BBC independently notes his work as an actor and director and his later return, after a 2010 retirement announcement, as Dr. William Bell on Fringe.

Death

Britannica says he died on February 27, 2015, in Los Angeles, California. A BBC report published 27 February 2015 independently says he died at the age of 83 in Los Angeles, with his son, Adam, saying he died of end-stage chronic obstructive pulmonary disease on Friday morning. The same BBC report, citing his granddaughter, says he died at home on Friday in Bel-Air, California. An Associated Press report of February 27, 2015, independently says he died Friday of end-stage chronic obstructive pulmonary disease at his Los Angeles home, at age 83.

Name notes for searchers

People looking up Leonard Nimoy or Leonard Simon Nimoy are looking for the same Boston-born actor, later known as Spock on Star Trek. Britannica and the BBC independently support the fuller name.