For this Star Trek fan, Leonard Nimoy was more than the guy who played one of the most popular characters in the most popular science fiction franchise on American TV.
He was a serious actor whose journey to accept his unique fame mirrored many fans’ personal struggles for acceptance — particularly back when science fiction and fantasy wasn’t quite so cool. He was the guy whose status as the half human, half Vulcan Mr. Spock — a brilliant, capable officer from a race of aliens who suppress their emotions — would eventually be validated by the world’s embrace of geek cool.
And he was the guy whose eventual acceptance of Star Trek would make him the fan-friendly Yin to the Yang of Trek actors who seemed to have a tougher time embracing the show’s legacy (yes, Mr. Shatner, that’s a reference to you).
Even President Obama, who is sometimes called Spock by some pundits for his own distant cool in a crisis, gave props to the actor who created his sometimes namesake.
via Leonard Nimoy’s Mr. Spock Taught Us Acceptance Is Highly Logical : Monkey See : NPR.