Ulrich Roth (born 18 December 1954), more commonly known as Uli Jon Roth, is a German guitarist and one of the earliest contributors to the neo-classical metal genre. He is also the founder of Sky Academy and inventor of the Sky Guitar. He is the older brother of fellow guitarist and artist Zeno Roth.

Career

In the early 1970s, Roth formed a band called Dawn Road. In 1973, guitarist Michael Schenker left the Scorpions to join UFO and the group disbanded. The two remaining Scorpions members, Rudolf Schenker and Klaus Meine merged with the four members of Dawn Road, (Uli Jon Roth, Achim Kirschning, Francis Buchholz, Jürgen Rosenthal) using the name Scorpions as they were more well known than Dawn Road.

During his tenure as lead guitarist, main songwriter and occasional lead singer for the Scorpions, the band released four studio albums between 1974 and 1977. In 1978, the Scorpions released the live album ''Tokyo Tapes'', which was recorded in Japan and sold nearly one million copies and went gold in several countries. However, Roth had left the band before the album’s release.

Roth formed his own band named Electric Sun which released three albums. The first, ''Earthquake'' (1979), was dedicated to the spirit of Jimi Hendrix. A second album released two years later, ''Fire Wind'' (1981), was dedicated to Anwar el-Sadat (the assassinated President of Egypt who had tried to make peace in the Middle East), and featured a song called "Enola Gay" about the atomic bombing of Japan.

In 1985, Roth released his third and final Electric Sun album, ''Beyond the Astral Skies'', dedicated to Martin Luther King and to Roth's fans.

After Electric Sun, Roth entered a new phase of creative work, composing four symphonies and two concertos, and sometimes performing with symphony orchestras throughout Europe. Roth used the name ‘Uli Jon Roth’ for all subsequent album releases and concert appearances.

The G3 European tour of 1998 featured Roth playing with Joe Satriani and Michael Schenker. The tour show at London Wembley Arena also featured a jam with Brian May.

Roth played at the outdoor rock festival at Castle Donington in 2001 (also featuring original Scorpions lead guitarist Michael Schenker on the bill), and this was filmed and subsequently released on DVD.

Roth appeared in concert with the Scorpions onstage at the Wacken Open Air Festival in 2006 along with two other former members of the band. Billed as “A Night To Remember, A Journey Through Time”, the Scorpions played four songs from the Roth era, most of which they hadn’t played live since Roth had left in 1978. The concert was filmed and released on DVD.

Although this was meant to be a ‘one night only’ special event, its success meant that the format was repeated on several tours afterwards.

On 2 June 2007 at the Rock am Ring festival in Germany, Roth joined The Smashing Pumpkins on stage for their epic closing song "Gossamer". He made another appearance with the Pumpkins upon their return to Germany on 26 February 2008.

In 2007, Roth had begun working on a new full-length studio album, which was to be released the following year. The title of the album would be "Under A Dark Sky" and was going to be the first official release in the long-awaited series of Symphonic Legends - a cycle of music written by Uli for his all-encompassing Sky of Avalon project.

Roth first debuted songs from "Under A Dark Sky" on 18 July 2008 in his headline set at the G-TARanaki Guitar Festival in New Zealand, Roth's debut concert in the country. In the week previous Roth had taken his "Sky Academy" tuition classes to regional Taranaki towns in Waitara, Inglewood and Opunake with guests Vernon Reid and Gilby Clarke.

"Under A Dark Sky" was released in Japan on 20 August 2008 via Marquee records. The European and USA releases followed a month later on 20 September 2008 on the SPV record label.

Sky guitars

In the 1980s, Roth commissioned construction of custom guitars with additional frets from master luthier Andreas Demetriou. Andreas developed the concept adding many unique specifications. Uli Jon Roth has had five of these "Sky" guitars handcrafted by the British luthier. To be able to emulate the high notes of a violin, all of the Sky Guitars contain extra frets. The first Sky Guitar (used on the album Beyond the Astral Skies) has 30 frets. Later versions of the Sky Guitar overcame the problem of the higher register frets becoming too narrow by widening the frets by whole steps for the highest notes. In an April 2001 Guitar Player Magazine interview, Roth reports that the guitars are either fretless above the 30th fret or have whole step fret spacing above the 27th fret, with 35 effective (half step) frets. All of the Sky guitars with frets have extensive fretboard scalloping as is favored by Swedish guitarist Yngwie Malmsteen (who was influenced greatly by Roth) and many neoclassical metal guitarists. The Sky guitar's pickups are custom 4-coil humbuckers made by John Oram, with one guitar having an Oram pickup hidden under the 24th fret. The guitars named 'Mighty Wing' and 'Destiny' have 7 strings and the others have 6 strings. The 7th string is a low B. Roth preferred amplifier is currently the Framus Dragon, and he uses a stalk mounted Vibesware guitar resonator (sustainer) to introduce infinite sustain during solos both live, and on the song "Benediction" from "Under a Dark Sky".

Playing style

In Roth's early days with Scorpions, his soloing style was more blues based but with notes from other scales thrown in here and there. By the time the band recorded the Virgin Killer album, he began incorporating elements from European classical music including pedal tone oriented riffs and licks, as well as sweep picking. This style became his signature beginning with Electric Sun where his solos became much more technical and classically influenced. Most notable in songs like "Cast Away Your Chains" and "Still So Many Lives Away". Overall, he tends to combine the bluesier, more classic rock oriented style with the more technical side. He mostly uses scales like major and minor pentatonic, the blues scale, phrygian, harmonic minor, diminished, and the whole tone scale(notably in his famous "Sails Of Charon" solo).

Personal life

Roth was romantically involved with artist Monika Dannemann who had previously been Jimi Hendrix's girlfriend when he died. Roth and Danneman collaborated together on various songs including ‘We'll Burn the Sky’ from the Scorpions’ Taken by Force album in 1977.

Danneman also painted the album sleeves for all three of the releases by Electric Sun.

In 1996 Monika Dannemann was convicted of breaking a British High Court order not to repeat allegations that Kathy Etchingham was an "inveterate liar" for accusing her of playing a role in Jimi Hendrix's death. Etchingham asked the judge to jail Dannemann but she was released. Two days later Monika Dannemann was found dead in a fume-filled Mercedes-Benz near her cottage in Seaford, East Sussex, aged 50. Her death was ruled a suicide, but Roth publicly stated his opinion that her passing had been the result of foul play. Roth dedicated later works to the memory of Dannemann.

Roth is a Christian.

Influence

Roth has been on the covers of many guitar magazines and has influenced many notable guitar players, including Marty Friedman, Yngwie Malmsteen, Kirk Hammett, Joe Stump, Gus G, Andy DiGelsomina, Michael Romeo, James Byrd, Alex Masi, Michael Amott, and Chris Amott.

Releases

Discography

''With Scorpions''

''Fly to the Rainbow'' (1974) - Guitar, vocals

''In Trance'' (1975) - Guitar, vocals

''Virgin Killer'' (1976) - Guitar, vocals

''Taken by Force'' (1977) - Guitar, vocals

''Tokyo Tapes'' (live recording, 1978) - Guitar, vocals

''With Electric Sun''

''Earthquake'' (1979) - Guitar, vocals

''Fire Wind'' (1981) - Guitar, vocals

''Beyond the Astral Skies'' (1985) - Lead/harmony vocals, guitar, keyboard, bass

''Solo and classical works (released)''

1991 - ''Aquila Suite - 12 Arpeggio Concert Etudes for Solo Piano''

1996 - ''Sky of Avalon - Prologue to the Symphonic Legends'' (with Sky Orchestra)

2000 - ''Transcendental Sky Guitar'' Vol. I & II

2003 - ''Metamorphosis of Vivaldi's Four Seasons'' (with Sky Orchestra)

2008 - ''Under A Dark Sky'' (Sky of Avalon)

''Solo and classical works (unreleased)''

1987 - ''Sky Concerto''

1992 - ''Europa ex Favilla'' (symphony)

1994 - ''Hiroshima de Profundis'' (symphony)

1996/97/98 - ''Requiem for an Angel'' (dedicated to the memory of Monika Dannemann)

Videography

2000 - ''The Electric Sun Years Vol. I & II'' (in the Historical Performances series)

2002 - ''Legends Of Rock: Live At Castle Donington''

2006 - ''Scorpions Reunion at Wacken Festival in Germany''

Notable public appearances

1991 - Live TV Concert at E-Werk, Cologne "The Spirit of Jimi Hendrix" with Jack Bruce, Simon Phillips, Randy Hansen, John Wetton, Michael Flexig, Zeno and others

1993 - Symphonic Rock For Europe - 3 hour concert with Brussels Symphony Orchestra and choir, performing Roth's first symphony "Europa Ex Favilla" and other pieces. The show featured 4 Rock singers: John Parr, Tommy Heart, Michael Flexig, Peter Goalby. Broadcast by German TV.

1998 - G3 Concert Tour in Europe with Joe Satriani and Michael Schenker (jam with Brian May at London Wembley Arena)

1998 - G3 Concert at Monsters of Rock - Turin, Italy

2000 - October. Performance of Vivaldi's Four Seasons and Transcendental Sky Guitar (with Detmold Chamber Orchestra)

2001 - First Japanese Roth tour since 1978. (May)

2001 - Legends of Rock Concert at Castle Donington. Played with Jack Bruce, UFO, Michael Schenker. (June 23)

2002 - Legends of Rock Tour of 13 UK venues with Frank Marino, Jack Bruce, Glenn Hughes

2004 - First US tour (19 dates) since 1985. Co-head-lining with Michael Schenker. (August–September)

2004 - Jamming onstage with Deep Purple at Cardiff International Arena

2005 - Scorpions reunion with Roth in France. (September)

2006 - Jamming with Deep Purple at Max Schmeling Halle, Berlin

2006 - First U.S.A. tour as headliner since 1985

2006 - Three Sky Academy Concerts at UCLA Los Angeles - Roth taught his approach to the guitar and to music. "Uli Jon Roth and Friends" concerts were part of the Academy. Roth performed with guests including Jeff Scott Soto, Chris Impellitteri, Joe Stump, Graham Bonnett, Robbie Krieger and many others

2006 - Scorpions Reunion at Wacken Festival in Germany (July)

2007 - With The Smashing Pumpkins at the two ''Rock am Ring'' and ''Rock im Park'' festivals performing their 28-minute epic song ''Gossamer''

2007 - With Scorpions at Paris, Nantes, Dijon, Rouen - France. (May)

2007 - With Scorpions at Sweden Rock Festival. (9 June)

2007 - With Scorpions at Karaiskaki Stadium in Athens - Joe Cocker as support (18 June)

2007 - With Scorpions, London, Manchester. (July)

2007 - Two Sky Academy Concerts and seminar at the Hollywood MI - with Paul Gilbert, Robbie Krieger, Johnny Hiland and others. (August)

2008 - With Smashing Pumpkins (Billy Corgan) at Hamburg Colour Line Arena (February)

2008 - Sky academy New Zealand at the G-TARanaki Guitar Festival - UJR appears with his new band Sky Of Avalon (special guests: Gilby Clarke, Vernon Reid, Alex Skolnik)

2008 - With Avantasia (Tobias Sammet) at Wacken Open Air Festival. (1 August)

2008 - With Sky of Avalon in North America. (September–October)

2008 - With Scorpions, London, Manchester, Newcastle, Glasgow, Southampton and Wolverhampton, Strasbourg. (October 2008)

2008 - With Sky of Avalon in Japan. (November)

2010 - Uli John Roth jams with Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash, bass player Tony Franklin and drummer Brent Fitz on the "Midnight Session" of the 2010 Gtaranaki Festival in New Plymouth, New Zealand, on August 15. Uli John and Slash play at least three songs together: "Little Wing", "Communication Breakdown" and "Sunshine of Your Love".

2011 - Uli John Roth plays two sets on the 70,000 Tons of Metal floating heavy metal festival with an impressive line-up of 41 other bands. (January 2011)

References

External links

Uli Jon Roth Announces 2008 Sky Academy Seminars, 15 February 2008.

The Official Uli Jon Roth Website

Edenwaith Uli Jon Roth Website

Authorized Uli Jon Roth Website

Sky Academy Website

The Official Uli Jon Roth Website News

An Interview With Uli Jon Roth

Category:Scorpions (band) members Category:German rock guitarists Category:German heavy metal guitarists Category:Lead guitarists Category:1954 births Category:Living people Category:G3 Category:German Christians bg:Улрих Рот ca:Ulrich Roth cs:Uli Jon Roth da:Ulrich Roth de:Uli Jon Roth es:Uli Jon Roth fa:اولریش روت fr:Ulrich Roth it:Ulrich Roth he:אולי ג'ון רות' ka:ულრიხ როთი hu:Uli Jon Roth mk:Улрих Рот nl:Ulrich Roth ja:ウリ・ジョン・ロート no:Ulrich Roth pl:Uli Jon Roth pt:Uli Jon Roth ru:Рот, Ульрих fi:Uli Jon Roth sv:Uli Jon Roth uk:Ульріх Рот

Coordinates	41°52′55″N87°37′40″N
name	Leonard Nimoy
birth date	March 26, 1931
birth place	Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
birth name	Leonard Simon Nimoy
occupation	Actor, film director, poet, photographer, singer, songwriter
years active	1951–present
spouse	Sandra Zober (1954–1987)Susan Bay (1988–present) }}

Leonard Simon Nimoy ( ; born March 26, 1931) is a Jewish American actor, film director, poet, musician and photographer. Nimoy's most famous role is that of Spock in the original ''Star Trek'' series (1966–1969), multiple films, television and video game sequels.

Nimoy began his career in his early twenties, teaching acting classes in Hollywood and making minor film and television appearances through the 1950s, as well as playing the title role in ''Kid Monk Baroni''. In 1953, he served in the United States Army. In 1965, he made his first appearance in the rejected ''Star Trek'' pilot, "The Cage", and would go on to play the character of Mr. Spock until 1969, followed by seven further feature films and a number of guest slots in various sequels. His character of Spock generated a significant cultural impact and three Emmy Award nominations; ''TV Guide'' named Spock one of the 50 greatest TV characters. Nimoy also had a recurring role in ''Mission: Impossible'' and a narrating role in ''Civilization IV'', as well as several well-received stage appearances.

Nimoy's fame as Spock is such that both his autobiographies, ''I Am Not Spock'' (1977) and ''I Am Spock'' (1995) detail his existence as being shared between the character and himself.

Early life

Nimoy was born in Boston, Massachusetts in the West End, to Yiddish-speaking Orthodox Jewish immigrants from Iziaslav, Ukraine. His father, Max Nimoy, owned a barbershop in the Mattapan section of the city. His mother, Dora Nimoy (née Spinner), was a homemaker. Nimoy began acting at the age of eight in children's and neighborhood theater. His parents wanted him to attend college and pursue a stable career, or even learn to play the accordion—which, his father advised, Nimoy could always make a living with—but his grandfather encouraged him to become an actor. His first major role was at 17, as Ralphie in an amateur production of Clifford Odets' ''Awake and Sing!''. Nimoy took Drama classes at Boston College in 1953 but failed to complete his studies, and in the 1970s studied photography at the University of California, Los Angeles. He has an MA in Education and an honorary doctorate from Antioch University in Ohio.

Nimoy served as a sergeant in the U.S. Army from 1953 through 1955, alongside fellow actor Ken Berry and architect Frank Gehry.

Career

Stage and screen

Nimoy's film and television acting career began in 1951, but after receiving the title role in the 1952 film ''Kid Monk Baroni'', a story about a street punk turned professional boxer, he played more than 50 small parts in B movies, TV shows such as ''Dragnet'', and serials such as Republic Pictures' ''Zombies of the Stratosphere'' (1952). To support his family Nimoy often worked other jobs, such as delivering newspapers in the morning.

He played an Army sergeant in the 1954 science fiction thriller, ''Them!'', a professor in the 1958 science fiction movie ''The Brain Eaters'', and had a role in ''The Balcony'' (1963), a film adaptation of the Jean Genet play. Together with Vic Morrow, he produced a 1966 version of ''Deathwatch'', a English language film version of Genet's play ''Haute Surveillance'', adapted and directed by Morrow and starring Nimoy.

On television Nimoy appeared as "Sonarman" in two episodes of the 1957–1958 syndicated military drama, ''The Silent Service'', based on actual events of the submarine section of the United States Navy. He had guest roles in the ''Sea Hunt'' series from 1958 to 1960 and had a minor role in ''The Twilight Zone'' episode "A Quality of Mercy" in 1961. He also appeared in ''Highway Patrol''. Throughout the 1960s Nimoy appeared in a number of other TV series including ''Bonanza'' (1960), ''Two Faces West'' (1961), ''The Untouchables (1962)'', ''The Eleventh Hour'' (1962), ''Combat!'' (1963, 1965), ''Perry Mason'' (1963), ''The Outer Limits'' (1964), ''The Virginian'' (1965) and ''Get Smart'' (1966). He appeared again in the 1995 ''Outer Limits'', again in the episode "I, Robot".

On the stage, Nimoy played the lead-role alien of a short run of Gore Vidal's "A Visit to a Small Planet" in 1968, shortly before the end of the Star Trek series. This play was staged at the now-folded Pheasant Run Playhouse in St. Charles, Illinois.

Nimoy and William Shatner first worked together in an episode of ''The Man from U.N.C.L.E.'', "The Project Strigas Affair" (1964). Their characters were from either side of the Iron Curtain, though with his saturnine looks, Nimoy was predictably the villain, with Shatner playing a reluctant U.N.C.L.E. recruit.

Nimoy first worked with DeForest Kelley in an episode of ''The Virginian'' from season two titled "Man of Violence", with Kelley as the doctor and Nimoy as the patient.

''Star Trek''

}} Nimoy's greatest prominence came from his role in the original ''Star Trek'' series. As the half-Vulcan, half-human Spock—a role he chose instead of one on the soap opera ''Peyton Place''—Nimoy became a star, and the press predicted that he would "have his choice of movies or television series." He formed a long-standing friendship with Shatner, who portrayed his commanding officer, saying of their relationship, "We were like brothers." ''Star Trek: The Original Series'' was originally telecast from 1966 to 1969, and Nimoy earned three Emmy acting nominations for his work on the iconic program that has defined American television science fiction, both for fans of science fiction, and beyond.

He went on to reprise the Spock character in a voice-over role in ''Star Trek: The Animated Series'' (so much so that the episode "Yesteryear" is the only ''ST:TAS'' episode to have been accepted as ''Star Trek'' canon); in two episodes of ''Star Trek: The Next Generation''; and, in six Star Trek movies featuring the original ''Star Trek'' cast. He played the elder Spock in the 2009 ''Star Trek'' movie, directed by J. J. Abrams, the film being widely credited with revitalizing the franchise.

Spock's Vulcan salute became a recognized symbol of the show identified with him. Nimoy created the sign himself from his childhood memories of the way ''kohanim'' (Jewish priests) held their hand when giving blessings. During an interview, he translated the Priestly Blessing which accompanied the sign and described it during a public lecture:

:''May the Lord bless and keep you and may the Lord cause his countenance to shine upon you. May the Lord be gracious unto you and grant you peace.''

Nimoy was asked to read these verses as part of his narration for ''Civilization IV''.

After ''Star Trek''

Following ''Star Trek'' in 1969, Nimoy immediately joined the cast of the spy series ''Mission: Impossible'', which was seeking a replacement for Martin Landau. Nimoy was cast as an IMF agent who was an ex-magician and make-up expert, 'The Great Paris'. He played the role from 1969 to 1971, on the fourth and fifth seasons of the show.

He co-starred with Yul Brynner and Richard Crenna in the Western movie ''Catlow'' (1971). Nimoy appeared in various made for television films such as ''Assault on the Wayne'' (1970), ''Baffled'' (1972), ''The Alpha Caper'' (1973), ''The Missing Are Deadly'' (1974), ''Seizure: The Story Of Kathy Morris'' (1980), and ''Marco Polo'' (1982). He received an Emmy award nomination for best supporting actor for the TV film ''A Woman Called Golda'' (1982). He also had roles in ''Night Gallery'' (1972) and ''Columbo'' (1973) where he played a murderous doctor who was one of the few criminals with whom Columbo became angry.

In the late 1970s, he hosted and narrated the television series ''In Search of...'', which investigated paranormal or unexplained events or subjects. He also has a memorable character part as a psychiatrist in Philip Kaufman's remake of ''Invasion of the Body Snatchers''.

During this time, Nimoy also won acclaim for a series of stage roles. He appeared in such plays as ''Vincent'', ''Fiddler on the Roof'', ''The Man in the Glass Booth'', ''Oliver!'', ''Six Rms Riv Vu'', ''Full Circle'', ''Camelot'', ''One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest'', ''The King and I'', ''Caligula'', ''The Four Poster'', ''Twelfth Night'', ''Sherlock Holmes'', ''Equus'' and ''My Fair Lady''.

''Star Trek'' films

When a new ''Star Trek'' series series was planned in the late 1970s, Nimoy was to be in only two out of every eleven episodes, but when the show was elevated to a feature film, he agreed to reprise his role. After directing a few television show episodes, Nimoy started film directing in 1984 with the third installment of the film series. Nimoy would go on to direct the second most successful film (critically and financially) in the franchise after the 2009 ''Star Trek'' film, ''Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home'' (1986), and ''Three Men and a Baby'', the highest grossing film of 1987, made him a star director. At a press conference promoting the 2009 ''Star Trek'' movie, Nimoy made it clear that he had no further plans or ambition to direct:

}}

Other work after ''Star Trek''

In 1978, Nimoy played Dr. David Kibner in ''Invasion of the Body Snatchers''. He also did occasional work as a voice actor in animated feature films, including the character of Galvatron in ''The Transformers: The Movie'' in 1986.

In 1991, Nimoy teamed up with Robert B. Radnitz to produce a movie for TNT about a ''pro bono publico'' lawsuit brought by public interest attorney William John Cox on behalf of Mel Mermelstein, an Auschwitz survivor, against a group of organizations engaged in Holocaust denial. Nimoy also played the Mermelstein role and believes: "If every project brought me the same sense of fulfillment that ''Never Forget'' did, I would truly be in paradise."

Nimoy performed as Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in ''The Pagemaster'' in 1994. In 1998, he had a leading role as Mustapha Mond in the made-for-television production of Aldous Huxley's ''Brave New World.''

Together with John De Lancie, another ex-actor from the Star Trek series, Nimoy created ''Alien Voices'', an audio-production venture that specializes in audio dramatizations. Among the works jointly narrated by the couple are ''The Time Machine'', ''A Journey to the Center of the Earth'', ''The Lost World'', ''The Invisible Man'', and ''The First Men in the Moon'', as well as several television specials for the Sci-Fi Channel.

From 1994 until 1998, Nimoy narrated the ''Ancient Mysteries'' series on A&E; including "The Sacred Water of Lourdes" and "Secrets of the Romanovs". He also appeared in advertising in the United Kingdom for the computer company Time Computers in the late 1990s. In 1997, Nimoy played the prophet Samuel, alongside Nathaniel Parker, in The Bible Collection movie "David". He had a central role in ''Brave New World'', a 1998 TV-movie version of Aldous Huxley's novel where he played a character reminiscent of Spock in his philosophical balancing of unpredictable human qualities with the need for control. Nimoy has also appeared in several popular television seriesincluding ''Futurama'' and ''The Simpsons''as both himself and Spock.

Nimoy appeared in ''Hearts of Space'' program number 142 – "Whales alive."

In 1999, he voiced the narration of the English version of the Sega Dreamcast game ''Seaman'' and promoted Y2K educational films.

In 2000, he provided on-camera hosting and introductions for 45 half-hour episodes of an anthology series entitled ''Our 20th Century'' on the AEN TV Network. The series covers world news, sports, entertainment, technology, and fashion using original archive news clips from 1930 to 1975 from the National Archives in Washington D.C. and other private archival sources.

In 2003, he announced his retirement from acting to concentrate on photography, but subsequently appeared in several television commercials with William Shatner for Priceline.com. He appeared in a commercial for Aleve, an arthritis pain medication, which aired during the 2006 Super Bowl.

Nimoy provided a comprehensive series of voiceovers for the 2005 computer game ''Civilization IV''. He did the TV series ''Next Wave'' where he interviewed people about technology. He is the host in the documentary film ''The Once and Future Griffith Observatory'' currently running in the Leonard Nimoy Event Horizon Theater located at the recently reopened Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles, California.

In January 2007, he granted an interview to Fat Free Film, where he discussed his early career and the benefits of being typecast.

Nimoy was given casting approval over who would play the young Spock in the newest film.

On January 6, 2009, he was interviewed by William Shatner on Biography Channel's ''Shatner's Raw Nerve''.

In May 2009, he made an appearance as the mysterious Dr. William Bell in the season finale of ''Fringe'', which explores the existence of a parallel universe. Nimoy returned as Dr. Bell in the autumn for an extended arc, and according to Roberto Orci, co-creator of ''Fringe'', Bell will be "the beginning of the answers to even bigger questions." This choice led one reviewer to question if ''Fringe'''s plot might be a homage to the ''Star Trek'' episode "Mirror, Mirror", which featured an alternate reality "Mirror Universe" concept and an evil version of Spock distinguished by a goatee.

On the May 9, 2009 episode of ''Saturday Night Live'', Nimoy appeared as a surprise guest on the skit "Weekend Update". During a mock interview, Nimoy called old Trekkies who did not like the new movie "dickheads". In the 2009 ''Star Trek'' movie, he plays the older Spock from the original ''Star Trek'' timeline; Zachary Quinto portrays the young Spock.

Starring with Will Ferrell in the TV-based movie ''Land of the Lost'' in June 2009, he voiced the part of "The Zarn", an Altrusian.

Nimoy is also a frequent and popular reader for "Selected Shorts", an ongoing series of programs at Symphony Space in New York City (that also tours around the country) which features actors, and sometimes authors, reading works of short fiction. The programs are broadcast on radio and available on websites through Public Radio International, National Public Radio and WNYC radio. Nimoy was honored by Symphony Space with the renaming of the Thalia Theater as the Leonard Nimoy Thalia Theater.

Nimoy has also provided voiceovers for the ''Star Trek Online'' massively multiplayer online game, released in February 2010, as well as ''Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep'' as the villainous Master Xehanort. Tetsuya Nomura, the director of ''Birth by Sleep'', stated that he chose Nimoy for the role specifically because of his role as Spock.

Retirement

In April 2010, Leonard Nimoy announced that he is retiring from playing the signature character of Star Trek's Spock, citing both his advanced age and the desire to give Zachary Quinto the opportunity to enjoy full media attention with the Spock character. ''Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep'' was to be his final performance. However, in February 2011, he announced his definite plan to return to Fringe and reprise his role as William Bell. His retirement from acting has not included voice acting, as his appearance in the third season of ''Fringe'' only includes his voice (his character only appears in animated scenes), and he provided the voice of Sentinel Prime in ''Transformers: Dark of the Moon''. In May 2011 Nimoy starred in the alternate version music video of Bruno Mars' ''The Lazy Song''. Nimoy revealed that he violated his retirement decision after Aaron Bay-Schuck, the Atlantic Records executive who signed Bruno Mars to the label and Nimoy's stepson, asked him to participate in the video.

Photography

Nimoy's interest in photography began in childhood; he still owns a camera which he rebuilt at the age of 13. His photography studies at UCLA occurred after ''Star Trek'' and ''Mission: Impossible'', when Nimoy seriously considered changing careers. His work has been exhibited at the R. Michelson Galleries in Northampton, Massachusetts and the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art.

Literary works

Nimoy has written two autobiographies. The first was called ''I Am Not Spock'' (1977) and was controversial, as many fans incorrectly assumed that Nimoy was distancing himself from the Spock character. In the book, Nimoy conducts dialogues between himself and Spock. The contents of this first autobiography also touched on a self-proclaimed "identity crisis" that seemed to haunt Nimoy throughout his career. It also related to an apparent love/hate relationship with the character of Spock and the Trek franchise.

}}

His second autobiography was ''I Am Spock'' (1995), communicating that he finally realized his years of portraying the Spock character had led to a much greater identification between the fictional character and himself. Nimoy had much input into how Spock would act in certain situations, and conversely, Nimoy's contemplation of how Spock acted gave him cause to think about things in a way that he never would have thought if he had not portrayed the character. As such, in this autobiography Nimoy maintains that in some meaningful sense he has merged with Spock while at the same time maintaining the distance between fact and fiction.

Nimoy has also written several volumes of poetry, some published along with a number of his photographs. His latest effort is titled ''A Lifetime of Love: Poems on the Passages of Life'' (2002). His poetry can be found in the Contemporary Poets index of The HyperTexts. In the mid-1970s Nimoy wrote and starred in a one-man play called ''Vincent'' based on the play ''Van Gogh'' by Phillip Stephens.

In 1995, Nimoy was involved in the production of ''Primortals'', a comic book series published by Tekno Comix that involved a first contact situation with aliens, which had arisen from a discussion he had with Isaac Asimov. There was a novelization by Steve Perry.

Music career

During and following ''Star Trek'', Nimoy also released five albums of vocal recordings on Dot Records, including ''Trek''-related songs such as "Highly Illogical", and cover versions of popular tunes, such as "Proud Mary". In regards to how his recording career got started, he stated:

The albums were popular and resulted in numerous live appearances and promotional record signings that attracted crowds of fans in the thousands. The early recordings were produced by Charles Grean, who may be best known for his version of "Quentin's Theme" from the mid-sixties goth soap opera ''Dark Shadows''. These recordings are generally regarded as unintentionally camp, though his tongue-in-cheek performance of "The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins" received a fair amount of airplay when Peter Jackson's ''The Lord of the Rings'' films were released.

In addition to his own music career he directed a 1985 music video for The Bangles' "Going Down to Liverpool". He makes a brief cameo appearance in the video as their driver. This came about because his son Adam Nimoy (now a frequent television director) was a friend of Bangles lead singer Susanna Hoffs from college. He released a version of Johnny Cash's song "I Walk the Line".

Nimoy's voice appeared in sampled form on a song by the pop band Information Society in the late Eighties. The song, "What's on Your Mind (Pure Energy)" (released in 1988), reached #3 on the US Pop charts, and #1 on Dance charts. The group's self-titled LP contains several other samples from the original Star Trek television series.

Nimoy also appears in the alternate music video for the song "Lazy Song" by pop artist Bruno Mars.

Personal life

Nimoy has long been active in the Jewish community, and he can speak and read Yiddish. In 1997, he narrated the documentary ''A Life Apart: Hasidism in America'', about the various sects of Hasidic Orthodox Jews. In October 2002, Nimoy published ''The Shekhina Project'', a photographic study exploring the feminine aspect of God's presence, inspired by Kabbalah.

Nimoy has been married twice. In 1954, he married actress Sandra Zober (1927–2011), whom he divorced in 1987. He had two children with her, director Adam Nimoy and Julie Nimoy, who both appeared in an Oldsmobile commercial, with the tagline "This is not your father's Oldsmobile". In 1988, he married actress Susan Bay, who is a cousin of director Michael Bay.

In a 2001 DVD, Nimoy revealed that he became an alcoholic while working on ''Star Trek'' and ended up in rehab. Also in William Shatner's 2008 book ''Up Till Now: The Autobiography'', Shatner speaks about how later in their lives Nimoy tried to help Shatner's alcoholic wife.

Nimoy still has the last pair of Spock's ears he wore on the series, as a memento. He has said that the character of Spock, which he played twelve to fourteen hours a day, five days a week, influenced his personality in private life. Each weekend during the original run of the series, he would be in character throughout Saturday and into Sunday, behaving more like Spock than himself more logical, more rational, more thoughtful, less emotional and finding a calm in every situation. It was only on Sunday in the early afternoon that Spock's influence on his behavior would fade off and he would feel more himself again – only to start the cycle over Monday morning.

Nimoy also introduced the Vulcan nerve pinch in an early ''Star Trek'' episode "The Enemy Within". Initially, Spock was supposed to knock out an evil Kirk in the Engineering room by striking him on the back of the head. Nimoy felt that the action was not in keeping with the nature of Spock's character, so he suggested the "pinch" as a non-violent alternative, suggesting that Vulcans have the ability to emit energy from their fingertips, which, if applied to the correct nerve cluster, could render a human unconscious. Nimoy explained this to the episode's director and according to Nimoy, the director had no idea what he was talking about. However, Nimoy would express relief in later interviews and appearances that when he explained the concept to William Shatner, he got it immediately, and Nimoy credits Shatner's reaction to the nerve pinch in the episode as what really sold the neck pinch. In early scripts for ''Star Trek'', the nerve pinch was referred to as the "F.S.N.P.," which stood for "Famous Spock Neck Pinch."

He has remained good friends with co-star William Shatner (also of Ukrainian-Jewish descent) and was best man at Shatner's third marriage in 1997. Shatner is only four days older than Nimoy. He also remained good friends with DeForest Kelley until Kelley's death in 1999.

The Space Foundation named Nimoy as the recipient of the 2010 Douglas S. Morrow Public Outreach Award for creating a positive role model that inspired untold numbers of viewers to learn more about the universe. An honor Nimoy did not receive, however, was the naming of asteroid 2309 Mr. Spock after his character, at least not directly. The asteroid was named by discoverer James B. Gibson after his pet cat, "Mr. Spock," said feline indeed being named after the ''Star Trek'' character.

Filmography

Year	! Film	! Role	! Notes
1951		Young Ball Player
	''Kid Monk Baroni''	Paul 'Monk' Baroni
''Zombies of the Stratosphere''	Narab
1952	''Francis Goes to West Point''	Football player	Spoken part but uncredited
1953	''Old Overland Trail''	Chief Black Hawk
1954	''Them!''	Army Sergeant
1954		Julius Carver & Karlo Rozwadowski	(TV series) Episodes "The Big Boys" in 1954 & "The Big Name" in 1959.
1956		Tom Kennedy & ?	(TV series) 2 episodes, "His Brother's Fist" (1956) & "Cold Peril" (1957)
1957		Harry Wells, Ray	(TV series) 2 episodes, as Harry Wells in "Hot Dust" (1957) & Ray in "Blood Money" (1958)
	''The Brain Eaters''	Professor Cole
''Sea Hunt''	Indio	(TV series) 6 episodes (1958–1960)
	''Bonanza''	Freddy	(TV series) Episode "The Ape"
''M Squad''	Bob Nash	(TV series) Episode "Badge for a Coward"
		Hansen	(TV series) (Episode "A Quality of Mercy")
	Anko	(TV series) Episode "Incident Before Black Pass"
	''The Balcony''	Roger
	Lt. Beldon M.D.	(TV series) Episode "Man of Violence"
		Konig	(TV series) (Episode "Production and Decay of Strange Particles")
	Judson Ellis
''The Man From U.N.C.L.E.''	Vladeck	(TV series) Episode "The Project Strigas Affair"
	''Get Smart''	Stryker
''Gunsmoke''	John Walking Fox
''Daniel Boone''	Oontah	(TV series) (Episode "Seminole Territory")
''Deathwatch''	Jules LaFranc
1966	''Star Trek''		(TV series) (79 episodes)
1969			(TV series) (49 episodes)
1971	''Catlow''	Miller
	''Baffled!''	Tom Kovack	(TV)
	Dr. Barry Mayfield	(TV)
''Star Trek: The Animated Series''		(voice) (22 episodes)
1974	''Rex Harrison Presents Stories of Love''	Mick	(TV)
1976		Narrator(1976–1982)	(TV series)
1978		Dr. David Kibner
1979	''Star Trek: The Motion Picture''
1981			(TV)
	''A Woman Called Golda''	Morris Meyerson	(TV)
	Achmet	(TV mini-series)
''Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan''
	1983	''T.J. Hooker''	Paul McGuire	(TV Series) (Episode "Vengeance is Mine")
	''Star Trek III: The Search for Spock''
''The Sun Also Rises''	Count Mippipopolous	(TV)
	''The Transformers: The Movie''	Galvatron	(voice), main Decepticon antagonist/ main villain
''Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home''
''Faerie Tale Theatre''	The Evil Moroccan Magician	(TV Series) (Episode "Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp")
1989	''Star Trek V: The Final Frontier''
		Mel Mermelstein	(TV)
''Haunted Lives: True Ghost Stories''	Narrator	(TV)
''Star Trek: The Next Generation''		(TV series) (episodes "Unification (Star Trek: The Next Generation)
''[[Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country''
1993		Mr. Moundshroud	(voice)
1994	''The Pagemaster''	Dr. Henry Jekyll / Mr. Edward Hyde	(voice)
	''Bonanza: Under Attack''	Frank James	(TV)
	Thomas Cutler
''Titanica''	Narrator	(documentary)
1997	''David''	Samuel	(TV)
1998		Mustapha Mond	(TV)
	''Seaman (video game)''	Narrator	(video game)
''Sinbad: Beyond the Veil of Mists''	Akron/Baraka/King Chandra	(voice)
		Professor Emmett Fowler	(TV series) (episode "The TorMentor")
''Atlantis: The Lost Empire''	King Kashekim Nedakh	(voice)
2005	''Civilization IV''	Narrator	(video game), (voice)
	Dr. William Bell	(TV series) (four episodes – but only provided a voice-over in one of them)
		(voice)
	''Star Trek Online''	Mr. Spock (Narrator)	(video game), (voice)
''Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep''		(video game), (voice)
	Dr. William Bell	(TV series) (recurring from "There's More Than One of Everything".)
2011	''Transformers: Dark of the Moon''	Sentinel Prime (also as Spock on a television set in the background)	(voice) main Autobot antagonist/Autobot Traitor

Director

''Vincent'': Based on the play "Van Gogh" by Phillip Stephens (1978–1981)

''Star Trek III: The Search for Spock'' (1984)

''Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home'' (1986)

''Three Men and a Baby'' (1987)

''The Good Mother'' (1988)

''Funny About Love'' (1990)

''Holy Matrimony'' (1994)

episodes of ''Night Gallery'', ''T.J. Hooker'', ''The Powers of Matthew Star'' and ''Deadly Games''

Videography

Music videos

"Bilbo Baggins" by Leonard Nimoy

"Going Down to Liverpool" by The Bangles (1985)

"The Lazy Song" by Bruno Mars (2011)

Writer

Bibliography

''I Am Not Spock'' (1977)

''Vincent: Based on the play "Van Gogh" by Phillip Stephens'' (1978)

''Star Trek: The Motion Picture'' (1979) (Contributions uncredited) ''Star Trek III: The Search for Spock'' (1984) (Contributions uncredited)

''Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home'' (1986)

''Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country'' (1991)

''I Am Spock'' (1995)

''Shekhina'' photography (2005) (ISBN 978-1-884167-16-4)

''The Full Body Project'' (2008)

Poetry

''You & I'' (1973) (ISBN 978-0-912310-26-8)

''Will I Think of You?'' (1974) (ISBN 0912310701)

''We Are All Children Searching for Love: A Collection of Poems and Photographs'' (1977) (ISBN 978-0-88396-024-0)

''Come be With Me'' (1978) (ISBN 978-0-88396-033-2)

''These Words are for You'' (1981) (ISBN 978-0-88396-148-3)

''Warmed by Love'' (1983) (ISBN 978-0-88396-200-8)

''A Lifetime of Love: Poems on the Passages of Life'' (2002) (ISBN 978-0-88396-596-2)

Discography

:''See also: Leonard Nimoy discography (includes compilations and re-issues)''

''Leonard Nimoy Presents Mr. Spock's Music From Outer Space'' (Dot Records), (1967).

''Two Sides of Leonard Nimoy'' (Dot Records), (1968).

''The Way I Feel'' (Dot Records, Stereo DLP 25883), (1968).

''The Touch of Leonard Nimoy'' (Dot Records, Stereo DLP 25910), (1969).

''The New World of Leonard Nimoy'' (Dot Records, Stereo DLP 25966), (1970).

References

External links

Leonard Nimoy's personal website

Leonard Nimoy's entry at Startrek.com

Leonard Nimoy at Alien Voices

Interview with Leonard Nimoy at hossli.com

Leonard Nimoy Poetry and Photography on The HyperTexts

Interview with Leonard Nimoy by the Archive of American Television (2000)

2010 Interview with Nimoy about his "Secret Selves" show at Mass MoCA

Media

Newsmaker of the Week: Leonard Nimoy (30-min. interview, free)

Archive of American Television Interview with Leonard Nimoy Nov 2, 2000

Interview with Leonard Nimoy about photography, on ''The Callie Crossley Show''

Category:American film actors Category:American film directors Category:American Jews Category:American military personnel of the Korean War Category:American Orthodox Jews Category:American poets Category:American television actors Category:American television directors Category:American voice actors Category:American video game actors Category:Antioch College alumni Category:English-language film directors Category:Jewish actors Category:Dot Records artists Category:Actors from Massachusetts Category:People from Boston, Massachusetts Category:American people of Russian-Jewish descent Category:American people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent Category:1931 births Category:Living people Category:United States Army soldiers

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