Leonard Nimoy Getting A Beautiful Memorial Sculpture, See It Here
Leonard Nimoy's daughter announces the quest to create a memorial sculpture to her father just received a huge bump from a wealthy benefactor.
Rich Miner, co-founder of Android, has done something wonderful, which we think any Star Trek fan would agree is utterly logical. On Thursday, the late Leonard Nimoy’s daughter Julie announced Miner had made a “major contribution” to the Museum of Science in Boston in order to make a planned sculpture dedicated to the Trek actor a reality. Once fully funded, the sculpture will feature the Vulcan hand salute Nimoy made iconic by using it while playing Spock, starting in Star Trek: The Original Series.
On their website, the Museum of Science in Boston explains why they’ve linked arms with Julie Nimoy and local sculptor David Phillips to create the tribute to the late Spock actor. Leonard Nimoy, they explain, “grew up in Boston’s West End (home to the Museum since 1951)” and it was Nimoy who voiced the museum’s Mugar Omni Theater preshow.
“More importantly, Spock’s message of the importance of science, intellectual curiosity, generosity, inclusion, exploration, and logic are closely aligned with the Museum’s values. Both the character, and the actor, promoted these ideals for decades.”
-The Museum of Science in Boston’s “Live Long and Prosper” donation page
The exact amount of Rich Miner’s contribution to the Leonard Nimoy tribute project hasn’t been disclosed, but we’re willing to bet the museum has yet to update its donation site with it. It currently lists its total as a little over $34,000 from 473 supporters, with a goal of $500,000.
Leonard Nimoy died from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in February 2015, a condition he was diagnosed with a year earlier in spite of having quit smoking 30 years before. Since his passing, his daughter Julie Nimoy has worked hard to honor her father’s legacy. In 2017, the documentary Remembering Leonard: His Life, Legacy and Battle with COPD was released; which Julie Nimoy co-directed with David Knight and produced. It is actually one of two documentaries created by one of the Trek actor’s children in the wake of his death; Adam Nimoy directed For the Love of Spock, which was released in 2016.
Premiering as the Vulcan science officer Spock in the original Star Trek series in 1966, Leonard Nimoy would become forever tied to the closest friend and adviser to William Shatner’s Captain James T. Kirk. Along with voicing the character for various animated media, he went on to reprise the role in eight of Star Trek’s films as well as in the Star Trek: The Next Generation two-parter “Unification.” He got behind the camera to direct two of the franchise’s films: 1984’s Star Trek III: The Search for Spock and 1986’s Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.
While he may not have played the lead character in any of the Trek films or series, Leonard Nimoy’s Spock remains arguably the most memorable and iconic character in the franchise. Zachary Quinto played a version of the character in the so-called Kelvin Timeline in the last three Trek films, and more recently Ethan Peck landed a recurring role as Spock for a season of Star Trek: Discovery which later turned into one of the lead spots on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.
