All the best times Leonard Nimoy did the Vulcan salute
LatestLeonard Nimoy, the actor who built a global following and became a hero to nerds everywhere as Mr. Spock on “Star Trek,” died at his Los Angeles home on Friday. He was 83.
Of all the things Nimoy left behind in his decades-long acting career, the best-known may be Spock’s signature greeting: the Vulcan salute. The spread-fingered gesture, which first appeared on the show in 1967, was a nod to Nimoy’s orthodox Jewish upbringing—it reminded him, he often said, of the way kohanim (Jewish priests) held their hands when delivering blessings.
The Vulcan salute—along with its accompanying salutation, “live long and prosper”—became a global icon, and Nimoy could never quite escape it. Nor did he want to. Even until the end, Nimoy signed his tweets “LLAP.”
Here, in memory of Nimoy’s long and inspiring life in cinema, are some of the best Vulcan salutes he ever gave.
From “Amok Time” (season 2, episode 1)
From “Journey to Babel” (season 2, episode 10) From “The Savage Curtain” (season 3, episode 22) From “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan” From a trailer to the 2009 “Star Trek” movie reboot