Five reasons why Spock left the world star struck

Last Friday, an icon of the movie industry passed away. Leonard Nimoy, widely known for playing the pointy-eared Vulcan "Spock" on the iconic science fiction show Star Trek passed away at the age of 83. He was suffering from a chronic pulmonary disease, a result from smoking, a habit he kicked 30 years ago.

Nimoy, who last appeared on the silver screen in the JJ Abrams reboot of the franchise Star Trek: Into Darkness in 2013 has not only shaped the direction of science fiction in popular culture, but also his role in Star Trek was responsible for influencing the consumer electronics industry.

His character, Spock, was a half human/Vulcan who was known to be the logical science officer and executive officer of the Starship Enterprise. He was also one of the first method sci-fi actors of his era and he went on to direct two Star Trek feature films, which featured the original cast of the TV show in the '80s.

Perhaps of all the characters in the Star Trek Original series, Nimoy's character defined the show. Spock was the pointy eared alien and Leonard Nimoy played him for 40 years.

He was not only a great actor, but also was widely regarded as a great human being. Here are a few things he and his iconic character taught the world.

1. Live long and prosper: If you have been following the tributes on social media, you'll notice the #LLAP hashtag. Not many know this, but Nimoy himself came up with the greeting, "live long and prosper", which has now become an iconic part of pop culture. Gene Roddenberry, the creator of Star Trek, just went along with it. The greeting was based on the way the Jewish priests held their hand while blessing. In fact, he also came up with the iconic Vulcan nerve pinch, which was a replacement for stunning the antagonist with the butt of the phaser gun.

2. He "boldly went where no man had gone before": He brought his mastery of method acting to science fiction, which was a first at the time. Nimoy looked up to Marlon Brando. He played Spock for more than 40 years, spanning different generations and iterations of the series, including the reboot of the franchise, which started in 2009 and spawned a second film in 2013.

3. Tri-corter to smartphone: This scanning gadget that Spock often used on away missions is widely considered to be the influence for the modern day smartphone. That and Captain Kirk's communicator. The tri-corter was also used by Dr Leonard "Bones" McCoy, the doctor of the Enterprise for medical purposes. It is considered to be one of the most iconic gadgets in science fiction. As the bond between the troika of Kirk, Spock and McCoy largely defined the show, their gadgets too became legendary. Even today, chipset maker Qualcomm is trying to develop a tool called the tri-corter, which can be used for medical purposes.

4. The Search for Spock: In Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Spock was killed in a heart-wrenching emotional sequence, where his character entered a toxic chamber to save the Enterprise from certain destruction. Wrath of Khan is even today considered to be the greatest Star Trek movie of all time, though there was a massive uproar after the death of Spock. The producers decided to revive the character in its sequel, which not only was called Star Trek: The Search for Spock, but was also directed by Nimoy. Till date, there is no Star Trek movie, which features a character name in it.

5. Role model: Leonard Nimoy played Spock for 40 years - across three seasons of the original show, an animated series, six movies featuring the original cast, a two-part show Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG), which aired just after Roddenberry's death and two movies more recently alongside Zachary Quinto in the JJ Abrams reboot of the franchise. He also directed Star Trek: The Search for Spock and the Voyage Home. Despite this, Nemoy's legendary career also includes acting in the Mission Impossible TV series and more recently he appeared as the scientist William Bell in the sci-fi series Fringe. He also worked as a voice artist and featured on games such "Sid Meyer's Civilisations" and "Star Trek: Online". Till the end of 2014, there were talks that he would reprise his role of Spock Prime in the next Star Trek movie alongside William Shatner.