William Shatner Pays Tribute To Late Star Trek Co-Star Leonard Nimoy On Anniversary Of His Death

Ever since its conception, springing from the imagination of creator Gene Roddenberry, Star Trek has been a story of exploration and inspiration.

The Original Series, first aired back in the 1960s, gave us some of the most iconic characters of the entire franchise and also served to introduce various alien species prominent within the Federation. Among these peoples were the Vulcans. If you couldn’t guess, they live on a planet hailed as Vulcan and it’s from this race that the father of Spock comes, while his mother’s a human. Spock is one of the protagonists of Star Trek: TOS, constantly seeking the answers to sophisticated problems through the execution of logic.

The stern, oft-emotionless Mr. Spock makes for a loyal friend of Captain James T. Kirk, despite his painfully awkward sociality. On the screen, this bond was portrayed by Leonard Nimoy (Spock) and William Shatner (Kirk) and both were Star Trek legends at the forefront of the saga’s beginning. Following the cancellation of the original TV show, it became quite clear Trek was gathering a cult following and in the decades following the program, Nimoy and Shatner worked closely on an animated series, a host of feature films and an assortment of Trek-related projects.

As more Trek features were produced, both Nimoy and Shatner had a hand in the broader scope of telling the story. Nimoy got to direct Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984) and Shatner directed Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989). Their involvement with the franchise fostered a genuine relationship both on and off the camera.

Nimoy sadly passed away on February 27th, 2015 and though half a decade has elapsed, it’s still a sore spot for his friend and co-star Shatner. Earlier this week, in fact, he took to Twitter and posted a brief note in commemoration of his late pal and colleague.

In addition to the sorrow over the death of his friend, the standing between Shatner and Nimoy at the latter’s death was steeped in tempers and controversy. As you no doubt know, Shatner didn’t attend Nimoy’s funeral due to a falling out between the two several years prior. This rose out of an incident in which Shatner recorded Nimoy without his permission for Trek documentary The Captains. The two hadn’t spoken for five years prior to his death, according to Shatner.

Nevertheless, in Live Long And…What I Learned Along the Way, the Captain Kirk actor’s memoir, he pens: “It was made clear to me that I was not welcome at his funeral…That was painful.”

Many others, including Leonard’s daughter Julie Nimoy, also posted memories of the famous star on social media, which you can see below:

Nimoy shall always be the original Mr. Spock for hardcore Star Trek fans – it’s only logical – and he’s still dearly missed to this day.