--- description: Recalls his friendship with the late actor, who replaced him on the 1960s show. Nimoy died Friday, aged 83. title: 'Mission Impossible' Star Martin Landau Remembers Leonard Nimoy image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltec9578ddf5c67bd3/69878190428a9e2c4bcc760a/martin-landau.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Rememberance](/tag/rememberance/) ## Rememberance Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # _Mission: Impossible_ Star Martin Landau Remembers Leonard Nimoy by [Martin Landau](/author/time-staff/) ## Martin Landau Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 28, 2015 5:48 PM CUT  Martin Landau in Hollywood, March 2, 2014. Martin Landau in Hollywood, March 2, 2014.David Livingston—Getty Images by [Martin Landau](/author/time-staff/) ## Martin Landau Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 28, 2015 5:48 PM CUT Leonard Nimoy was a mensch! _Mensch_ is a word which in Yiddish means “a particularly good person” with the qualities one would hope for in a dear friend or trusted colleague. I met Lenny, as I called him, when I arrived in Hollywood for the first time in the late 1950s with Paddy Chayefsky’s first Broadway play, _Middle of the Night._ Lenny was from the Boston area, and I was from New York. Easterners! We could have played brothers as we were virtually the same age and height, both slim of build with similar features in a lean face, a shock of straight black hair, and the two of us had been raised in households by hardworking Jewish parents. Even though that first meeting was cordial, both of us realized that we could play the same roles, and we would clearly be competitors for those roles. That did happen. As the years passed and as our careers took different turns, we remained friends and always delighted in our individual success. Our respect for each other grew. Last Friday when I heard of Lenny’s passing, I was devastated. It’s impossible to think of a future without my dear friend and foremost competitor. I will miss him, always. Rest in peace, dear friend! ### See Leonard Nimoy's Long and Prosperous Life in Photos  Leonard Nimoy in The Outer Limits in 1964. ABC/Getty Images  Leonard Nimoy with wife Sandra Zober attend an event in Los Angeles,Calif. in 1966. Michael Ochs Archives—Getty Images  Leonard Nimoy, circa 1968. Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images  Leonard Nimoy as Mr. Spock and William Shatner as Captain James T. Kirk in season 3 of Star Trek in 1968. CBS/Getty Images  Leonard Nimoy as Paris and Lee Meriwether as Tracey in Mission Impossible in 1969. CBS/Getty Images  Leonard Nimoy in Catlow, 1971. Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images  Leonard Nimoy in The Alpha Caper in 1973 Everett  NASA's space shuttle Enterprise rolled out of the Palmdale manufacturing facilities and was greeted by NASA officials and cast members from Star Trek in 1976\. From left: NASA Administrator Dr. James D. Fletcher; DeForest Kelley, who portrayed Dr. "Bones" McCoy on the series; George Takei (Mr. Sulu); James Doohan (Chief Engineer Montgomery "Scotty" Scott); Nichelle Nichols (Lt. Uhura); Leonard Nimoy (Mr. Spock); series creator Gene Roddenberry; an unnamed NASA official; and, Walter Koenig (Ensign Pavel Chekov). NASA  Leonard Nimoy hosts The Unexplained in 1976. Everett  Leonard Nimoy as Mr. Spock in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock in 1984. Paramount/Everett  Leonard Nimoy guest stars in The Big Bang Theory. CBS/Getty Images  Leonard Nimoy guest stars on Fringe Fox  Leonard Nimoy and Luke Wilson, presenters during 5th Annual TV Land Awards - Show at Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, Calif. in 2007. Chris Polk—FilmMagic/Getty Images  Leonard Nimoy guest stars as Mr. Spock in Star Trek in 2009. Paramount ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3727329/leonard-nimoy-mission-impossible-martin-landau/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3727329/leonard-nimoy-mission-impossible-martin-landau/"},"headline":"Mission: Impossible Star Martin Landau Remembers Leonard Nimoy","datePublished":"2015-02-28T17:48:40.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:05:19.397Z","description":"Recalls his friendship with the late actor, who replaced him on the 1960s show. 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