Zachary Quinto stopped by Conan Tuesday night, where the conversation quickly turned to the recent death of Leonard Nimoy. Quinto is known for playing Spock in the modern Star Trek franchise, a role he inherited from Nimoy.
The two Spocks became very close, Quinto explained, so losing him was obviously difficult. “But I feel so grateful that I knew him and he was such an instrumental figure in my life,” Quinto said. “He lived a beautiful life and a full life.”
Conan then shared a memory from back when he worked as a writer on The Simpsons and Nimoy agreed to do an episode. “I freaked out,” Conan said, “because he was such an indelible part of my childhood.”
See Leonard Nimoy's Long and Prosperous Life in Photos
Leonard Nimoy in The Outer Limits in 1964.ABC/Getty ImagesLeonard Nimoy with wife Sandra Zober attend an event in Los Angeles,Calif. in 1966.Michael Ochs Archives—Getty ImagesLeonard Nimoy, circa 1968.Silver Screen Collection/Getty ImagesLeonard Nimoy as Mr. Spock and William Shatner as Captain James T. Kirk in season 3 of Star Trek in 1968.CBS/Getty ImagesLeonard Nimoy as Paris and Lee Meriwether as Tracey in Mission Impossible in 1969.CBS/Getty ImagesLeonard Nimoy in Catlow, 1971.Silver Screen Collection/Getty ImagesLeonard Nimoy in The Alpha Caper in 1973EverettNASA'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).NASALeonard Nimoy hosts The Unexplained in 1976.EverettLeonard Nimoy as Mr. Spock in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock in 1984.Paramount/EverettLeonard Nimoy guest stars in The Big Bang Theory.CBS/Getty ImagesLeonard Nimoy guest stars on FringeFoxLeonard 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 ImagesLeonard Nimoy guest stars as Mr. Spock in Star Trek in 2009.Paramount