Updated: July 27, 2024

Righteous Among Mensches and Trekkies - Leonard Nimoy for his fellow cast mates!

George Takei shared this story: One extraordinary thing about him I remember: When Star Trek was going to be done as an animated series, they cast Leonard, Bill Shatner, Majel Barrett and Jimmy Doohan only for the voice acting on that. And when he discovered that Nichelle Nicholls and Walter Koenig and I were not cast because of budgetary considerations, he said, Star Trek is about diversity, and if the two people that represent diversity to most, Nichelle and George, then Im not interested in doing it.

That was an extraordinary thing for an actor, to give up a gig on behalf of other actors. And because Leonard was so necessary to the project, they cast Nichelle and me and offered Walter an opportunity to write a script. He was really an amazing man.