| Ambassador Spock |
|
| Starfleet Rank Ambassador |
| Species Half human (through mother)
Half Vulcan (through father) (identifies primarily as Vulcan) |
| Planet Vulcan |
| Affiliation Federation |
| Gender Male |
| Portrayed Leonard Nimoy, Zachary Quinto |
Spock, (aka Mr. Spock) is a main character in the original Star Trek TV series, and one of the most enduring characters from American 1960s television. He is the only alien in the permanent cast: half-Vulcan, half-Human, and serves as the science officer and executive officer of the U.S.S. Enterprise, under Captain James T. Kirk.
His personal struggle between the Vulcan logical self and his human emotional self is the centerpiece of the character and created some evocative drama. He was originally portrayed by actor Leonard Nimoy (except for brief scenes of a much younger Spock in two later movies) and will be portrayed by both Zachary Quinto and Nimoy in the upcoming film Star Trek.
Spock appears in Gene Roddenberry's 1964 pitch for Star Trek, where he is described as "probably half Martian, he has a slightly reddish complexion and semi-pointed ears". Writer Samuel A. Peeples told Roddenberry this made Spock too alien, and suggested that "he should at least be half-human and have the problems of both sides".
In the 1968 nonfiction book, The Making of Star Trek, Gene Roddenberry denied that he was inspired by Dr. Benjamin Spock, the renowned child psychologist. He claimed that he was merely looking for an alien sounding name and had not heard of Dr. Spock until after he had chosen the name. By the first aired episode, Spock had become greenish/yellow, and was instead from the planet Vulcan. Leonard Nimoy was cast as Roddenberry saw his guest appearance in The Lieutenant, which he had created and sold as a pilot. Had Nimoy turned down the role, Roddenberry would have approached Martin Landau.