As recounted in Marc Cushman’s e-book, “These Are the Voyages: TOS, Season One,” Spock had been on Gene Roddenberry’s thoughts early within the “Star Trek” pilot creation course of. For solutions on casting the ship’s first officer, he had turned to Gary Lockwood, who performed the lead in Roddenberry’s 1963 TV army drama sequence “The Lieutenant.” When the actor really useful Roddenberry forged somebody “who was actually good, however … had form of a wierd face,” Majel Barrett — Roddenberry’s spouse and then-future Trek legend — instantly reminded him of Nimoy.
However NBC had their very own man in thoughts to play the Vulcan — particularly, Martin Landau. By the point he was supplied the position of Spock, Landau had racked up various TV and movie roles, together with appearances on “The Twilight Zone,” “Wagon Practice,” “Gunsmoke,” and “The Alfred Hitchcock Hour.” Across the identical time the actor was supplied the position of Spock, he had been up for a job within the spy sequence “Mission Unattainable” as grasp of disguise Rollin Hand.
For Landau, turning down the house sequence was a no brainer. In 1986, the actor instructed Starlog, “I am unable to play picket. It is the antithesis of why I grew to become an actor,” including that “newscasters are extra emotional than Spock.” As a substitute, he went for the spy gig — a job that earned him a Golden Globe in 1968.