Leonard Nimoy's 5 Best Cameo Appearances, Ranked

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Leonard Nimoy accrued his first screen credit in 1951, playing a small part in one of the vignettes in Arthur Lubin's "Queen for a Day." He then landed a leading role in the 1952 film noir "Kid Monk Beroni" (playing the title character) and appeared in the Republic serial "Zombies from the Stratosphere." It was on TV, though, that his early career really thrived, and he turned up in many, many hit shows of the day, including several Westerns. Few, for instance, remember the time Nimoy was on "Tombstone Territory." He similarly guest-starred on the forgotten "The Man from Sheanadoah" and even popped up at one point opposite Clint Eastwood on "Rawhide."

The point being: Nimoy may be best known for playing the half-Vulcan character Spock in the "Star Trek" franchise, but he also had a long and prolific career otherwise. For example, he directed "Three Men and a Baby," one of the highest-grossing movies of 1987. On top of that, Nimoy published books of photography and continued to act in various roles up until his death in 2015 at the age of 83.

Indeed, be it his association with the "Transformers" property, his role on the "Mission: Impossible" TV show, or his tenure on the sci-fi series "Fringe," Nimoy had plenty of notable, smaller parts under his belt. Here are our picks for the best ones.

A "howcatchem" rather than a "whodunnit," episodes of the show "Columbo" would reveal their killers right away. Once they committed their murder, Columbo (Peter Falk) would show up, and everyone would underestimate him for his slovenly demeanor. Of course, Columbo was sharp as a tack, often solving the mystery without the perpetrator initially realizing it.

In the 1973 episode "A Stitch in Crime," it was Leonard Nimoy's turn to play the suspect-of-the-week. Nimoy portrays Dr. Barry Mayfield, who kills his science partner, Dr. Edmund Heideman (Will Geer), so he can steal their research, claim it's 100% his, and get all the credit. The murder involves surgery and the implantation of a faulty suture. Only people looking very closely would be able to tell. When a nurse (Anne Francis) becomes suspicious, Dr. Mayfield thwacks her with a tire iron as well. But on "Columbo," there is no such thing as a perfect crime, so it's only a matter of time before the title detective begins sniffing around, finding mistakes in Mayfield's evil deeds.

This is a personal story, but I recall watching this episode of "Columbo" as a child, long after I was already familiar with Nimoy's Spock, so it was a shock to see Spock doing such villainous things. Nimoy could certainly play a cold-blooded character, but to see him portray a spiteful murderer in a one-off appearance on "Columbo" was downright shocking. It was "Columbo" that made me realize that Nimoy is a skilled actor and not just a "Star Trek" guy.

In the "Big Bang Theory" episode "The Transporter Malfunction," both Leonard (Johnny Galecki) and Sheldon (Jim Parsons) get vintage, mint-in-box "Star Trek" transporter toys. Sheldon doesn't intend to open his, but he receives advice in a dream from his own Spock action figure ... who speaks with the voice of Leonard Nimoy. Spock notes that a toy is meant to be played with. Unfortunately, Sheldon breaks his toy. But rather than lament his transporter, he swaps it with Leonard's. He figures that Leonard, who also intends to keep the toy in the box, will never know.

Thereafter, the action figure of Spock behaves as Sheldon's conscience, admonishing him for doing something so devious. Sheldon argues that there is nothing wrong with the arrangement, but Spock, through small plastic eyes, scolds him. He is not happy. Naturally, by the end of the episode, Sheldon confesses to his wrongdoing.

"The Big Bang Theory" attempted to pay homage to geek culture throughout its crackerjack 12-season run and frequently made references to comic books, "Star Wars," and "Star Trek," even including many actors and luminaries from those realms. Nimoy doesn't appear on camera, but it's certainly fitting that a Spock collectible would serve as the conscience for a morally struggling nerd like Sheldon. The episode gave Nimoy a great chance to recite some very funny lines as well. When Sheldon points out that Vulcans don't have emotions where he comes from, Spock points out that he, an action figure, came from a factory in Taiwan.

Leonard Nimoy appeared on two episodes of "The Simpsons," including the much-celebrated "Marge vs. the Monoral." In the episode, Mr. Burns (Harry Shearer) is busted for illegal nuclear dumping and forced to pay a $3 million fine. Springfield, with a new influx of cash, thus has a town meeting to debate its usage. But just as Marge (Julie Kavner) convinces her peers to use the money to repair the deeply damaged Main Street, a con man named Lyle Lanley (Phil Hartman) gets them to spend their cash on his monorail system instead by deploying a "Music Man"-style musical number.

Naturally, the monorail is built with the cheapest materials, and Lyle intends to abscond with the remaining funds. To give the launch of the monorail a good face, its maiden voyage is granted a celebrity guest in the form of Nimoy. During the launch ceremony, Nimoy cracks about the vessel being able to go warp 5. Mayor Quimby (Dan Castellaneta) doesn't recognize Nimoy, thinking he was one of the Little Rascals. Later, on the monorail, Nimoy observes an eclipse and makes a poetic comment about the continuation of the universe's cosmic ballet. The man sitting next to Nimoy asks to change seats.

The funniest part of Nimoy's performance comes at the end of the episode when he remarks, "My work is done here. When Barney (Castellaneta) points out that he didn't actually do anything, Nimoy chuckles and retorts, "Didn't I?" He then dematerializes, as if being beamed up. The joke is marvelously absurd.

"I, Robot," one of the most famous episodes of the anthology sci-fi series "The Outer Limits," adapts a story by Eando Binder and has nothing to do with the famous Isaac Asimov work of the same name. In the episode, a humanoid android named Adam Link (Read Morgan, voice by John Caper, Jr.) is put on trial for the murder of his creator. Adam is defended in court by the old-school lawyer Thurman Cutler (Howard Da Silva), and it becomes clear that the robot is like a child that doesn't understand its own strength. There's a lot of prejudice on display, as "I, Robot" is all about humankind's tendency to wield technology in an irresponsible way.

Leonard Nimoy, meanwhile, plays Judson Ellis, a reporter who observes this case from the outside, and he gets to deliver the episode's chilling coda. Upon being found guilty during the trial, Adam runs out of the courthouse to save a child from being hit by a truck and is destroyed in the process. As Ellis puts it, this display of heroism means that the story here is only beginning.

Nimoy's "The Outer Limits" role further cements his already strong association with the sci-fi genre in general. What's more, this particular episode was remade when "The Outer Limits" was revived in the 1990s. However, in the remake, Nimoy plays Da Silva, defending the offending android in court. Adam Nimoy, Leonard Nimoy's son, directed that episode.

The "Futurama" episode "Where No Fan Has Gone Before" reveals a dark wrinkle about Earth in the 31st Century. It seems that Trekkies, taking hold of their zealotry, have become religious crusaders. To solve the issue, humanity kills all the Trekkies (pushing them into a volcano) and jettisons the various episodes of "Star Trek: The Original Series" into space. The "Star Trek" cast, now reduced to being just living heads in jars, then flee the planet in a rocket.

As might happen in a real "Star Trek" episode, though, the show's episodes are recovered by Melllvar (Maurice LaMarche), an all-powerful cloud alien who, naturally, becomes obsessed with them. Thus, he uses his powers to gather up and resurrect the "Star Trek" cast, giving them bodies again. Leonard Nimoy initially stays behind on Earth (he had just signed a six-month lease on his apartment), but he's eventually reunited with his co-stars on Melllvar's world by Fry (Billy West) and his friends.

"Where No Fan Has Gone Before" relentlessly mocks "Star Trek" and Trekkies, but the episode does so with affection and a good deal of knowledge, making it clear that the creatives behind "Futurama" are Trekkies themselves. As a result, Nimoy gets to banter with William Shatner, Walter Koenig, George Takei, and Nichelle Nichols. DeForest Kelley appears on-screen as well, but since the actor had died in 1999, he has no lines. As for James Doohan, he's replaced by "Welshie," a character voiced by David Herman.

Nimoy clearly had a sense of humor about himself, and "Futurama" is proof, allowing him to say some very silly things. Keep an ear out for Nimoy talking about his photography career.