Before Star Trek, Leonard Nimoy Appeared On One Of The Most Popular Law Dramas Ever
In the "Star Trek: The Original Series" episode "The Menagerie," Spock finds himself on trial before Starfleet. It was not the first time that Leonard Nimoy, the actor behind the Vulcan, appeared in a TV courtroom. Three years before he put on pointed ears, Nimoy was in an episode of one of the best CBS shows ever, the legal drama "Perry Mason."
Nimoy features in Season 6, Episode 13, "The Case of the Shoplifter's Shoe." Originally airing on January 3, 1963, the episode sees Raymond Burr's defense attorney helping a kleptomaniac whose problems go well beyond shoplifting. Her uncle, who owns a diamond store, is missing — as are some diamonds. When a gem dealer is found murdered, she's the suspect: And her uncle turns up dead, too.
At the risk of spoiling the episode, Nimoy plays a man named Pete Chennery who initially appears to have only a small role, but ends up being closely connected to the actual culprit. For Trekkies who are used to seeing Nimoy play the reserved, highly logical Spock, his turn in "Perry Mason" is exciting as it's a much more heated, animated performance.
Leonard Nimoy appeared in a few other TV courtrooms
In addition to "Perry Mason" and "The Menagerie," (the latter of which is one of the best episodes of any "Star Trek" show), Leonard Nimoy made a few other appearances in TV courtrooms. He was in an episode of the one-season NBC crime drama "Cain's Hundred" in 1962.
Another courtroom appearance came in one of Nimoy's non-"Star Trek" sci-fi roles. He starred in an episode of the '90s reboot of "The Outer Limits" as a lawyer representing a robot on trial for murder in the episode "I, Robot." This was actually a remake of an episode of the same name from the original "Outer Limits" that aired on ABC in the '60s. Nimoy was in this episode, too, but as a reporter covering the trial rather than an attorney.
Perhaps his most prestigious courtroom role was "Never Forget," a TV movie that aired on TNT in April 1991. Based on a true story, the film had Nimoy play Mel Mermelstein, a survivor of the Auschwitz concentration camp who took a Holocaust denial group to court and got the United States judicial system to officially recognize the Holocaust as a fact. TV Guide called the film the best thing Nimoy had ever done (via The Los Angeles Times).