Spock - First and Chief Science Officer (Serial No. S179-276SP) aboard the 23rd century starship, the USS Enterprise on the sci-fi series STAR TREK/NBC/1966-69. Born on the planet Vulcan in the city of ShiKahr, Spock (Leonard Nimoy) aspired to the stars. After a lengthy training period, he was assigned to the USS Enterprise, part of a fleet of interplanetary starcruisers belonging to the United Federation of Planets. His first tour of duty lasted thirteen years under the command of Captain Christopher Pike (Jeffrey Hunter) who was later replaced by Captain James Tiberius Kirk (William Shatner). Despite the fact that Vulcans were trained to express no emotion, Spock became Kirk's close friend, noting concern for his safety on a number of occasions. Spock was the product of a human mother, Amanda Grayson (Jane Wyatt) and a Vulcan father, Sarek (Mark Lenard). This co-mingling of racial bloods often confused Spock in his pursuit of logic, a prize the Vulcans admired above all things in the their search for peace and fulfillment. Spock's often observed that the human species was "highly illogical." The Vulcans had in ages past been a fierce race of barbarians filled with destructive emotional tendencies. However, through the teachings of Surak and his philosophy of pure logic, they had caste aside all emotion to live in peace with each other. As a mark of self control, the Vulcans ate no meat. It was believed that the warrior race of Romulans in another galaxy were distant relatives of Vulcan who had abandoned the teachings of logic to pursue the merits of warfare. Controlling emotions did have its draw backs, however. Once every seven years, during their younger years, Spock like all Vulcans went through the torment of a mating ritual which forced him to mate with a pre-chosen female partner. A practice handed down "since the time of the beginning." This genetic trait could be fought but only for a few cycles. At that point the mating fever was so intense (the blood burned hot and hold on logic diminished) anyone not submitting to it would surely die in the process. It was the earthly equivalent of being a confused, hormone-ridden teenager multiplied a hundred fold. Once the mating was accomplished, however, logic returned. In Spock's case his  mate, T'Pring (Arlene Martel) refused him and forced him to battle with Captain Kirk. According to Vulcan law, T'Pring had the right to choose her own champion. She had planned her refusal to marry Spock quite logically. If  Spock had lost, she would have the right to choose a new mate. And if Spock had won, she would have his name, his property and still she would have her chosen lover while Spock was away on the Enterprise. After the intense battle in which Spock thought he killed his Captain, the madness that drove him disappeared. Nurse Chapel (Majel Barrett) the human nurse on board the Enterprise was relieved to find Spock had not married because she already had the hots for that point-eared Vulcan hunk. Other characteristics that distinguished Spock from his starship crew members included green tinted skin-due to his green copper-based blood; a pulse that topped 212 times per minute; a heart positioned where a human would have his liver; his telepathic ability to read the thoughts and emotions of others by using his Vulcan mind-melding touch technique; his habit of sleeping with his eyes open; and his pointy Vulcan ears which some thought made him look like a Medieval version of Lucifer. Once Spock was exposed, accidentally, to a large dose of sunlight. Everyone thought him permanently blinded. However, it was discovered that Vulcans had evolved an inner eyelid because of the brilliant sunlight on their planet. Recovering from his temporary handicap Spock remarked, "the inner eyelid acts as a shield against high intensity light. We tend to ignore it as you ignore your appendix." A disagreement between Spock's father and himself about his career choice kept them from talking to each other for eighteen years. But since the average life span of a Vulcan is 250 years, I guess their silence wasn't that long after all. Spock's main weapon of defense was his super-human strength and his Vulcan nerve pinch (applied pressure at base of neck and shoulder) which rendered a person unconscious. Spock's other talents included playing the Vulcan harp. His childhood pet was a large bear-like creature with six-inch fangs called a Sehlat. His earthling mother Amanda called it "Spock's Teddy Bear." Spock's character went through additional changes in the motion picture spin-offs of the series including dying from radiation poisoning; resurrecting himself on the planet Genesis; saving the planet Earth by returning whales from the past to the future; and rediscovering his long-lost brother (Laurence Luckinbill) who had left Vulcan to pursue a search of emotion verses logic. In November of 1991 the Mr. Spock character resurfaced on a two-part episode of STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION/FOX/1987-94 where he attempted to unify the Romulans and Vulcan races. TRIVIA NOTE: In 1980, the newly formed British rock 'n roll band called themselves T'Pau after a character featured on the STAR TREK series. T'Pau (Celia Lovsky) was a high ranking Vulcan official who presided at Spock's failed wedding ceremony (episode No. 34 "Amok Time"). She was the only person ever to turn down a seat on the Federation Council. See also "Sarek"; "Vulcans"; and Catchphrases: "Highly Illogical"