Over the last half-century, there have been few pop culture phenomenons that have exceeded the popularity of Star Trek. The original TV series starring William Shatner as Captain Kirk and Leonard Nimoy as Mr. Spock, made its network television debut on NBC 50 years ago this month.
And several Pittsburgh natives are directly connected to the Star Trek franchise. According to former ToonSeum Executive Director and pop culture expert Joe Wos, the most famous among them is Zachary Quinto who plays the character of Spock in the reboot of the Star Trek movies.
“He was personally approved by the late Leonard Nimoy who saw him audition for the role,” Wos said. “They showed Nimoy all the different people who auditioned and he saw Zach Quinto and said ‘Yeah that’s Spock.’"
Another Pittsburgh native, Lou Scheimer, one of the original founders of Filmation, an animation company, was responsible for bringing a cartoon version of Star Trek to Saturday morning television.
“He brought back all of the original cast to record the voices,” Wos said. “And Scheimer had this real knack for doing that.”
The animated version of Star Trek would win the series' only Emmy award.
