Before Star Trek, Leonard Nimoy Appeared In A Popular Action Series As 8 Different Characters

Prior to cementing his place in TV history as Spock on "Star Trek," Leonard Nimoy was constantly hustling for roles. Although some of these gigs were just a one-off, like a 1960 appearance on "Bonanza," others provided multiple opportunities. For instance, Nimoy played four different characters on "Wagon Train." On "Sea Hunt," he doubled that versatility with eight unique roles.

Airing from 1958 to 1961, "Sea Hunt" starred Lloyd Bridges as scuba diver Mike Nelson, and the rest of the cast largely depended upon a revolving door of guest actors. Fortunately for Nimoy, "Sea Hunt" was willing to give the same actors different assignments, and he did his part to put a different spin on each performance. "I'd do one with a mustache; I would do one with a hat," he recalled to The Television Academy in 2000. "I could do an accent of various kinds, so I was useful." Nimoy also had great respect for Bridges, which made him an ideal person to rehire.

Some of Nimoy's roles were so small that they didn't even make the credits — during Season 2, he played a revolutionary student in one episode, and a liquid explosives thief in another. Others, however, were more substantial. In his first appearance, a 1958 episode called "The Shipwreck," Nimoy played Vince, a character stranded in the middle of the ocean on Nelson's lifeboat. It's a meatier role compared to some of Nimoy's other guest spots, like when he had fewer than five lines on "Matinee Theater" with Vincent Price.

For his second "Sea Hunt" appearance, Leonard Nimoy returned three episodes later as Tyler, a mustached man accused of murdering his wife during a scuba expedition. After his guilt is uncovered, a dramatic underwater wrestling match unfolds as Tyler tries to escape justice. During the show's second season, Nimoy returned (sans mustache) as Johnny Brand, a fisherman who starts taking diving lessons from Mike Nelson as part of a jailbreak scheme. In his next appearance, Nimoy's Jerry Wiley is a diver accidentally poisoned by an underwater wreck. 

After the two background character episodes, Nimoy returned for Episodes 28 and 30 in Season 3 of the show. First, he played a sneaky saboteur in a straw hat who rigged up underwater explosives amid political turmoil. His final "Sea Hunt" role is a similar theme with a twist: Nimoy plays Indio Ramirez, a diver learning underwater demolition.

While Nimoy went on to play a mix of other guest roles across a variety of genres, "Sea Hunt" was a particularly good opportunity. One old contract shows he got a day rate of $125, which was a nice increase compared to an $80 flat fee for two days on another show. Multiple appearances were sometimes bundled together for a rate of $500 for two episodes, and the job security was crucial. "For a period of time they called me every three or four weeks, which sustained us," he informed The Television Academy decades later. "I had two kids, and I needed work."