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Leonard Nimoy, Maurice Hurley Dead: 'Star Trek' Writer and Mr. Spock Pass Away In Same Week

Rio Rose Ribaya Tuesday, March 03, 2015

The Star Trek franchise loses two key personalities with the death of Rick Berman, left, executive producer of 'Star Trek: The Next Generation,' and Leonard Nimoy, right, the actor who famously played the ever-logical character Mr. Spock. | REUTERS

Leonard Nimoy turned out to be the second member of the "Star Trek" franchise to have died last week. Three days before the 83-year-old Nimoy lost his battle against chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, Maurice Hurley, a writer and producer for "Star Trek: The Next Generation," was the first one to go on Tuesday last week. He was 75.

Rick Berman, the executive producer of the series, announced Hurley's death. "We lost one of Star Trek's most talented minds. Maurice Hurley produced seasons 1 and 2 of TNG. He was one of a kind. So very sad," Berman said in a post on Twitter, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Hurley also had a hand in writing a dozen episodes of the syndicated Paramount Television series, which aired from 1987 to 1994.

Fans of the show know him as the creator of the powerful Borg pseudo-species.

Hurley also wrote the screenplays for "Firebird 2015 AD" in 1981 and "Groom Lake," which starred William Shatner in 2002.

A native of Boston, Hurley also co-created the series "Pointman," which starred Jack Scalia as the owner of a beach resort who helps out those in trouble in 1995.

He also worked on "24," "La Femme Nikita," "The Equalizer," "Kung Fu: The Legend Continues," "Baywatch," "Baywatch Nights" and "Diagnosis Murder."

Hurley's death preceded that of Nimoy, the actor behind the ever-logical Mr. Spock in "Star Trek'' on TV and the big screen, who died at his Bel-Air home on Friday.

His wife, Susan Bay Nimoy, confirmed his death, saying the cause was end-stage chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Nimoy had been suffering from disease aside from bronchitis and emphysema. Last year, Nimoy revealed that he was ill and blamed his years of smoking for this.

Premiering on NBC in September 1966, "Star Trek" made Nimoy a star with the franchise creator Gene Roddenberry calling him "the conscience of 'Star Trek'" — an often earnest, sometimes campy show that employed the distant future to take on social issues of the 1960s.