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By Hank Reineke

Though heavyweights Columbia and Universal produced as many serials as Republic Pictures from 1929-1956, the latter studio is generally best known for its exciting sound-era chapter-plays. Universal and the less widely known Mascot Pictures were in the game the earliest; both studios began releasing their sound serials in 1929. Mascot would only last six years or so. Universal – choosing to concentrate exclusively on the production of feature films – effectively got out of the serial business in 1946. Republic and Columbia hung on to the production of chapter-plays the longest; they released their final serials in 1955 and 1956, respectively.

Republic wasn’t only a serials factory. The studio was in the low budget feature filmmaking business as well, busily churning out a dizzying array of westerns, adventure pictures, and mysteries. They would test the box-office potentials of the horror film market during the 1940s with limited success. As a second-tier “Poverty Row” studio,...

The news of Leonard Nimoy's passing last week caused me to reflect on the icon's career. I thought it was time to celebrate his many TV and cinematic accomplishments outside of Star Trek sans the ears that have made him so famous. For the sake of keeping things in focus, I'm concentrating on his other genre appearances and voice work.

The Autobots have run up against a villainous Leonard Nimoy on two separate occasions. He voiced the sinister Galvatron in 1986’s animated The Transformers: The Movie. He also lent his familiar vocal talents to bring to life the traitorous Sentinel Prime for Transformers: Dark of the Moon. We should have known he was evil from the moment we saw the “Mirror, Mirror” evil Spock beard the robot sported.

The actor was taken over by aliens for the 1978 remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers. He plays the part of Dr.

Leonard Simon Nimoy (March 26, 1931 – February 27, 2015) was an American actor, film director, poet, singer and photographer. Nimoy was best known for his role as Spock in the original Star Trek series (1966–69), and in multiple film, television and video game sequels. Note: Leonard Nimoy quit smoking 30 years prior to being diagnosed with Copd. If you smoke, don’t. Just quit. Today! Nimoy began his career in his early twenties, teaching acting classes in Hollywood and making minor film and television appearances through the 1950s, as well as playing the title role in Kid Monk Baroni. Foreshadowing his fame as a semi-alien, he played Narab, one of three Martian invaders in the 1952 movie serial Zombies of the Stratosphere. In 1953, he served in the United States Army. In 1965, he made his first appearance in the rejected Star Trek pilot, The Cage, and went on to play the character of Mr Spock until 1969, followed by...

Leonard Nimoy discusses the upcoming season finale that is set to air this Thursday, May 20th

This Thursday marks the season finale of Fringe, which finds Leonard Nimoy returning as William Bell for Episode 2.23: Over There, Part II. In this thrilling conclusion to what has been a stellar season, sacrifices will be made and both universes may never be the same again after Walter and Olivia visit the "other side". Leonard recently joined us for a conversation about this climactic season finale. Here's what the esteemed actor had to say:

I'm wondering what it is that brought you to Fringe. Are you watching this show? Did somebody approach you about being on there? Was there a specific role set up for you?

Leonard Nimoy: I had a wonderful time working on the new Star Trek movie with J.J. Abrams, who directed it. When it was done, he asked...

Following up on our chat with Leonard Nimoy (read part I here), the actor talks about his latest appearance on Fringe. In “Momentum Deferred,” his character, Massive Dynamic founder William Bell, meets up with Agent Olivia Dunham (Anna Torv) for the first time since last season’s finale.

Although Bell was mentioned throughout Fringe’s first season, he was only seen that one time and remains a mysterious figure. “I’ve had some wonderful and creative conversations with [creators] J.J. Abrams, Bob Orci, Alex Kurtzman, the writers and showrunner Jeff Pinkner to try to create from scratch a character who has never been seen before, who has only been referred to,” Nimoy says. “There are certain things that were given, which is that he’s a powerful figure, very wealthy and obviously an intelligent man with a scientific background.

“But in terms of characteristics, we started from scratch, and in ‘Momentum...