LOS ANGELES — Leonard Nimoy, the actor known and loved by generations of “Star Trek” fans as the pointy-eared, purely logical science officer Mr. Spock, has died.

Nimoy died today of end-stage chronic obstructive pulmonary disease at his Los Angeles home, said his son, Adam Nimoy. He was 83.

Although Nimoy followed his 1966-69 “Star Trek” run with a notable career as both an actor and director, in the public’s mind he would always be Spock. His half-human, half-Vulcan character was the calm counterpoint to William Shatner’s often-emotional Captain Kirk on one of TV and film’s most revered cult series.

Asked if his father chafed at his fans’ close identification of him with his character, his son Adam Nimoy said, “Not in the least. He loved Spock.”

However, Leonard Nimoy displayed ambivalence to the role in the titles of his two autobiographies, “I Am Not Spock” (1975) and “I Am Spock” (1995).

After “Star Trek” ended, the actor joined the hit adventure series “Mission Impossible” as Paris, the mission team’s master of disguises.

From 1976 to 1982, he hosted the syndicated TV series “In Search of ... ,” which attempted to probe such mysteries as the legend of the Loch Ness Monster and the disappearance of aviator Amelia Earhart.

He played Israeli leader Golda Meir’s husband opposite Ingrid Bergman in the TV drama “A Woman Called Golda” and Vincent van Gogh in “Vincent,” a one-man stage show on the life of the troubled painter. He continued to work well into his 70s, playing gazillionaire genius William Bell in the Fox series “Fringe.”

He also directed several films, including the hit comedy “Three Men and a Baby” and appeared in such plays as “A Streetcar Named Desire,” “Cat on a Hot Tim Roof,” “Fiddler on the Roof,” and “The King and I.”

He also published books of poems, children’s stories and his own photographs.