George Takei, William Shatner mourn the death of ‘Star Trek’ co-star Leonard Nimoy

Shortly after word got out about Leonard Nimoy’s death Friday, his fellow “Star Trek” co-stars George Takei (Sulu) and William Shatner (Capt. Kirk) mourned the passing of their close friend.

Shatner tweeted a photo of the two of them, with this caption: “I loved him like a brother. We will all miss his humor, his talent, and his capacity to love.”

Takei got on the phone with MSNBC, as host Kristen Welker asked him to share what he wants the public to remember about Nimoy.

“You know, the word ‘extraordinary' is often overused, but I think it’s really appropriate for Leonard,” Takei said. “He was an extraordinarily talented man, but he was also a very decent human being. His talent embraced directing as well as acting and photography. He was a very sensitive man. And we feel his passing very much. He had been ill for a long, long time. And we miss him very much.”

Calling him “one of the most thoughtful, most analytical” actors, Takei recalled a story about Nimoy’s “noble” nature. Apparently, when “Star Trek” was going to made into a cartoon, producers only cast him along with William Shatner and Majel Barrett – Takei, Nichelle Nichols and Walter Koenig were left off the list. So Nimoy made a call.

“When he found that out, he said, ‘Star Trek’ is about diversity and the people that most represent diversity are Nichelle and George and Walter. If you can’t have them, then they can’t have him,’” Takei said. “And he was willing to give up his role in the animated version because he felt it was truly not representative of what ‘Star Trek' was all about.” Sure enough, the actors were soon all cast.

“He was an extraordinary man,” Takei said.

This story was originally published February 27, 2015 at 2:39 PM.