Local Star Trek fans have joined ‘Trekkies’ worldwide in mourning the death of iconic actor Leonard Nimoy, who passed away on Friday aged 83.

“He was one of the greats, and the world is a slightly worse place without him,” said Katherine Brown, who met Mr Nimoy on a number of occasions while attending Star Trek fan conventions around the world.

Mr Nimoy, who suffered from a chronic lung condition, is best known for playing the Vulcan character Mr Spock on three seasons of the cult sci-fi series and in innumerable spin-off films, two of which he also directed and for which he earned three Emmy nominations over the years.

Ms Brown said Mr Nimoy was nothing like his “cold and emotionless” character, but possessed “a deep well of caring”.

Spock stood for diplomacy over war, using your head to overcome violence and to make peace

“He was a lovely, intelligent, genuine man, always patient in answering questions he’d probably been asked a thousand times. He loved the fans... and getting to know them. He was the sort of person you look up to. You see certain aspects of his character that you want to see in yourself.”

Among the admirers was US Ambassador Gina Abercrombie-Winstanley, a lifelong Star Trek fan. “Spock stood for diplomacy over war, using your head to overcome violence and to make peace.

“Watching the show as a young child made me realise what I wanted to do in life and how I wanted to do it,” she said.

Victor Grech, a paediatrician and the organiser of the world’s first ever academic symposium on Star Wars, said the character of Spock inspiration for many of today’s physicists and engineers to take up the sciences.

“His appeal crosses generations. He was logical, he did the right thing.

“The appeal of Star Trek was always that it promised a better and brighter future. If we ever achieve a semblance of that altruistic future, the world will be a better place,” he said.

“He was one of the good guys. We’ll miss him.”