Beam Me Up : A Tribute

Star Trek’s ‘Scotty’ Doohan is dead

LOS ANGELES: Actor James Doohan, best known as the feisty, Scottish-accented chief engineer on television’s original “Star Trek” series — a role immortalised by the catchphrase “Beam me up, Scotty” — died on Wednesday at the age of 85, his manager said.

Doohan died at his home in the Seattle suburb of Redmond, Washington, of complications from Pneumonia and Alzheimer’s disease, about a year after he was diagnosed with the degenerative neurological illness, manager Steve Stevens said in an interview.

The actor’s wife of 28 years, Wende, was at his side.

Doohan’s last public appearance was in October, when the performer, confined to a wheelchair, was honoured with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

The Canadian-born actor had also suffered from the chronic lung disease, Pulmonary Fibrosis, which doctors believed was linked to Doohan’s exposure to hazardous chemicals during his military service in World War II.

Doohan was wounded as an infantryman during the D-Day invasion of Normandy and returned to action as a fighter pilot.

A native of Vancouver, Doohan was a prolific voice actor on Canadian radio before making his move into television in the ’50s, starting with a Canadian series called “Space Command”.

He made guest appearances on numerous TV shows, from “Gunsmoke” to “Bewitched” and cited his favourite film role as that of a French trapper in the ’71 picture “Man in the Wilderness”, which starred Richard Harris and John Huston.

He is best remembered for playing Lt Commander Montgomery “Scotty” Scott, the can-do chief engineer aboard the starship USS Enterprise on the original “Star Trek” series, which ran from ’66 to ’69 on NBC. He reprised the role for several big-screen “Star Trek” features.

One of Scotty’s chief functions on the show was to operate the transporter device used to “beam” crew members aboard the Enterprise from distant planets, often in response to the order: “Beam me up, Scotty”.

Scotty also took command of the Enterprise when both Captain Kirk (William Shatner) and first officer Spock (Leonard Nimoy) were absent, and he often managed to coax a bit more power from the ship’s engines at crucial moments.

The often-excitable Scottish brogue affected by Doohan for his role became as much a fixture of the show as Spock’s logical stoicism or Dr “Bones” McCoy’s irascibly folksy manner.

Doohan kept his character alive through dozens of annual appearances at “Star Trek” conventions, and friends said he thrived on the adulation of fans, known as “Trekkies”.

Co-stars recounted that Scotty’s signature traits — avuncular, emotional, determined, loyal — were all hallmarks of Doohan’s off-camera personality.

“He was very much like that. He really drew from himself when he performed the role,” said Walter Koenig, who played Ensign Chekov on the show.

“Scotty was a drinker and an eater, and so was Jimmy,” said George Takei, who co-starred as Lt Sulu. “He was my best drinking buddy. He embraced the joy of life.”

According to Stevens, Doohan auditioned for the part in several European accents before the show’s creator, Gene Roddenberry, asked him what nationality he thought best suited the part.

“He said, ‘It’s got to be a Scotsman,’ and so he did it and it ended up being a Scotsman,” Stevens once recounted. He said Doohan learned to do a convincing brogue from a Scottish-born soldier he bunked with during the war.

Doohan was the second actor from the central cast of the original “Star Trek” to die. DeForest Kelley, who played McCoy, died in ’99.

Stevens said funeral services would be for family members only, but Doohan’s wife plans to send the actor’s ashes into space via the private launch service that carried Roddenberry’s remains into orbit after his ’91 death.

Source: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-1179350,curpg-2.cms

I hadnt really been emotionally affected by his death until I read that....

I saw James Doohan at a speaking engagement many years ago when I was in college... he spoke to the audience about his career, how he'd gotten the role of Scotty, developed the accent, etc. Afterwards, they showed the Star Trek blooper reel, and then he signed autographs-- there was a stack of slips that had been pre-printed for that purpose, with several nice line drawings of his character from various time periods. Even with the huge crowd waiting in line, he was taking the time to personalize the autographs. (I still have mine in a scrapbook.) He struck me as being a very funny and sweet person who really loved his fans. I think it's lovely and very fitting that his ashes be shot into space... if there's an afterlife, I hope his spirit is getting to explore the universe now, finding out all the secrets of the real final frontier. He'll definitely be missed.

Thanks for sharing that Little Hailey, it hammers home how we miss a public figure and their contributions when they are gone. Your signature fits this situation as well.