Hardbopjazz Posted July 20, 2005 Report Share Posted July 20, 2005 (edited) 'Star Trek' Star James Doohan Dies By BOB THOMAS, Associated Press Writer 1 minute ago LOS ANGELES - James Doohan, the burly chief engineer of the Starship Enterprise in the original "Star Trek" TV series and movies who responded to the command "Beam me up, Scotty," died Wednesday. He was 85. Doohan died at 5:30 a.m. at his Redmond, Wash., home with his wife of 28 years, Wende, at his side, Los Angeles agent and longtime friend Steve Stevens said. The cause of death was pneumonia and Alzheimer's disease, he said. He had said farewell to public life in August 2004, a few months after being diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. The Canadian-born Doohan was enjoying a busy career as a character actor when he auditioned for a role as an engineer in a new space adventure on NBC in 1966. A master of dialects from his early years in radio, he tried seven different accents. "The producers asked me which one I preferred," Doohan recalled 30 years later. "I believed the Scot voice was the most commanding. So I told them, 'If this character is going to be an engineer, you'd better make him a Scotsman.'" The series, which starred William Shatner as Capt. James T. Kirk and Leonard Nimoy as the enigmatic Mr. Spock, attracted an enthusiastic following of science fiction fans, especially among teenagers and children, but not enough ratings power. NBC canceled it after three seasons. When the series ended in 1969, Doohan found himself typecast as Montgomery Scott, the canny engineer with a burr in his voice. In 1973, he complained to his dentist, who advised him: "Jimmy, you're going to be Scotty long after you're dead. If I were you, I'd go with the flow." "I took his advice," said Doohan, "and since then everything's been just lovely." "Star Trek" continued in syndication both in the United States and abroad, and its following grew larger and more dedicated. In his later years, Doohan attended 40 "Trekkie" gatherings around the country and lectured at colleges. The huge success of George Lucas' "Star Wars" in 1977 prompted Paramount Pictures, which had produced "Star Trek" for television, to plan a movie based on the series. The studio brought back the TV cast and hired director Robert Wise. "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" was successful enough to spawn five sequels. The powerfully built Doohan, a veteran of D-Day in Normandy, spoke frankly in 1998 about his employer and his TV commander. "I started out in the series at basic minimum_ plus 10 percent for my agent. That was added a little bit in the second year. When we finally got to our third year, Paramount told us we'd get second-year pay! That's how much they loved us." He accused Shatner of hogging the camera, adding: "I like Captain Kirk, but I sure don't like Bill. He's so insecure that all he can think about is himself." James Montgomery Doohan was born March 3, 1920, in Vancouver, British Columbia, youngest of four children of William Doohan, a pharmacist, veterinarian and dentist, and his wife Sarah. As he wrote in his autobiography, "Beam Me Up, Scotty," his father was a drunk who made life miserable for his wife and children. At 19, James escaped the turmoil at home by joining the Canadian army, becoming a lieutenant in artillery. He was among the Canadian forces that landed on Juno Beach on D-Day. "The sea was rough," he recalled. "We were more afraid of drowning than the Germans." The Canadians crossed a minefield laid for tanks; the soldiers weren't heavy enough to detonate the bombs. At 11:30 that night, he was machine-gunned, taking six hits: one that took off his middle right finger (he managed to hide the missing finger on screen), four in his leg and one in the chest. Fortunately the chest bullet was stopped by his silver cigarette case. After the war Doohan on a whim enrolled in a drama class in Toronto. He showed promise and won a two-year scholarship to New York's famed Neighborhood Playhouse, where fellow students included Leslie Nielsen, Tony Randall and Richard Boone. His commanding presence and booming voice brought him work as a character actor in films and television, both in Canada and the United States. Oddly, his only other TV series besides "Star Trek" was another space adventure, "Space Command," in 1953. Doohan's first marriage to Judy Doohan produced four children. He had two children by his second marriage to Anita Yagel. Both marriages ended in divorce. In 1974 he married Wende Braunberger, and their children were Eric, Thomas and Sarah, who was born in 2000, when Doohan was 80. In a 1998 interview, Doohan was asked if he ever got tired of hearing the line "Beam me up, Scotty." "I'm not tired of it at all," he replied. "Good gracious, it's been said to me for just about 31 years. It's been said to me at 70 miles an hour across four lanes on the freeway. I hear it from just about everybody. It's been fun." Edited July 20, 2005 by Hardbopjazz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stereojack Posted July 20, 2005 Report Share Posted July 20, 2005 Ol' Scotty has finally been beamed up. Aye, we'll miss ye. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidewinder Posted July 20, 2005 Report Share Posted July 20, 2005 RIP indeed. To read that he was 85 makes me feel really old, as he looked like a fairly young wippersnapper when those shows were originally broadcast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeweil Posted July 20, 2005 Report Share Posted July 20, 2005 R.I.P. I have to admit I always found him more sympathetic than Shatner .... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mgraham333 Posted July 20, 2005 Report Share Posted July 20, 2005 (edited) RIP Mr. Doohan. I only wish had "more power" to deal with all of the headlines like "Beam me up", "Scotty Boldly Goes", "Doohan heads for the final frontier" - I mean c'mon. It's not that clever folks. fixed a typo Edited July 21, 2005 by mgraham333 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nemo7 Posted July 20, 2005 Report Share Posted July 20, 2005 geez, first "bones" now "scotty" any bets on the next? "spock" next is my bet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Free For All Posted July 20, 2005 Report Share Posted July 20, 2005 geez, first "bones" now "scotty" any bets on the next? "spock" next is my bet. ← Hmmmmm..........are there any of those "anonymous" crew members that used to beam down and were always the first to go? If I was Shatner or Nimoy I'd start hanging out with those guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Free For All Posted July 20, 2005 Report Share Posted July 20, 2005 BTW, I guess I must be the last person to realize that James Doohan didn't actually have a Scottish accent. I guess I never saw him outside of the Star Trek stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7/4 Posted July 20, 2005 Report Share Posted July 20, 2005 All that teleportation couldn't have been too healthy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BruceW Posted July 20, 2005 Report Share Posted July 20, 2005 BTW, I guess I must be the last person to realize that James Doohan didn't actually have a Scottish accent. I guess I never saw him outside of the Star Trek stuff. ← Nope, you are not the only person. He was so good at it that I also thought that was his natural accent. Also didn't realize "Bones" was gone. Shit, I must be old myself. Hey, imagine having a baby at age 80. What age was his wife at the time?????? Once an engineer....... I guess he could still fix it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave James Posted July 20, 2005 Report Share Posted July 20, 2005 (edited) I had heard that Doohan was pretty sick. Alzheimer's in particular. Looks like he'll have plenty of time now to catch up on those technical journals he was always trying to get away to study. With regard to the "expendibles" after any beam down, they most often wore red shirts although an occasional blue shirt also bit the dust. I think I'll break out some Star Trek DVD's tonight and have another go with the Scotsman. RIP, Mr D. Up over and out. Edited July 20, 2005 by Dave James Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randy Twizzle Posted July 21, 2005 Report Share Posted July 21, 2005 RIP Mr. Doohan. I only wish had "more power" to deal with all of the headlines like "Beam me up", "Scotty Boldy Goes", "Doohan heads for the final frontier" - I mean c'mon. It's not that clever folks. ← Here's some more courtesy of a google news search: "Scotty Beams up for the Last Time" "Scotty Makes Final Beam Up" "Scotty Beams Up One Final time" "Beloved Scotty Is Beamed All the Way Up" "Scotty Beamed Up to the Big Starship in the Sky" "Beam Me Up to Heaven, Scotty" "Scotty to be Beamed Up" "Scotty's Trek Ends" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kalo Posted July 21, 2005 Report Share Posted July 21, 2005 These "clever" headlines make me want to JIM Beam myself up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Posted July 21, 2005 Report Share Posted July 21, 2005 Thank you Scotty for your part in WW2 and for Star Trek. RIP. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kalo Posted July 21, 2005 Report Share Posted July 21, 2005 BTW, I guess I must be the last person to realize that James Doohan didn't actually have a Scottish accent. I guess I never saw him outside of the Star Trek stuff. ← Nope, you are not the only person. He was so good at it that I also thought that was his natural accent. Also didn't realize "Bones" was gone. Shit, I must be old myself. Hey, imagine having a baby at age 80. What age was his wife at the time?????? Once an engineer....... I guess he could still fix it! ← He was Canadian, right? Some of those Northeastern Canadians practically ARE Scottish. Mike Meyers can do a wicked Scots accent, too. RIP, JD. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidewinder Posted July 21, 2005 Report Share Posted July 21, 2005 I think Mike Myers was born in Liverpool ( ) but it is true that half of Protestant Canada seems to be descended from either the Scots or the Northern Irish. They didn't call Toronto 'The Belfast of the North' for nothing.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jazz Kat Posted July 21, 2005 Report Share Posted July 21, 2005 His last child was born in 2002? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Son-of-a-Weizen Posted July 22, 2005 Report Share Posted July 22, 2005 "I like Captain Kirk, but I sure don't like Bill. He's so insecure that all he can think about is himself." Both marriages ended in divorce. Sounds to me like there was more than enough insecurity to go around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BruceH Posted July 22, 2005 Report Share Posted July 22, 2005 Who's next? Sulu? Checkov? Nurse Chapel? RIP, James Doohan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Son-of-a-Weizen Posted July 22, 2005 Report Share Posted July 22, 2005 Who's next? Sulu? Checkov? Nurse Chapel? Worse!! The little family pack of Tribbles have just been reported missing from a luxury barge cruising the canals near Avignon!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave James Posted July 22, 2005 Report Share Posted July 22, 2005 Hold it. I thought at the very end of "The Trouble With..." episode, all these fuzzy little fellows were beamed aboard a Clingon warship right before it went into warp. As Scotty said at the time. "...where they'll be no tribble at all." This has to call into question the veracity of Weizen's Avignon report. Beam me up...over and out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soulstation1 Posted July 22, 2005 Report Share Posted July 22, 2005 trivia what was scotty's first name on the series? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave James Posted July 22, 2005 Report Share Posted July 22, 2005 (edited) Montgomery Alexander Scott if I'm not mistaken. Up over and out. Edited July 22, 2005 by Dave James Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soulstation1 Posted July 22, 2005 Report Share Posted July 22, 2005 correct Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_forumlogo.png.a607ef20a6e0c299ab2aa6443aa1f32e.png)
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.