James Doohan, aka Scotty of Star Trek, died today.

[Baculus]

My heart goes out to his family, and I mourn for an actor that has had such an impact on not only me, for a great TV show and a good person, but on pop culture as well. Incidentally, he was also a veteran of D-day as a member of the Canadian military.

Here's to you, Mr. Doohan. /Cheers. :-(

A sad day for Star Trek fans.

Star Trek' Star James Doohan Dies

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050720/ap_on_en_tv/obit_doohan

By BOB THOMAS, Associated Press Writer 8 minutes ago

LOS ANGELES -

James Doohan, the burly chief engineer of the Starship Enterprise in the original "Star Trek" TV series and motion pictures who responded to the command "Beam me up, Scotty," died early 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.

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 syndicated TV 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's "Star Wars" in 1977 prompted Paramount Pictures, which had produced "Star Trek" for TV, to plan a movie based on the series. The studio brought back the TV cast and hired a topflight 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, Paramount, 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, B.C., 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 the 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 U.S. 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."

Funeral arrangements were incomplete.

[flyingtiger1013]

God has beamed up Mr. Doohan. He will be missed. He was my favorite Star Trek actor.

[Sarge]

Bummer. The original cast was still the best one, and Scotty was one of my favorites. God hs beamed him up

[NavyDave]

RIP Mr Scott

[Ghost of]

RIP Mr. Doohan.

He passed away in Redmond, not too far from me. I didn't even know he was in the area.

Damn, Bones and Scotty are gone(though DeForrest was always older than the rest of the cast.)

We all gotta go sometime, I guess.

[flyingtiger1013]

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."

[/Quote]

Guess Shatner won't make the funeral. I didn't know they didn't like each other.

[Kilmer]

He was my favorite of the actors themselves. Just seemed like a great guy.

I am sure Shatner will be at the funeral, the only truly public fued between these actors is between Shatner and Takai. But it is pretty well known that none of the supporting actor's "like" Shatner.

[Guest SPACESKINS]

Mr. Scott.....

Here's to you Lad!:beerglass

[TXREDSKINS44]

RIP Scotty!!

[Commander PK]

Originally posted by Kilmer

He was my favorite of the actors themselves. Just seemed like a great guy.

I am sure Shatner will be at the funeral, the only truly public fued between these actors is between Shatner and Takai. But it is pretty well known that none of the supporting actor's "like" Shatner.

I thought I heard somewhere that he and the actress that played Uhura were close friends? :whoknows:

RIP Scotty. God has beamed you up.

[Cdowwe]

I read he had his last kid at age 80

[Commander PK]

Originally posted by Cdowwe

I read he had his last kid at age 80

Now that's impressive.

[PCS]

RIP Jimmy. Thoughts and prayers for you and yours.

"Well Sair. It was a matter of pride."

[Woofer]

'Tis a sad, sad day.

Here's to ya, Lad. I pray that you are in a place where there is "no tribble at all."

He's not really dead, as long as we remember him.

[Jimbo]

RIP Scotty. Thanks for giving us "all you got" and enjoy Heaven, where they NEVER run out of Dilythium Crystals.

[Riggo-toni]

[joe]

Long ago, in what seems like another lifetime, I attended a star trek convention and saw him speak. He was wonderful. One of my favorite scenes was when he was trying to "overstimulate" a Kelvin by getting him drunk. He is holding up a bottle of booze and the Kelvin asks "what it it?" Scotty replies, in his best broag "It's green." Just love that scene

[flyingtiger1013]

http://www.nbc4.com/entertainment/4751394/detail.html

He made his name in Hollywood beaming his colleagues back to the safety of the Enterprise on "Star Trek." Now, actor James Doohan's family is hoping to beam him up to the "final frontier" that Doohan's character "Scotty" loved so dearly.

The actor, who died Wednesday at age 85, had told relatives he wanted his ashes blasted into outer space, as was done for "Star Trek" creator Gene Roddenberry.

"He'll be there with his buddy, which is wonderful," said Doohan's agent and longtime friend, Steve Stevens.

Doohan died at his home in Redmond, Wash., with his wife of 31 years, Wende, at his side. He had retired from public events last year, not long after announcing he had Alzheimer's disease.

Houston-based Space Services Inc., which specializes in space memorials, plans to send a few grams of Doohan's ashes aboard a rocket later this year. The remains, which will be sealed in an aluminum capsule, will eventually burn up when they re-enter Earth's atmosphere.