Star Trek's Scotty, James Doohan, Dead At 85

[KittyWampus]

James Doohan, 'Star Trek's' Scotty, dead at 85



LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- 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. (1330 GMT) at his Redmond, Washington, 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."

http://www.google.com/url?sa=X&oi=news&start=1&num=3&q=http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx%3Ftype%3DentertainmentNews%26storyID%3D2005-07-20T175051Z_01_N20451093_RTRIDST_0_ENTERTAINMENT-PEOPLE-DOOHAN-DC.XML&e=9878

[proud2BlibKansan]

1. Beam me up, Scotty

:cry:

[Trailrider1951]

2. Scotty has died...

James Doohan, at age 85..
:cry:

http://entertainment.msn.com/tv/article.aspx?news=196936

[acmejack]

3. Beam him up!

RIP, Mr. Scott...

[cornermouse]

4. The airhead on CNN just tripped over her tongue and called him

Spotty before correcting herself. Other than a pretty face, what are the job qualifications for that position?

[Dr.Phool]

5. Yeah, but it was the wrong Scotty

[Greeby]

6. hey

Now now, keep that up and the thought police will be on to us :yoiks:

[proud patriot]

7. Bummer

:-(

[DebJ]

8. oh no...whose going to beam us up when the Neocons take over?

[Norbert]

18. They won't take over

Scotty told me where he hid all the dilithuim crystals.

[NMDemDist2]

9. ahhh Fly on Angels wings Mr. Doohan and thanks for all the

memories of you!

[non sociopath skin]

10. Another boyhood icon gone (sigh)

The Skin

[northzax]

11. the toilet tissue guy?

oh no!

[DoYouEverWonder]

For a sec I thought you meant Scottie McClellan

I see a heart attack in that overweight pasty faced young man's future.

[wysi]

13. Bummer...

James Doohan is the only Star Trek cast member I've ever met.

RIP and thanks for the memories.

[ochazuke]

12. Scotty must have been a Democrat

because "he hannot got th' power!"

[msanthrope]

14. He's dead, Jim......

RIP, Scotty. This bonny lass will miss ya'.

[Endangered Specie]

15. Oh no!!!

:( :( :cry:

I saw him at a convention once.

[Parche]

16. beam me up to Heaven

Rest in peace Mr Scott

I had a premonition about this a week ago.....weird

[BlueStateModerate]

17. Very sad

I just hope that all of Trek doesn't die with him. The series isn't looking so hot right now.

[Moderator]

19. Locking

I'd move this to the lounge, as I did several earlier threads, but there are already eleven there now.

Here is a link to the longest, most active thread
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=105&topic_id=3684892