James Doohan
From Memory Alpha, the free Star Trek reference
(written from a Production point of view)
| James Doohan | |
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| Birth name: | James Montgomery Doohan |
| Date of birth: | 3 March 1920 |
| Place of birth: | Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada |
| Date of death: | 20 July 2005 (age 85) |
| Place of death: | Redmond, Washington, USA |
| Character(s): | Montgomery 'Scotty' Scott (Primary character; see Appearances) |
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James Montgomery Doohan (3 March 1920 – 20 July 2005; age 85) portrayed Montgomery "Scotty" Scott on Star Trek: The Original Series and the first seven Star Trek movies. He also appeared in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Relics" and in the archive footage used in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "Trials and Tribble-ations". His work as Scotty ranged over a twenty-nine year period, with his first being in "Where No Man Has Gone Before" and his last appearance being in Star Trek Generations.
Doohan was born in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Shortly after the outbreak of the Second World War, nineteen-year-old Doohan enlisted as a gunner in the Royal Canadian Artillery. After rising through the ranks to Sergeant, he won a place at Officer Training School, becoming a Lieutenant in the Thirteenth Field Regiment. On June 6, 1944, Doohan, by then promoted to Command Post Officer (Captain), was among the Canadian forces sent to take Juno Beach in Normandy as part of the D-Day invasion. He was in command of 120 men. That night, Doohan was machine-gunned when returning to his command post, sustaining wounds in the leg, right hand and chest – a cigarette case caught a bullet that would otherwise have killed him – and lost the middle finger of his right hand (because of this injury, outside of rare occasions, Doohan would conceal that portion of his right hand in film shots.) "I was twenty-four," Doohan wrote in his book Beam Me Up, Scotty, "And if the Germans had been marginally better shots, I wouldn't have seen twenty-five."
After convalescing in England, Doohan became a qualified pilot at 43 Operational Training Unit, Andover, England, winning Air Observation Post pilot's wings in early 1945. He was posted to 666 (AOP) RCAF Squadron, where he flew the AUSTER Mark V aircraft, a dangerous, low-level flight tasking for artillery officers who photographed enemy positions, and directed artillery fire from the air. Although 666 (AOP) RCAF Squadron was not sent into battle, the unit was stationed at Apeldoorn, Holland, through the summer of 1945 to conduct "air taxi" duties, as documented in the 1945 publication (and 2006 republication), Battle History 666 (Calgary: Abel Book Company, 2006), and in the 2002 publication entitled Canada's Flying Gunners, by Col. Dave Fromow. After the war, he started work in radio, but quickly branched out into TV, movies, and plays. A skilled voice actor, Doohan contributed many voices to both the original series and the animated series, including (among others) Lt. Arex.
Doohan was also a linguist and created the Klingon language, Klingonese, which was later expanded by Marc Okrand. He also helped to create the Vulcan language.
Since the end of the Star Trek TV series, he kept busy speaking at colleges and Star Trek conventions. Sadly, in July 2004, Doohan announced that he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in addition to his existing Parkinson's disease and diabetes, and would be withdrawing from public life. His final public appearance took place on August 31, 2004, at the ceremony for his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Doohan lost his battle with Alzheimer's disease, complicated by pneumonia, at 5:30 a.m. on 20 July 2005 - a fitting irony, as July 20 was the anniversary of the Apollo 11 landings, arguably the greatest engineering achievement in human history. He was 85 years old. He died at his Redmond, Washington, home with his third wife Wende by his side. He asked his family to have him cremated and his remains shot into space. After nearly two years of delays, this wish was finally granted: his ashes were launched into space on 28 April 2007 from New Mexico. [1]
He left behind a total of seven children from his three marriages; his most recent, Sarah, was born in 2000 when he was 80 years old.
Doohan was among those to receive tribute in the 2006 Memoriam reel at the 79th Annual Academy Awards. The reel used a scene from Star Trek: The Motion Picture in which Kirk tells Scotty, "Thank you, Mr. Scott", to which Scott replies, "Aye, sir".
Several costumes and costume components worn by Doohan in Star Trek were sold off on the It's A Wrap! sale and auction on eBay, including a stunt version of his undershirt. [2]
Contents |
[edit] Appearances as Scotty
- TOS: - all episodes except:
- "The Cage"
- "The Man Trap" (Season 1)
- "Charlie X"
- "What Are Little Girls Made Of?"
- "Miri"
- "Dagger of the Mind"
- "The Menagerie, Part II"
- "The Conscience of the King"
- "Shore Leave"
- "Court Martial"
- "This Side of Paradise"
- "Errand of Mercy"
- "The Alternative Factor"
- "Amok Time" (Season 2)
- "Journey to Babel"
- "The Omega Glory"
- TAS: every episode except "The Slaver Weapon"
- Star Trek films:
- TNG: "Relics"
- DS9: "Trials and Tribble-ations" (archival footage)
In addition, Doohan portrayed the mirror version of Scott in "Mirror, Mirror".
[edit] Voice roles
 Ari bn Bem |
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| Star Trek: The Original Series regular cast |
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| James Doohan • DeForest Kelley • Walter Koenig • Nichelle Nichols • Leonard Nimoy • William Shatner • George Takei |
| Star Trek: The Animated Series regular cast |
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| Majel Barrett • James Doohan • DeForest Kelley • Nichelle Nichols • Leonard Nimoy • William Shatner • George Takei |
[edit] Books
- Beam Me Up, Scotty
- The Flight Engineer series:
- The Rising
- The Privateer
- The Independent Command
[edit] External links
- James Doohan at Wikipedia
- James Doohan at the Internet Movie Database
- Hollywood Star For Scotty - James Doohan receives a star on the Walk of Fame
- Obituary: James Doohan - James Doohan's obituary on BBC News
- James Doohan at TriviaTribute.com - pictures, sound clips and trivia
