BS: Obit: Beam him up one last time (James Doohan)

Subject: BS: Obit: Beam him up one last time
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 20 Jul 05 - 12:02 PM

Awwww. . .


Star Trek's Doohan Dies
July 20, 2005

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.

Doohan 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.'"

Subject: Obit: James Doohan - Scotty
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 20 Jul 05 - 12:08 PM

His crystals cannae tek it any mair, he's beamed up for the last time.

Canadian James Doohan of Star Trek fame died today aged 85.

He saw action on D-Day, became a father for the 7th time at age 80 and starred in 7 Star Trek movies.

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: Obit: Beam him up one last time
From: jacqui.c
Date: 20 Jul 05 - 12:19 PM

Inevitable, but sad to see yet another of the crew bite the dust.

Subject: RE: BS: Obit: Beam him up one last time
From: Bill D
Date: 20 Jul 05 - 12:20 PM

bye, Scotty

Subject: RE: Obit: James Doohan - Scotty
From: Lowden Jameswright
Date: 20 Jul 05 - 12:22 PM

3rd star on the left, and straight on 'till morning

Subject: RE: Obit: James Doohan - Scotty
From: kendall
Date: 20 Jul 05 - 12:22 PM

Another one to be missed...

Subject: RE: BS: Obit: Beam him up one last time
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 20 Jul 05 - 12:29 PM

Bill, what was that? I had a dialog box coming up asking me for all sorts of permission for cookies and such.

Here is the rest of the obit: the last one was truncated because the file didn't load completely the first time:


"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."

Subject: RE: BS: Obit: Beam him up one last time
From: Little Hawk
Date: 20 Jul 05 - 12:32 PM

Sigh...

Ah, Scotty, we hardly knew ye. Bill is going to be inconsolable. The WSSBA buildings will be draped in black for the next seven days, and a wake will be held in the main rotunda.

Subject: RE: BS: Obit: Beam him up one last time
From: Bill D
Date: 20 Jul 05 - 12:36 PM

huh, SRS? That is just a link to a .wav file on MY pages. It isn't even linked to anyone....(and it works for me just fine...weird)

Subject: RE: BS: Obit: Beam him up one last time
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 20 Jul 05 - 12:38 PM

Probably because I haven't installed any of the advanced features for the program. They get too bossy in the computer. I'll go back and take a look at what it wants to install, but I won't let it take over all of the files with all of the prefixes that it wants to!

Subject: RE: Obit: James Doohan - Scotty
From: katlaughing
Date: 20 Jul 05 - 01:34 PM

At least he never got assimilated by the Borg.:-)

A father again at 80! That's impressive, though sad for the wee one, to lose him so soon.

I heard this on the radio, this morning, and thought of all of the shows our kids watched with him...they were raised on Star Trek and Dr. Who, amonth other shows.

Another good one gone, fondly remembered, and missed.

Rest well, Scotty.

Kat, Rog, and family

Subject: RE: Obit: James Doohan - Scotty
From: GUEST,Mrr
Date: 20 Jul 05 - 01:37 PM

Just read his obit on the net - Had anybody realized that he was missing one finger? I remember when I found that out about Radar, and now I'm going to have to check out the old Trek series to see what he did with his hands...

I'm sorry he's dead but I'm glad for his family that he didn't have time to disintegrate completely from Alzheimer's.

Fondly remembered indeed!

Subject: Obit: James Doohan (Scotty)
From: artbrooks
Date: 20 Jul 05 - 04:10 PM

Star Trek's Scotty, James Doohan, was beamed up for the last time Wednesday morning at age 85. More here.

Subject: RE: BS: Obit: Beam him up one last time (James Doohan)
From: Amergin
Date: 20 Jul 05 - 04:14 PM

I once met a woman who use to clean for him....according to her he was ever the gentleman.

Subject: RE: Obit: James Doohan (Scotty)
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 20 Jul 05 - 04:16 PM

And with a daughter born in the year 2000!

Subject: RE: Obit: James Doohan (Scotty)
From: muppitz
Date: 20 Jul 05 - 04:26 PM

Something that really bugged me though, my local radio station quoted him as bieng most associated with the phrase "Beam me up Scotty from the TV series Star Trek", he may have been associated with that phrase but it was NEVER used in the programme!

He had a good innings, bless him!

muppitz x

Subject: RE: BS: Obit: Beam him up one last time (James Doohan)
From: gnu
Date: 20 Jul 05 - 04:30 PM

RIP. I never knew he landed at Juno and took six bullets. Thanks James.

Subject: Obit: Scotty's dead
From: Shanghaiceltic
Date: 20 Jul 05 - 05:06 PM

Actor James Doohan has died AKA Scotty.

Star Trek's Scotty, James Doohan, dies
(Filed: 20/07/2005)

James Doohan, the actor who played Star Trek's Scotty for more than 25 years, has died, aged 85.

He died at his home in Washington state in the early hours of the morning.

His agent, Steve Stevens, said the actor had died from pneumonia and Alzheimer's disease with his wife of 28 years, Wende, at his side.

Canadian-born Doohan became famous in the mid-Sixties for his role as Montgomery Scott, the engineer of the USS Enterprise, in Star Trek.

He left behind a successful career as a character actor for the role, with which he would be identified for the rest of his life.

The series, which starred William Shatner as Capt James T Kirk and Leonard Nimoy as Mr Spock, was cancelled in 1969 by broadcaster NBS, after just three seasons.

However, Doohan reprised his role a decade later when the series was revived on the big screen and continued to appear in the films until 1994.

He continued to attend Star Trek fan conventions until last year but he didn't always get on with his co-stars. He said: "I like Captain Kirk, but I sure don't like Bill. He's so insecure that all he can think about is himself."

Doohan was born in Vancouver on March 3, 1920 and was among the Canadian forces that landed on Juno Beach on D-Day.

He was married three times and had nine children. Sarah, his youngest child, was born in 2000 when the actor was 80.

Subject: RE: Obit: Scotty's dead
From: Don Firth
Date: 20 Jul 05 - 05:21 PM

So finally HE got beamed up.

Just spotted this while I was looking up something else. I knew he lived in this area somewhere, but I didn't know where. Redmond is just across Lake Washington from Seattle.

clicky.

Don Firth

Subject: RE: BS: Obit: Beam him up one last time (James Doohan)
From: ranger1
Date: 20 Jul 05 - 10:18 PM

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! And it was such a good day until I read this! First Bones, now Scotty. He also did an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. It was always one of my favorite episodes.

Subject: RE: BS: Obit: Beam him up one last time (James Doohan)
From: Kaleea
Date: 20 Jul 05 - 10:50 PM

I met Mr. Doohan when he was at a sci-fi convention a few years back in Wichita. A friend of a friend put the convention together as a fund raiser for medical research, so my nephew & I actually met & chatted with him & some Irish friends of mine got a jam together for him. He loved the music, and sang an old ballad for us.
    By then, he was pushed around in a wheel chair, and stood to go on stage. My trekkie nephew was impressed by him, as a "regular guy." Mr. Doohan spoke quite a bit about WWII, and influenced my nephew to do considerable research to find out about our family members who were "over there."
   If you haven't read his autobiography, it's good. He discusses quite a bit of history in it. He was a gentleman who is missed.
The good news is, that he is frozen in time in a shuttlecraft, tumbling in space, & in a few hundred years, will be found & patched up almost good as new, to beam all over the gallaxy. Till then, now that he's 'on the other side,' he'll have to settle for 'assisting' researchers trying to beam matter. After all, he wasn't called "the miracle worker" for nothing.

Subject: RE: BS: Obit: Beam him up one last time (James Doohan)
From: Shanghaiceltic
Date: 21 Jul 05 - 01:38 AM

This was the rather nice obit from the Online Telegraph.

James Doohan
(Filed: 21/07/2005)

James Doohan, who died yesterday aged 85, played Scotty, chief engineer of the USS Enterprise in the original Star Trek television series and films; he was at the receiving end of one the screen's most famous injunctions, "Beam me up, Scotty," whenever a member of his crew needed to be re-materialised in the spacecraft.

As a character actor who had spent his early years in radio, building a reputation for mastering dialects, Doohan was auditioned for a role as an engineer for the new NBC television series in 1966.

He offered a number of different accents, and the producers asked him which he preferred. Doohan opted for Scots, because "all the world's best engineers have been Scottish". The result might have passed muster in the United States, but when Scotty would insist to Captain Kirk (William Shatner) that "You cannae change the laws of physics", the delivery would have fooled no one north of Berwick-upon-Tweed.

Nonetheless, his character (Montgomery Scott) was a success and also inspired a generation of young engineers - the Milwaukee School of Engineering even invested Doohan with an honorary doctorate.

James Montgomery Doohan was born on March 3 1920 in Vancouver, and was brought up there and in Ontario. His father was an alcoholic, and James left home at 19 to go to war.

As a captain in the Royal Canadian Artillery, he led his men into battle on Juno Beach on D-Day, helping to secure a field and establish command posts. That night, however, Doohan was hit by machine-gun fire, taking four bullets in the leg and three in the middle finger of his right hand; he lost the finger, and an eighth bullet hit him in the chest - but he was saved by the sterling silver cigarette case in his pocket. For the remainder of the war Doohan served as a pilot observer.

After returning to Canada, Doohan performed on local radio before winning a two-year scholarship in 1946 to the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York City. He then worked consistently in radio and television, as well as on stage and in films, in both America and Canada. He eventually gravitated to Hollywood, landing parts in many films and television series, including The Twilight Zone, Outer Limits and Fantasy Island.

When the Star Trek series ended in 1969, Doohan found himself typecast as Montgomery Scott. He appeared in five Star Trek films (he devised the Vulcan and Klingon languages for Star Trek: The Motion Picture), and forged another career as a public speaker, addressing campuses throughout the United States and Canada. He also appeared at Star Trek conventions.

As his health began to fail in recent years, Doohan denied rumours that he had Alzheimer's disease, saying: "If I had Alzheimer's, I think I'd remember." He made his final convention appearance last year, in Los Angeles, when he was also honoured with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Doohan's first marriage to Janet Young produced four children, and he had two by his second marriage to Anita Yagel. Both marriages ended in divorce. In 1974 he married Wende Braunberger, with whom he had two sons and a daughter.

Subject: RE: BS: Obit: Beam him up one last time (James Doohan)
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 Jul 05 - 02:24 AM

Probably just as well he married three times, to spread out the kids. I'd wager it's difficult to convince one woman to go through nine pregnancies these days!

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Obit: Beam him up one last time (James Doohan)
From: CET
Date: 21 Jul 05 - 10:11 PM

The obit I read today said he commanded a company of the Royal Winnipeg Rifles in the assault on Juno Beach. The RWR were in the first wave. If so, he must have been one of the last remaining D-Day infantry company commanders. If he spent the rest of the war as a pilot observer, however, it seems more likely that he was a gunner. I think I knew that he had served in the war, but I didn't know that he had seen the elephant from such a short distance.

Edmund

Subject: RE: BS: Obit: Beam him up one last time (James Doohan)
From: Bobert
Date: 21 Jul 05 - 10:16 PM

Be careful what ya' ask for next time, Scotty, but...

Godspeed to ya....

Subject: RE: BS: Obit: Beam him up one last time (James Doohan)
From: GUEST,Seonaid
Date: 21 Jul 05 - 10:26 PM

Did anyone notice the Scotty characteristics of the engineering chicken ("Mac") in "Chicken Run"?
There was even a line about "giving her all I can, Captain" or some such --
In any case, the many aspects of a favorite persona live on.

Subject: RE: BS: Obit: Beam him up one last time (James Doo
From: GUEST
Date: 11 May 06 - 12:03 AM

SHAT

Subject: RE: BS: Obit: Beam him up one last time (James Doohan)
From: Becca72
Date: 11 May 06 - 08:34 AM

NER