Star Trek's James Doohan Has Died

*Raph's Girl* · 07-20-2005, 10:09 AM

This just in! James Doohan died this morning in Seattle. The local news put it as a late breaking news report of course.

Here's the yahoo news article:
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...tv/obit_doohan

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.

Raph's Girl note: He is now at peace...and can say hi to Gene, De Kelly, and all the other trek stars that have gone on before him.

*damnhooligan* · 07-20-2005, 10:22 AM

Aww, man.

James Doohan was one of my mom's heroes. She was one of the many of her generation that became an engineer because of his role on Star Trek. Hell, she named her first born son "Scotty".

I'm givin' ya all she's got, Captain!

~~BartAllen~~ · 07-20-2005, 11:30 AM

He was 85 and had been suffering from Alzheimers.. this is terrible news..
Go Boldly, Mr. Scott.

Barts Note. I guess he wont be able to beam me up anymore.

~~BartAllen~~ · 07-20-2005, 02:05 PM

oh thats messed up. i posted this news first. and i get knocked down to 3rd post. and they say the mods are nice at this site.

*damnhooligan* · 07-20-2005, 02:19 PM

Raph's Girl posted this before you, just in the TV/Movies subforum. The mods just combined the two, I guarantee, with no favouritism.

*Anarky* · 07-20-2005, 02:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BartAllen

oh thats messed up. i posted this news first. and i get knocked down to 3rd post. and they say the mods are nice at this site.

It's my only goal to torture you. I want you make you suffer by pushing down your posts.

Come on, all I did was combining threads. And does it really matter who's first?

**ThirdMarioBro** · 07-20-2005, 03:13 PM

*sigh*, this makes me sad. I met him two years ago at a Star Trek Expo in Oklahoma. They said it was the last convention he'd ever do because of his health. He was in such bad shape he could barely hold the Microphone, but he was trying so hard because you could tell he enjoyed it so much. I have a really hard time talking to famous people, but I sucked it up and did it anyway. He was one of the nicest people ever.

Makes me really glad that I did now. I'll miss him.

**Jester** · 07-20-2005, 03:47 PM

Man, I loved Star Trek, and Scotty was one of my favorite characters, which leads me to quote Family Guy's death of Shatner for Mr. Doohan:
"Light growing dimmer....can't....breathe. Beam me up,.....God!"

*Voltron* · 07-20-2005, 04:55 PM

Ugh! I don't believe this! When he played the pipes in Wrath of Khan?!? Brought a tear to my eye... MAN! Doohan was the greatest! I'm really gonna miss him.

*damnhooligan* · 07-20-2005, 05:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Voltron

Ugh! I don't believe this! When he played the pipes in Wrath of Khan?!? Brought a tear to my eye... MAN! Doohan was the greatest! I'm really gonna miss him.

I just saw that! They played Wrath of Khan tonight, just a couple hours ago.

I blame KHAAAAAANNN!

**GK Punk** · 07-20-2005, 06:24 PM

Wow.. that's really sad news. He'll never be forgotten by his fans though.
(yet another Trekker pops out of the woodwork)

Quote:

Originally Posted by BartAllen

oh thats messed up. i posted this news first. and i get knocked down to 3rd post. and they say the mods are nice at this site.

Look at the time stamps, she posted it about an hour before you. When threads are merged, we don't pick the order the posts come up in. It does it automatically by what time they were posted.

**Jo Dawn** · 07-20-2005, 07:11 PM

I was never a big Trek fan... but I always had a soft spot for Scotty... *sigh* Rest in peace, Mr. Doohan, you brought joy to millions. And my condolences to the family.

~~BartAllen~~ · 07-21-2005, 05:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anarky

It's my only goal to torture you. I want you make you suffer by pushing down your posts.

Come on, all I did was combining threads. And does it really matter who's first?

well it could be jealousy cause i talk to todd nauck all the time.

*Raph's Girl* · 07-21-2005, 12:02 PM

To celebrate the life of James Doohan, who died July 20, Spike TV will preempt its normal Friday prime-time lineup to present a two-hour block of Star Trek episodes featuring Doohan as Montgomery "Scotty" Scott.

*DrSpengler* · 07-21-2005, 12:47 PM

WELSHYYYYYY!!!!!

*Raph's Girl* · 07-21-2005, 06:44 PM

Tonight in Seattle at 7pm there's gonna be a public memorial service at the sci-fi museum/hall of fame... I'd go if I could find a ride up there....but with the traffic this time of night... oi....

Meanwhile James Doohan's request was that his ashes be sent up in space to be with Gene Roddenberry....so the funeral will be the next shuttle launch. Gee...is it truly a coincidence now that they had to scrub the latest launch cuz of some faulty stuff? Perhaps god wanted to keep em grounded till Scotty could go with em?

*Raph's Girl* · 07-22-2005, 01:40 PM

In memory of James Doohan, the original Star Trek star who died on July 20, NASA's Opportunity rover team gave a set of small loose rocks on the Meridiani plains on Mars the name "Scotty."

And here's an issue of Melonpool (a webcomic where the main character is an alien who just LOOOVES Star trek) that well sorta honors James Doohan...Poor James Doohan...even in Heaven he can't escape being Scotty...

**ThirdMarioBro** · 07-22-2005, 07:05 PM

Apprently my dad took it harder than I did. He seems to be really upset over this.

Raphael29 · 07-24-2005, 01:45 AM

I read that last thursday, that's a real drag, I was depressed for the whole day on Thursday, my dad and I are big Trek fans and it was a hard blow when we found out he died, Trek won't be the same w/out him. I wish he could have been in Enterprise before he died, and made a guest appearance or something, but sadly that never happened, he was a great man and will be greatly missed by Trek fans everywhere.

~~BartAllen~~ · 07-27-2005, 01:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Raph's Girl

In memory of James Doohan, the original Star Trek star who died on July 20, NASA's Opportunity rover team gave a set of small loose rocks on the Meridiani plains on Mars the name "Scotty."

And here's an issue of Melonpool (a webcomic where the main character is an alien who just LOOOVES Star trek) that well sorta honors James Doohan...Poor James Doohan...even in Heaven he can't escape being Scotty...

LOL, thats great.

07-20-2005, 10:09 AM	#1
Raph's Girl Dierna Soul, Reporter Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Jakku Posts: 10,831	James Doohan has died!! This just in! James Doohan died this morning in Seattle. The local news put it as a late breaking news report of course. Here's the yahoo news article: http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...tv/obit_doohan 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. Raph's Girl note: He is now at peace...and can say hi to Gene, De Kelly, and all the other trek stars that have gone on before him. __________________

07-20-2005, 10:22 AM	#2
damnhooligan Mad Scientist Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Dorksville, USA Posts: 1,745	Aww, man. James Doohan was one of my mom's heroes. She was one of the many of her generation that became an engineer because of his role on Star Trek. Hell, she named her first born son "Scotty". I'm givin' ya all she's got, Captain! __________________

07-20-2005, 11:30 AM	#3
~~BartAllen~~ Banned Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 922	Star Trek's James Doohan Has Died He was 85 and had been suffering from Alzheimers.. this is terrible news.. Go Boldly, Mr. Scott. Barts Note. I guess he wont be able to beam me up anymore.

07-20-2005, 02:19 PM	#5
damnhooligan Mad Scientist Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Dorksville, USA Posts: 1,745	Raph's Girl posted this before you, just in the TV/Movies subforum. The mods just combined the two, I guarantee, with no favouritism. __________________

07-20-2005, 03:13 PM	#7
ThirdMarioBro Tea Time! Join Date: Feb 2003 Posts: 8,905	sigh, this makes me sad. I met him two years ago at a Star Trek Expo in Oklahoma. They said it was the last convention he'd ever do because of his health. He was in such bad shape he could barely hold the Microphone, but he was trying so hard because you could tell he enjoyed it so much. I have a really hard time talking to famous people, but I sucked it up and did it anyway. He was one of the nicest people ever. Makes me really glad that I did now. I'll miss him. __________________

07-20-2005, 02:05 PM	#4
~~BartAllen~~ Banned Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 922	oh thats messed up. i posted this news first. and i get knocked down to 3rd post. and they say the mods are nice at this site.

07-20-2005, 03:47 PM	#8
Jester Rat-faced Dude-guy Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Arkansas Posts: 26,301	Man, I loved Star Trek, and Scotty was one of my favorite characters, which leads me to quote Family Guy's death of Shatner for Mr. Doohan: "Light growing dimmer....can't....breathe. Beam me up,.....God!" __________________ "Clearly, you're Ninja Turtling incorrectly." - Leo656

07-20-2005, 04:55 PM	#9
Voltron Handsomest Boy in School Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: The Realm of SJW Posts: 4,642	Ugh! I don't believe this! When he played the pipes in Wrath of Khan?!? Brought a tear to my eye... MAN! Doohan was the greatest! I'm really gonna miss him. __________________ I AM FOR ACTUAL! . . . and the White Savior. . . and the Right Hand of God. . .

07-20-2005, 07:11 PM	#12
Jo Dawn Inactive Moderator Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Authority On All Things Don Posts: 5,190	I was never a big Trek fan... but I always had a soft spot for Scotty... sigh Rest in peace, Mr. Doohan, you brought joy to millions. And my condolences to the family. __________________

07-21-2005, 12:02 PM	#14
Raph's Girl Dierna Soul, Reporter Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Jakku Posts: 10,831	Spike TV Honors James Doohan To celebrate the life of James Doohan, who died July 20, Spike TV will preempt its normal Friday prime-time lineup to present a two-hour block of Star Trek episodes featuring Doohan as Montgomery "Scotty" Scott. __________________

07-21-2005, 12:47 PM	#15
DrSpengler Foot Elite Join Date: May 2003 Posts: 4,842	WELSHYYYYYY!!!!!

07-21-2005, 06:44 PM	#16
Raph's Girl Dierna Soul, Reporter Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Jakku Posts: 10,831	Tonight in Seattle at 7pm there's gonna be a public memorial service at the sci-fi museum/hall of fame... I'd go if I could find a ride up there....but with the traffic this time of night... oi.... Meanwhile James Doohan's request was that his ashes be sent up in space to be with Gene Roddenberry....so the funeral will be the next shuttle launch. Gee...is it truly a coincidence now that they had to scrub the latest launch cuz of some faulty stuff? Perhaps god wanted to keep em grounded till Scotty could go with em? __________________

07-22-2005, 01:40 PM	#17
Raph's Girl Dierna Soul, Reporter Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Jakku Posts: 10,831	In memory of James Doohan, the original Star Trek star who died on July 20, NASA's Opportunity rover team gave a set of small loose rocks on the Meridiani plains on Mars the name "Scotty." And here's an issue of Melonpool (a webcomic where the main character is an alien who just LOOOVES Star trek) that well sorta honors James Doohan...Poor James Doohan...even in Heaven he can't escape being Scotty... __________________

07-22-2005, 07:05 PM	#18
ThirdMarioBro Tea Time! Join Date: Feb 2003 Posts: 8,905	Apprently my dad took it harder than I did. He seems to be really upset over this. __________________

07-24-2005, 01:45 AM	#19
Raphael29 Thug Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Texas Posts: 75	I read that last thursday, that's a real drag, I was depressed for the whole day on Thursday, my dad and I are big Trek fans and it was a hard blow when we found out he died, Trek won't be the same w/out him. I wish he could have been in Enterprise before he died, and made a guest appearance or something, but sadly that never happened, he was a great man and will be greatly missed by Trek fans everywhere. __________________ Raphael29