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.
I’m too shocked for a thoughtful eulogy right now. Everyone who watched Star Trek liked Scotty, but everyone who met him loved Jimmy . . . I’m sure I’m not the only person today who feels like they lost a friend. My thoughts are with his family.
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Mr. Doohan was, what I feel is, a real Canadian. As in, he was always so kind, thoughtful, and modest, you often never found out he WAS from Canada. And to hear of his involvement in D-Day? Well, even I never knew that one. He made everyone with a bit of Scottish in them (or more, like me!) very proud as well.
I hear some of his remains are going to be launched into space. That seems so right, somehow. I hope he gives the nod to Gene Roddenberry there…
So my 2 favorite original Star Trek stars are gone – class acts, both of them.
On a happier note (since I missed it the first time) according to my TV Week, CBS is airing the CSI episode “Compulsion” tonight. Woo Hoo! I am THERE!
So my 2 favorite original Star Trek stars are gone – class acts, both of them.
On a happier note (since I missed it the first time) according to my TV Week, CBS is airing the CSI episode “Compulsion” tonight. Woo Hoo! I am THERE!
Jimmy will most definitely be missed. My deepest sympathies go out to his family and friends. :o)
I had the opportunity to spend some time with Mr. Doohan in 1985 (?) (well, b4 high school haze anyway) on the set of ST IV. It was in Santa Ana, at a company that produced plexiglass…Plexicorp! That’s it!
A stunt pilot flew in a helicopter between 3-4 buildings that only allowed enuf space for the blades to turn. The shot was apparently cut from the final movie, but what an amazing bit o’ flying mate!
Mr. Kelley had emerged from the set and walked directly to his trailer, in costume and apparently still in character, as he did not stop to say hello, and Mr. Nimoy pointed out that he is very serious with his focus. Mr. Kelley later sprung from his trailer, with a very friendly smile and waved some folks over to give autographs. He had to get back to LA quickly, so he departed and left Mr. Nimoy and Mr. Doohan to deal with the small crowd that had gathered. My dad had met with all of them earlier in that day when I was in class, and got all of their signatures for me.
When Mr. Nimoy came out and was done dealing with biz, he waved my dad over and as we approached he asked if this (me!) was the young actor? Wow, not only did he remember that my dad was there earlier, he asked how much theater experience I had had to that point (about 3 yrs as I was in 9th grade I believe, again the herbal soot…) He didn
Great site Wil. Been a reader for a while. Finally decided to sign up so I can post.
Just wanted to say that James’ passing is the first celebrity to actually choke me up. I can’t say exactly why that is, butI slapped Undiscovered Country in the dvd player last night in homage. First post……..
Just listened to the NPR broadcast……what a fitting tribute, Wil, your words just about summed it up. I never had the pleasure to meet James, he sounds like he was a heck of a guy, someone who accepted his life-long recognition as a single character, and touched alot of people’s hearts. Prayers to his family and friends……
The thing I’m always going to remember is meeting him in the 1970s, on production of the animated Star Trek. He was so good at dialects and voices that he did many of the voices you hear on the show, including some you’d never guess.
I’m going to dye a glass of Scotch green and hoist one, one Scotsman to another. Amazing Grace, Jimmy.
Here’s to you, Scotty!
Should I pour a Scotch.. or rather a Romulan ale?
Okay now here’s the stumper. Did anyone also hear that the guy who voiced Piglet for Walt Disney also died. And here’s the strange thing…he’s also the guy who played the character on Star Trek who was Jack the Ripper and had tried to frame Scotty for the murder on a peaceful planet. Coincidence?!? Here’s to the both of them because for my entire childhood and adulthood they both gave me many years of enjoyment. I think I’m going to watch that episode tonight and have a glass of Scotch for the both of them.
PS. Scotty will have his ashes sent up in orbit later this year.
Jake
It always makes me smile when I see so much support and good wishes and memories emerge when someone leaves us. This is what we’re supposed to do, remember the good things about our loved ones. And James Doohan really was loved. We’ll miss you, Scotty.
Thanks Wil, for posting all those great links.
One of the most famous people ever to come out of Sarnia, ONT (the city where my grandparents lived out their retirement). I’ve always felt a touch of a connection to him because of that, as well as his guest spot on Ben Stiller.
Audio Transmission
Here’s a link to Wil’s comments on NPR (click the “LISTEN” tab at the top).
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4762683
-Good job WIl.
First the good doctor and now the engineer.
21 phaser salute.
Man I remember staying up late to first watch TOS in reruns with my little brother so many years ago.
Scotty we hardly knew ye!
>
Holy cow. Now that you mention it of course they were one and the same. I can hear that voice in my head as I type this.
Read Wil’s site learn something new.
Heres to you Mr.Scott, may you rest peacefully in that big engine room in the sky! *Raises glass*
Wil –
I don’t recall Wesley appearing in Relics or appearing at all on TNG that season. What gives with the story of you and Doohan, in your spacesuits, down in engineering????
I could have missed this in the 118 comments so forgive me if I repeat someone.
I never got to meet Mr.Doohan myself, but I do (unfortnately) own both “Trekkie” movies. True, they suck for the most part, but I think anyone who’s seen them would remember vividly this one part.
Jim talked about getting a suicide letter from a fan and instead of just ignoring it he wrote back and asked her to meet him at his next convention. And through the years she went to several of them. He always kept her going to the next one so that he could see she was alright. Then he didn’t hear from her for a while and one day got another letter thanking him for saving her life.
Now, that’s a great guy! Who knew you could tear up watching a Trekkies documentary?
In honor of the late James Doohan, Top five ways things would be different if the original Star Trek crew ran the country:
5) President Kirk’s controversial state of the union address: “We have recently learned that Iraq has been seeking significant quantities of dilithium.”
4) All those lucrative no-bid contracts going to Scotty’s pals in the warp core industry.
3) New military recruits officially referred to as “red shirts.”
2) “I did not have sexual relations with that green-skinned Orion slave girl.”
1) Old national symbol: the eagle. New national symbol: the tribble.
~Karen K
One truly great Canadian….
he will be missed.
He’s somewhere out there watching down on all of us….
My first post…
I don’t know why this has hit me as hard as it has. I think when Deforest passed away, I was too busy running away from Trek for it to really process. All of my friends were hardcore trekkies, while I seemingly absorded it be osmosis. Now they’re gone, moved onto other obsessions such as anime, but I’m left with a lasting respect for trek.
So I popped in two dvds tonight, having seen II and III not so long ago, I popped in IV and then VI (let’s just skip over V 😉 ). I don’t know why, but the ending of VI was so sad for me this time. I just couldn’t stop crying. I guess what with the entire storyline of what they were trying to achieve (I’m an idealist), combined with it being more or less the last of the entire old gen cast, combined with the death of James Doohan.. made for a very emotional Trek.
Especially the ending shot, where if I’m not mistaken, flanking the captain’s chair on either side, were Scotty and McCoy. And then at the end where they sign off with their signatures… I was just sobbing.
But ya know what drew me to your blog Wil? Not one thing having to do with trek. I haven’t watched as much of TNG as most people here (something that’s being fixed, thanks to late night reruns), but what drew me to your blog was you and your writing. 🙂
BTW – on a happier note, while we don’t get CSI in a timely manner here in Finland, I asked mom about how you did. She didn’t know who you are, but I described your character, and you wanna know what she said? “Oh yeah, he was excellent! Not your normal guest star material! You’re kidding, he was on Star Trek?”
So even people who don’t know you, unbiased viewers who are just watching a tv show, noticed you’re great. 🙂
I never met James.
I saw him do a narration piece at an off-Broadway play (return to the forbidden planet).
Some friends of mine ran into him at a mall, and he invited them home for tea.
He was truly a nice man.
Mr Scott, Godspeed my friend and thank you
Hey Wil, wu-ping had a good point. You weren’t in the TNG episode entitled Relics. In fact,you had long departed the series and were not in an episode that entire season(season 6). Could you have been confused on the details or were you visiting the set when they filmed the show? You know us die hard Trekkies keep up with things like that. What gives???? Inquiring minds want to know.
So it turns out that somewhere in the past 15 years, a few memories have blurred together.
I must have been at Paramount for something else, or visiting the set for some reason long lost to the haze of my memory, and visited with Jimmy then.
Obviously, my memory of sitting in our spacesuits can’t be correct, but I *cleary* recall sitting together around the “pool table” in the engineering set on stage nine, and I clearly recall Jimmy’s kindness and enthusiasm for working on TNG.
So I apologize for screwing up some of the details that a few Trekkies obsessively track, but my error doesn’t change the way I feel about Jimmy, the fond memories I have of his kindness toward me and every single fan I ever saw him interact with, and my celebration of his legacy.
Ah yes, the great Mr. Scott. He will be missed just like “Bones”. Losing such powerful and defined characters have surely left an empty space in our lives. So now we are left to explore that “space” which they have left to us.
Godspeed Mr. Doohan.
Or maybe it will be Wilspeed.
http://forums.fark.com/cgi/fark/comments.pl?IDLink=1581114
(a bit of levity for a somber moment – you’ll have to scroll towards the end to find it)
I have only briefly seen James and his wife shopping for computers. He was very personable. I guess now was his time to move from The Final Frontier to the Ultimate Frontier.If you would like to see his filmography, you can find it at:http://imdb.com/name/nm0001150/It would be nice to find a rental, remember him, and toast him by saying “It’s Green”.
I loved scotty as a young one. Even before TNG came out I loved StarTrek. I always loved engineer Scott. I’ll miss my fellow North westerner James Doohan
wow, I had no idea he passed. Sorry to hear that 🙁
I have to say I’m pleased with the media overall, regarding James Doohan. Most of the press had such wonderful things to say about him, and not just in death. He was one of those men you really couldn’t dish any dirt on. One of the few true heros.
Ouch!
This is going to leave a mark…
Great man – sad day.
I remember meeting him once when I was five… couldn’t figure out why he was “out of uniform”
I just wanted to say I appreciate your candor in answering my last post. It is certainly understandable that time could cloud memory, Happens to me all the time. I daresay that some of the events of the last 15 years of my life have become a bit distorted in my mind. I truly hope I didn’t offend you by asking. Once again you have proven to be a stand up guy. Thanks for putting up with us nit-picking Trekkies!
Thank you for your comments on Talk of the Nation. I meant to post something about it here earlier.