Jimmy Doohan of Star Trek moved on
07-20-05 | 10:36 PM
#51
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I can't believe it was just 4 years ago that he was at Dragon Con, I still recall his panels vividly, and the stories he related to an appreciative crowd.
RIP, Scotty!
If you must know about his missing finger, here's one of the photos I have of him at Dragon Con 2001:
RIP, Scotty!
If you must know about his missing finger, here's one of the photos I have of him at Dragon Con 2001:
07-20-05 | 10:41 PM
#53
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From: Sesame Street (the apt. next to Bob's)
From all accounts, and not just those in this thread, James Doohan was the sweetest guy you could ever want to meet. Yet he still despised Shatner. So what kind of extra special load is The Shat?
"Wolf in the Fold" is probably my favorite episode of the series.
"Wolf in the Fold" is probably my favorite episode of the series.
07-21-05 | 08:33 AM
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From: Lawrenceville, GA
Years ago I worked at a con in Atlanta (not DragonCon) that had Doohan as a guest. He was answering the typical Trek questions when a girl stood up and talked about the problems she was having with her parents.
Without missing a beat, Doohan listened to the girl's statements, and made some suggestions about how to deal with the problem, coming from the perspective of a parent. When he was done, he got a standing ovation.
It's truly a unique personality who would answer a question like that. (Could you see Shatner doing that? Didn't think so.) I liked Doohan before I heard that story, and afterward he was always one of my favorites from all of Trek.
Godspeed into the infinite, Jimmy.
Without missing a beat, Doohan listened to the girl's statements, and made some suggestions about how to deal with the problem, coming from the perspective of a parent. When he was done, he got a standing ovation.
It's truly a unique personality who would answer a question like that. (Could you see Shatner doing that? Didn't think so.) I liked Doohan before I heard that story, and afterward he was always one of my favorites from all of Trek.
Godspeed into the infinite, Jimmy.
07-21-05 | 10:17 AM
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From: Pittsburgh, PA, USA
I met Doohan back when I was feverishly into Star Trek in the mid-90's at a local convention. He was incredibly gracious and I can't say enough good things about him. He was one of the few Trek celebrities who genuinely seemed to love interacting with the fans and openly embrace what Trek had made him. He made it a point to be very warm to everyone while signing autographs by making sure to converse and chat with everyone that came up to him.
Doohan was an altogether great guy and it was very sad for me to see that he had to suffer from Alzheimer's, a disease my own family has been dealing with for some time.
Doohan was an altogether great guy and it was very sad for me to see that he had to suffer from Alzheimer's, a disease my own family has been dealing with for some time.
07-21-05 | 10:36 AM
#57
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James Doohan to be sent to his final frontier
LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- He made his name in Hollywood beaming his colleagues back to the safety of the Enterprise on "Star Trek." Now, actor James Doohan's family is hoping to beam him up to the "final frontier" that Doohan's character "Scotty" loved so dearly.
The actor, who died Wednesday at age 85, had told relatives he wanted his ashes blasted into outer space, as was done for "Star Trek" creator Gene Roddenberry.
"He'll be there with his buddy, which is wonderful," said Doohan's agent and longtime friend, Steve Stevens.
Doohan died at his home in Redmond, Wash., with his wife of 31 years, Wende, at his side. He had retired from public events last year, not long after announcing he had Alzheimer's disease.
Houston-based Space Services Inc., which specializes in space memorials, plans to send a few grams of Doohan's ashes aboard a rocket later this year. The remains, which will be sealed in an aluminum capsule, will eventually burn up when they re-enter Earth's atmosphere.
It should be a fitting finale for an actor who, as the Starship Enterprise's frazzled chief engineer saved the Enterprise almost every week from blowing up, burning up or being overrun by renegade aliens when the warp drive, the phasers, the shields, the power cells or some other futuristic collection of doohickies failed.
As the man who commanded the Enterprise's particle beam transporter, Doohan's character also inspired the phrase, "Beam me up, Scotty." Capt. Kirk and other members of the Enterprise crew never really issued the order quite that way, however, until the fourth "Star Trek" film when Kirk said, "Scotty, beam me up."
A master of dialects from his early years in radio, the Canadian-born Doohan experimented with seven different accents for the hard-pressed engineer.
"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."'
Doohan was born March 3, 1920, in Vancouver, British Columbia, the youngest of four children of William Doohan, a pharmacist, veterinarian and dentist, and his wife, Sarah. He wrote in his autobiography, "Beam Me Up, Scotty," that his father was a drunk who made life miserable for his wife and children.
At 19, he escaped the turmoil at home by joining the Canadian army, where he became a lieutenant in the artillery and was among the Canadian forces that landed on Juno Beach on D-Day.
After the war, Doohan enrolled in a drama class in Toronto on a whim. 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 steady work as a character actor in films and television in Canada and the United States. Then came "Star Trek" and fans forever screaming "Beam me up, Scotty."
"Good gracious, it's been said to me for just about 31 years," he said in an 1998 interview. "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."
Married three times, Doohan was the father of nine children.
"A long and storied career is over," William Shatner, who played Kirk, said Wednesday.
Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- He made his name in Hollywood beaming his colleagues back to the safety of the Enterprise on "Star Trek." Now, actor James Doohan's family is hoping to beam him up to the "final frontier" that Doohan's character "Scotty" loved so dearly.
The actor, who died Wednesday at age 85, had told relatives he wanted his ashes blasted into outer space, as was done for "Star Trek" creator Gene Roddenberry.
"He'll be there with his buddy, which is wonderful," said Doohan's agent and longtime friend, Steve Stevens.
Doohan died at his home in Redmond, Wash., with his wife of 31 years, Wende, at his side. He had retired from public events last year, not long after announcing he had Alzheimer's disease.
Houston-based Space Services Inc., which specializes in space memorials, plans to send a few grams of Doohan's ashes aboard a rocket later this year. The remains, which will be sealed in an aluminum capsule, will eventually burn up when they re-enter Earth's atmosphere.
It should be a fitting finale for an actor who, as the Starship Enterprise's frazzled chief engineer saved the Enterprise almost every week from blowing up, burning up or being overrun by renegade aliens when the warp drive, the phasers, the shields, the power cells or some other futuristic collection of doohickies failed.
As the man who commanded the Enterprise's particle beam transporter, Doohan's character also inspired the phrase, "Beam me up, Scotty." Capt. Kirk and other members of the Enterprise crew never really issued the order quite that way, however, until the fourth "Star Trek" film when Kirk said, "Scotty, beam me up."
A master of dialects from his early years in radio, the Canadian-born Doohan experimented with seven different accents for the hard-pressed engineer.
"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."'
Doohan was born March 3, 1920, in Vancouver, British Columbia, the youngest of four children of William Doohan, a pharmacist, veterinarian and dentist, and his wife, Sarah. He wrote in his autobiography, "Beam Me Up, Scotty," that his father was a drunk who made life miserable for his wife and children.
At 19, he escaped the turmoil at home by joining the Canadian army, where he became a lieutenant in the artillery and was among the Canadian forces that landed on Juno Beach on D-Day.
After the war, Doohan enrolled in a drama class in Toronto on a whim. 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 steady work as a character actor in films and television in Canada and the United States. Then came "Star Trek" and fans forever screaming "Beam me up, Scotty."
"Good gracious, it's been said to me for just about 31 years," he said in an 1998 interview. "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."
Married three times, Doohan was the father of nine children.
"A long and storied career is over," William Shatner, who played Kirk, said Wednesday.
Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Last edited by Numanoid; 07-21-05 at 12:42 PM.
07-21-05 | 11:29 AM
#58
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From: The Appian Way by way of Birmingham, AL
No Scotty stories, just a lot of love for a man who contributed a lot to my childhood. He lived a long life and was able to pass on without, I hope, too much suffering.
RIP Scotty
RIP Scotty
07-21-05 | 12:48 PM
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From: Between the beginning and the end
I have a book on tape read by him. It is called The Kobayashi Maru. In it the crew talks about how they did on the test. Of course he read Scotty in full charactor. His answer to the no win situation was the best I thought(somthing about 15 Klingon ships!) He also read the part of Chekov in a great Russian accent pretty well
I grew up watching the reruns of Trek my favorite episodes where the ones where he was talking over the bridge for Kirk.
I grew up watching the reruns of Trek my favorite episodes where the ones where he was talking over the bridge for Kirk.
07-21-05 | 12:52 PM
#60
DVD Talk Gold Edition
Oh man, chalk up another celebrity that I've met that has passed on.
I'm not a big trekkie, but enjoyed meeting him and helping to interview him at a radio station back in '99. He really showed his age, but at least he got another 5-6 years out of life before leaving us.
He'll always hold a memorable place in American pop culture.
I'm not a big trekkie, but enjoyed meeting him and helping to interview him at a radio station back in '99. He really showed his age, but at least he got another 5-6 years out of life before leaving us.
He'll always hold a memorable place in American pop culture.
Last edited by SleepyW; 07-21-05 at 01:15 PM.
04-02-07 | 04:30 PM
#62
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From: Somewhere between Heaven and Hell
Doohan's ashes to be blasted into space
LAS CRUCES, N.M. - The ashes of James Doohan, who played chief engineer Montgomery "Scotty" Scott on the original "Star Trek" TV series, have been loaded into a rocket that is set to launch in New Mexico later this month.
The remains of Doohan, Mercury astronaut Gordon Cooper and some 200 others were loaded into the rocket Friday by Charles Chafer, chief executive of Celestis, a Texas company that contracts with rocket firms to send cremated remains into space.
"And we're ready to go," Chafer said after inserting the silver canister.
Jerry Larson, president of Connecticut-based UP Aerospace Inc., said the rocket will be launched April 28.
Families paid $495 to have a few grams of their loved one's ashes placed on the rocket.
Chafer said he's aware of the dedication of "Star Trek" fans.
"There's no doubt that we'll find a way to accommodate fans who travel here and want to be part of that experience," he said.
Doohan died in July 2005 at age 85.
The remains of "Star Trek" creator Gene Roddenberry were blasted into space in 1997.
LAS CRUCES, N.M. - The ashes of James Doohan, who played chief engineer Montgomery "Scotty" Scott on the original "Star Trek" TV series, have been loaded into a rocket that is set to launch in New Mexico later this month.
The remains of Doohan, Mercury astronaut Gordon Cooper and some 200 others were loaded into the rocket Friday by Charles Chafer, chief executive of Celestis, a Texas company that contracts with rocket firms to send cremated remains into space.
"And we're ready to go," Chafer said after inserting the silver canister.
Jerry Larson, president of Connecticut-based UP Aerospace Inc., said the rocket will be launched April 28.
Families paid $495 to have a few grams of their loved one's ashes placed on the rocket.
Chafer said he's aware of the dedication of "Star Trek" fans.
"There's no doubt that we'll find a way to accommodate fans who travel here and want to be part of that experience," he said.
Doohan died in July 2005 at age 85.
The remains of "Star Trek" creator Gene Roddenberry were blasted into space in 1997.
04-03-07 | 04:30 AM
#64
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From: Gateway Cities/Harbor Region
I can't wait til either space organisms or radiation causes mutation of the ashes and they return to kill us. 
Last edited by Giantrobo; 04-28-07 at 12:22 PM.
04-28-07 | 11:12 AM
#65
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From: Somewhere between Heaven and Hell
Star Trek's Scotty's ashes fly to space
By ALICIA A. CALDWELL, Associated Press Writer
1 minute ago
UPHAM, N.M. - The cremated remains of actor James Doohan, who portrayed engineer "Scotty" on "Star Trek," and of Apollo 7 astronaut Gordon Cooper soared into suborbital space Saturday aboard a rocket.
It was the first successful launch from Spaceport America, a commercial spaceport being developed in the southern New Mexico desert.
Suzan Cooper and Wende Doohan fired the rocket carrying small amounts of their husbands' ashes at 8:56 a.m. local time.
"Go baby, go baby," said Eric Knight of the commercial launch company, UP Aerospace Inc. of Farmington, Conn.
Since it was a suborbital flight, the rocket soon plummeted back to Earth, coming down at the White Sands Missile Range.
"We nailed it. We stuck the landing," said Knight.
UP Aerospace launched the first rocket from the desert site in September, but that Spaceloft XL rocket crashed into the desert after spiraling out of control about nine seconds after liftoff. Company officials blamed the failure on a faulty fin design.
Family members paid $495 to place a few grams of their relatives' ashes on the rocket. Celestis, a Houston company, contracted with UP to send the cremated remains into space.
Charles Chafer, chief executive of Celestis, said last month that a CD with more than 11,000 condolences and fan notes was placed on the rocket with Doohan's remains.
Doohan died in July 2005 at age 85. The remains of "Star Trek" creator Gene Roddenberry were sent into space in 1997.
The launch from the fledgling spaceport — currently a 100-foot by 25-foot concrete slab in a patch of desert more than 50 miles north of Las Cruces — keeps the New Mexico project ahead of its nearest competitor, in West Texas.
Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon.com, is said to be developing the spaceport north of Van Horn, Texas. Bezos' Blue Origin is working to develop tourist space flights.
British billionaire Richard Branson also has announced plans to launch a space tourism company, which is expected to have its headquarters at the New Mexico spaceport.
By ALICIA A. CALDWELL, Associated Press Writer
1 minute ago
UPHAM, N.M. - The cremated remains of actor James Doohan, who portrayed engineer "Scotty" on "Star Trek," and of Apollo 7 astronaut Gordon Cooper soared into suborbital space Saturday aboard a rocket.
It was the first successful launch from Spaceport America, a commercial spaceport being developed in the southern New Mexico desert.
Suzan Cooper and Wende Doohan fired the rocket carrying small amounts of their husbands' ashes at 8:56 a.m. local time.
"Go baby, go baby," said Eric Knight of the commercial launch company, UP Aerospace Inc. of Farmington, Conn.
Since it was a suborbital flight, the rocket soon plummeted back to Earth, coming down at the White Sands Missile Range.
"We nailed it. We stuck the landing," said Knight.
UP Aerospace launched the first rocket from the desert site in September, but that Spaceloft XL rocket crashed into the desert after spiraling out of control about nine seconds after liftoff. Company officials blamed the failure on a faulty fin design.
Family members paid $495 to place a few grams of their relatives' ashes on the rocket. Celestis, a Houston company, contracted with UP to send the cremated remains into space.
Charles Chafer, chief executive of Celestis, said last month that a CD with more than 11,000 condolences and fan notes was placed on the rocket with Doohan's remains.
Doohan died in July 2005 at age 85. The remains of "Star Trek" creator Gene Roddenberry were sent into space in 1997.
The launch from the fledgling spaceport — currently a 100-foot by 25-foot concrete slab in a patch of desert more than 50 miles north of Las Cruces — keeps the New Mexico project ahead of its nearest competitor, in West Texas.
Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon.com, is said to be developing the spaceport north of Van Horn, Texas. Bezos' Blue Origin is working to develop tourist space flights.
British billionaire Richard Branson also has announced plans to launch a space tourism company, which is expected to have its headquarters at the New Mexico spaceport.
