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James Doohan
Publicity photo of James Doohan as Scotty from the television program Star Trek
Born	James Montgomery Doohan (1920-03-03)March 3, 1920 Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Died	July 20, 2005(2005-07-20) (aged 85) Redmond, Washington, U.S.
Alma mater	Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre, Lorne Greene Academy of Radio Arts
Occupations	Actor author
Years active	1952–2005
Known for	Montgomery "Scotty" Scott
Television	Star Trek
Spouses	Janet Young ​ ​(m. 1949; div. 1964)​ Anita Yagel ​ ​(m. 1967; div. 1972)​ Wende Braunberger ​(m. 1974)​
Children	7, including Chris
Military career
Allegiance	Canada
Service / branch	Canadian Army
Years of service	1938–1945
Rank	Lieutenant
Unit	2nd Canadian Infantry Division 3rd Canadian Infantry Division 666 (AOP) Squadron, RCAF
Battles / wars	World War II Operation Overlord

James Montgomery Doohan (/ˈduːən/; March 3, 1920 – July 20, 2005) was a Canadian actor, best known for his role as Montgomery "Scotty" Scott in the television and film series Star Trek. Doohan's characterization of the Scottish chief engineer of the Starship Enterprise has become one of the most recognizable elements in the Star Trek franchise, and inspired many fans to pursue careers in engineering and other technical fields. He also made contributions behind the scenes, such as the initial development of the Klingon and Vulcan languages.

Prior to his acting career, Doohan served in the 14th Field Artillery Regiment of the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division. He also served as an Artillery Forward Observation Officer (FOO) and pilot. He saw combat in Europe during World War II, including the D-Day invasion of Normandy, in which he was wounded, apparently by friendly fire. After the war, he had extensive experience performing in radio and television, which led to his role as Scotty. Following the cancellation of the original Star Trek series, Doohan was typecast and had limited success in finding other roles; he returned to play the character in the animated and film continuations of the series, and made frequent appearances at Star Trek conventions.

Early life

Doohan was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, the youngest of four children of William Patrick Doohan and Sarah Frances (née Montgomery), who both emigrated from Bangor, Ireland. His father, William Doohan, was born in Belfast, and was a pharmacist, veterinarian and dentist, and a member of the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland. William Doohan owned a chemist shop in Main Street in Bangor beside Trinity Presbyterian Church and reportedly invented an early form of high-octane gasoline in 1923. Doohan's 1996 autobiography recounted his father's serious alcoholism.

The family moved from Vancouver to Sarnia, Ontario. Doohan attended high school at Sarnia Collegiate Institute and Technical School, where he excelled in mathematics and science. He enrolled in the 102nd Royal Canadian Army Cadet Corps in 1938.

Military service

In 1939, Doohan enlisted in the Royal Canadian Artillery, 14th (Midland) Field Battery of the 2nd Canadian Infantry Division. From there, he was moved to the 13th Field Regiment of the Canadian 3rd Infantry Division in their 22nd Field Battery. By 1940 he was a Lieutenant and was sent to train in Britain prior to Operation Overlord. He first saw combat landing in the 2nd Wave in a Recce Party at Juno Beach on D-Day. The 13th Field Regiment was interspersed with the Regina Rifle Regiment landing at "Nan" Sector of Juno Beach. After shooting two snipers, Doohan led his men to higher ground through a field of anti-tank mines, where they took defensive positions for the night. Crossing between command posts at 23:30 that night, Doohan was hit by six rounds fired from a Bren gun by a nervous Canadian sentry: four in his leg, one in the chest, and one through his right middle finger. The bullet to his chest was stopped by a silver cigarette case given to him by his brother. His right middle finger had to be amputated, something he would conceal on-screen during most of his career as an actor, sometimes with a flesh-colored glove with a "faux finger."

Doohan graduated from Air Observation Pilot Course 40 with eleven other Canadian artillery officers and flew Taylorcraft Auster Mark V aircraft for 666 (AOP) Squadron, RCAF as a Royal Canadian Artillery officer in support of 1st Army Group Royal Canadian Artillery. All three Canadian (AOP) RCAF squadrons were crewed by artillery officer-pilots and accompanied by non-commissioned RCA and RCAF personnel serving as observers. Although he was never actually a member of the Royal Canadian Air Force, Doohan was once labelled the "craziest pilot in the Canadian Air Force". In the late spring of 1945, on Salisbury Plain north of RAF Andover, he slalomed a plane between telegraph poles "to prove it could be done", earning himself a serious reprimand. (Various accounts cite the plane as a Hurricane or a jet trainer; however, it was an Auster Mark IV.)

Early acting career

After the war, Doohan moved to London, Ontario, for further technical education. After hearing a radio drama and believing he could do better, he recorded his voice at the local radio station, and learned about the Lorne Greene Academy of Radio Arts in Toronto. There he won a two-year scholarship to the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York City, where his classmates included Leslie Nielsen, Tony Randall, and Richard Boone.

In 1946, he had several roles for CBC radio, starting January 12. For several years, he shuttled between Toronto and New York as work demanded. He made his TV debut as a detective on the show Martin Kane, Private Eye, and appeared in 54 episodes. He estimated he performed in over 4,000 radio programs and 450 television programs during this period, and earned a reputation for versatility.

In the mid-1950s, he appeared as forest ranger Timber Tom (the northern counterpart of Buffalo Bob) in the Canadian version of Howdy Doody. Coincidentally, fellow Star Trek cast member William Shatner appeared simultaneously as Ranger Bill in the American version. Doohan and Shatner both appeared in the 1950s Canadian science fiction series Space Command. Doohan also appeared in several episodes of Hawkeye and the Last of the Mohicans in 1957–58.

For GM Presents, he played the lead role in the CBC Television drama Flight into Danger (1956) by Arthur Hailey, then in The Night they Killed Joe Howe (1960). (Arthur Hailey rewrote the former into the novel Runway Zero-Eight, then adapted to Terror in the Sky. This story was later satirized in Airplane!.)

Doohan's credits included The Twilight Zone(Season 4, Episode 3 "Valley of the Shadow" - 17 January 1961), GE True, Hazel ("Hazel's Highland Fling" as Gordon "Gordy" MacHeath). The Outer Limits, The Fugitive, Bewitched, Fantasy Island, Magnum, P.I., The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (Season 1, Episode 4 "The Shark Affair" - 1964 - and Season 2, Episode 20 "The Bridge of Lions Affair, Part 1" - 1966), and Bonanza. In the Bonanza episode "Gift of Water" (1962), he co-starred with actress Majel Barrett who would later play Star Trek's Nurse Christine Chapel. He played an assistant to the United States president in two episodes of Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea. He had an uncredited role in The Satan Bug (1965), appeared in the Daniel Boone episode "A Perilous Passage" (1970), appeared as a state trooper in Roger Vadim's film Pretty Maids All in a Row (1971, which was produced by Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry), and played opposite Richard Harris in the movie Man in the Wilderness (1971).

Star Trek

Doohan developed a talent for accents as a child. Auditioning for the role of chief engineer of the USS Enterprise, Doohan did several different accents. Producer Gene Roddenberry asked which he preferred, and Doohan replied, "If you want an engineer, in my experience the best engineers are Scotsmen." He chose the name "Montgomery Scott" after his grandfather. In later years, Doohan reenacted the casting process at Star Trek conventions, demonstrating a variety of possible voices and characters.

Doohan was quoted as saying, "Scotty is ninety-nine percent James Doohan and one percent accent." The character was originally conceived as semi-regular; but was elevated to be a regular supporting character. Doohan also provided voices for inanimate characters, including Sargon in "Return to Tomorrow", the M-5 in "The Ultimate Computer", the Mission Control Voice in "Assignment: Earth", and the Oracle in "For the World Is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky".

Doohan returned to the role of Scotty in the early 1970s for Star Trek: The Animated Series. Walter Koenig (navigator Pavel Chekov) was not hired for this series due to budget limitations, so Doohan voiced a replacement character: alien navigator Arex. He also voiced most guest male roles, including that of Robert April, the first captain of the Enterprise and around 50 other roles, voicing as many as seven different characters in a single episode.

He rejoined the entire regular cast of Star Trek for the feature film Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979), for which he also devised the Vulcan and Klingon language dialogue. He continued in the role of Scotty for sequels The Wrath of Khan, The Search for Spock, The Voyage Home, The Final Frontier and The Undiscovered Country. In 1992, he guest-starred in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Relics", playing an elderly Scotty reminiscing about his time on the Enterprise. He and Walter Koenig appeared briefly with William Shatner in Star Trek Generations, in a scene which transitioned the film series to the newer cast of the first of the later television series in the franchise.

After Star Trek

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Doohan hoped that Star Trek would benefit his acting career. After the series ended, however, he found himself typecast and had a hard time gaining other roles. After his dentist reminded him he would "always be Scotty", he supported his family with income from personal appearances.

Most of the roles Doohan subsequently played made at least oblique references to his Star Trek connection and engineering reputation. He was Commander Canarvin in the short-lived Saturday morning live-action kids' show Jason of Star Command, and had a cameo in the made-for-TV movie Knight Rider 2000 as "Jimmy Doohan, the guy who played Scotty on Star Trek". On the television series Homeboys in Outer Space, he was Pippen, a pun on Scotty and basketball star Scottie Pippen. He played himself in an episode of The Ben Stiller Show. He played Damon Warwick, father of James Warwick, on the daytime soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful. After learning about cold fusion from technical journals in 1989, he narrated the video "Cold Fusion: Fire from Water", about the physics behind cold fusion.

When the Star Trek franchise was revived, Doohan reprised his role of Scotty in seven Star Trek films. Many of Doohan's film appearances centred on the role of Scotty, such as a cameo in National Lampoon's Loaded Weapon 1, where he plays a policeman doing repair work who tells his superior officer "I am giving it all she has got, Captain!" in the same accent he used in Star Trek.

Although he continued to work with William Shatner in the Star Trek films, Doohan did not get along well with him and was once quoted in 1998 as saying, "I like Captain Kirk, but I sure don't like Bill." He was the only former Star Trek co-star to decline to be interviewed by Shatner for Shatner's first Star Trek: Memories book about the show, nor did he consent to do so for Shatner's follow-up book, Star Trek: Movie Memories, though Shatner claimed in the latter that the icy relationship between the two started to thaw when both men were working on Star Trek Generations in 1993–94. By Doohan's final August 2004 convention appearance, Doohan and Shatner reportedly had mended their relationship.

Inspiration

Many fans told Doohan over the years that it was he who inspired them to choose engineering as a profession. Astronaut Neil Armstrong, an engineer before he participated in NASA's Apollo program, becoming the first man on the moon, personally told Doohan on stage at Doohan's last public appearance in 2004, "From one old engineer to another, thanks, mate."

In an interview for the first Trekkies film, Doohan related the story of a young fan who was contemplating suicide. Doohan says that he convinced her to attend his next convention appearance, and later learned that his encouragement and kind words had not only saved her life, but inspired her to go back to school and become an electronics engineer.

Personal life

Doohan was married three times and had seven children, four of them—including Christopher—with his first wife Janet Young, whom he divorced in 1964. His marriage to Anita Yagel in 1967–72 produced no children. In early 1974, he was introduced to 17-year-old fan Wende Braunberger at a theatre performance. They were married that same year, when he was 54 and she was 18, on October 12, 1974. Star Trek guest actor William Campbell served as best man. Doohan and Braunberger had three children: Eric, Thomas, and Sarah in April 2000, around his 80th birthday. In his later years, Doohan had a multitude of health problems partially from his lifestyle, which included prodigious alcohol consumption, and partially from injuries sustained during World War II. These included diabetes, liver cirrhosis, osteoarthritis, high blood pressure, and hearing loss. In July 2004, his suffering from Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease caused him to withdraw from public life.

His sons Montgomery and Christopher appeared in Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979). Christopher also appeared in the J. J. Abrams reboot Star Trek (2009). Simon Pegg, who played Scotty in the film, invited Chris and his family to the premiere. For Star Trek Into Darkness in 2012, fans campaigned for Christopher Doohan gaining him a credited cameo in the transporter room. Chris Doohan played Scotty in the award-winning web series Star Trek Continues.

Death

On July 20, 2005, at 5:30 in the morning, Doohan died at his home in Redmond, Washington, due to complications of pulmonary fibrosis, which was believed to be from exposure to noxious substances during World War II. His body was subsequently cremated.

A portion of his ashes, ¼ ounce (7 grams), was scheduled the following fall for a memorial flight to space with 308 others, including Project Mercury astronaut Gordon Cooper. Launch on the SpaceLoft XL rocket was delayed to April 28, 2007, when the rocket briefly entered outer space in a four-minute suborbital flight before parachuting to earth, as planned, with the ashes still inside. The ashes were subsequently launched on a Falcon 1 rocket, on August 3, 2008, into what was intended to be a low Earth orbit; however, the rocket failed two minutes after launch. Some of Doohan's ashes are hidden under the floor cladding of the International Space Station's Columbus module – after being smuggled aboard in 2008 by Richard Garriott. The rest of Doohan's ashes were scattered over Puget Sound in Washington. On May 22, 2012, a small urn containing some of Doohan's ashes was flown into space aboard the Falcon 9 rocket as part of COTS Demo Flight 2.

Legacy

Scotty's exploits as the Enterprise's redoubtable chief engineer inspired many students to pursue careers in engineering. Because of this, the Milwaukee School of Engineering presented Doohan with an honorary degree in engineering. Doohan received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on August 31, 2004. Despite his ill health, he was present at the ceremony, which was his final public appearance.

Montgomery Scott was claimed by Linlithgow, Scotland, in 2007 by a commemorative plaque from the West Lothian Council for Doohan's importance. His birthplace is also attributed to Aberdeen, where Doohan learned the doric accent, or Elgin. In the actual show, Scotty refers to himself as a one-time "Aberdeen pub-crawler", the only reference Doohan's character ever makes to a specific place in Scotland where he lived. However, Scotty's accent chosen by Doohan is not the relatively harsh Aberdonian accent; the specific accent Doohan used implies most of Scotty's formative years were spent at or near Edinburgh, something that is supported by original script notes.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

Bibliography

Autobiography

• Doohan, James; David, Peter (1996). Beam Me Up, Scotty: Star Trek's "Scotty" in his own words. Pocket Books. ISBN 978-0-671-52056-4.

Science fiction novels (The Flight Engineer series)

• Stirling, S. M.; Doohan, James (1996). The Rising. Starline. ISBN 978-0-671-87758-3.
• Stirling, S. M.; Doohan, James (1999). The Privateer. ISBN 978-0-671-57832-9.
• Stirling, S. M.; Doohan, James (2000). The Independent Command. Baen Books. ISBN 978-0-671-31951-9.

See also

• "Beam me up, Scotty", the phrase referring to Doohan's character, Montgomery "Scotty" Scott.
• List of oldest fathers

References

1. ^ "Obituary: James Doohan". BBC News. July 20, 2005. Retrieved April 29, 2007.
2. ^ Graves, Donald E. (2005). Century of Service. New York: Midpoint Trade Books Inc. p. 244. ISBN 978-1-896941-43-1.
3. "1911 Census". National Census of 1911. National Archives of Ireland.
4. "1901 Census". National Census of 1901. National Archives of Ireland.
5. "James Doohan Biography (1920-)". filmreference.com.
6. "Greatest Sarnian 2: 'Scotty' Doohan gave Hitler..." Sarnia Observer. Archived from the original on October 20, 2014. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
7. ^ Barnes & Noble. "Beam Me up, Scotty". Barnes & Noble.
8. "#102 Cadet Corps". The Official History Website of the Royal Canadian Army Cadets. Army Cadet League of Canada. Retrieved May 15, 2013. C/Maj James Doohan (1938–40)
9. Despite his efforts, the injured hand can be seen in several Star Trek episodes: "The Trouble with Tribbles", "Tomorrow Is Yesterday", "The Enemy Within", "The Ultimate Computer", "The Lights of Zetar" and "Catspaw", as well as in The Search for Spock when giving parts from the USS Excelsior to Dr. Leonard McCoy, in The Final Frontier when Nyota Uhura brings him dinner on the bridge of the USS Enterprise-A, and in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Relics", when the missing finger is clearly apparent as Scotty offers Captain Jean-Luc Picard a drink while on a recreation of the original Enterprise bridge.
10. Knight, Darrell (2010). Artillery Flyers at War. Bennington, VT: Merriam Press. p. 482. ISBN 978-0-557-32964-9.
11. Battle History 666. Calgary: Abel Book Company. 2006.
12. Fromow, D.L. (2002). Canada's Flying Gunners: A History of the Air Observation Post of the Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery. Air O.P. Pilot's Association. ISBN 978-0-9730055-0-9.
13. Whitfield, Stephen E. (1968). The Making of Star Trek. New York: Ballantine Books. p. 245. ISBN 978-0-345-24691-2.
14. ^ "'Star Trek' Ace Is Former Pilot". Beaver County Times. Beaver, Pennsylvania. United Press International. April 21, 1969. pp. B12. Retrieved May 6, 2011.
15. ^ Koolstra, Jeffrey D. (July–August 1999). "An Interview with James "Scotty" Doohan". Infinite Energy (26). Retrieved May 15, 2013.
16. ^ "James Doohan: Giving it all he's got – CBC 75th Anniversary". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. July 13, 2011. Retrieved May 15, 2013.
17. ^ "James Doohan – Interview". Sci-fi Online. Retrieved May 15, 2013.
18. "Star Trek Doohan, James". Star Trek.com. CBS Studios Inc.
19. "Joseph Howe Subject of Show". The Gazette. October 1, 1960. p. 26.
20. ^ Scott D. Pierce (April 16, 1993). "'SCOTTY' HAS ACCENTED VERSATILE ACTOR'S CAREER". Deseret News. Archived from the original on November 5, 2013. Retrieved May 15, 2013.
21. Dillard, J.M.; Susan Sackett (April 1996). Star Trek: Where no-one has gone before (Second Revised ed.). Simon & Schuster. p. 17. ISBN 978-0671002060. Retrieved May 15, 2013. The character is ninety-nine percent James Doohan and one percent accent
22. "Star Trek: The Animated Series" Yesteryear (TV Episode 1973), retrieved June 3, 2017
23. "Behind The Voice Actors – James Doohan". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved May 15, 2013.
24. ^ "Actor James Doohan, 85; Played Scotty on 'Star Trek'". The Washington Post. Associated Press. July 21, 2005. Retrieved May 15, 2013.
25. "Ian on 'The Bold and the Beautiful'". Ian Buchanan ONLINE. Archived from the original on November 5, 2013. Retrieved May 15, 2013. James Doohan... guest-starred for several appearances as James' dad Damon
26. Shatner, William, Star Trek: Movie Memories. Harper Collins: New York, 1994
27. Pascale, Anthony (December 9, 2010). "George Takei: William Shatner Refused To Appear On-Stage With James Doohan At Farewell Con". TrekMovie.com. Retrieved May 15, 2013.
28. "R.I.P. James Doohan 1920–2005". Soul of Star Trek. July 20, 2005.
29. Doohan tells the anecdote in the 1997 documentary Trekkies, directed by Roger Nygard
30. "Wende and James Doohan Marriage Profile". Archived from the original on February 10, 2012. Retrieved June 26, 2012.
31. "ENTERTAINMENT | Scotty to beam up a baby". BBC News. February 4, 2000. Retrieved October 6, 2018.
32. "Sarah's dad age 80". Associated Press. Archived from the original on May 10, 2013. Retrieved May 15, 2013.
33. "Star Trek Scotty has Alzheimer's". BBC News. July 7, 2004. Retrieved February 6, 2007.
34. ^ "Christopher Doohan had a credited cameo on Into Darkness and now plays Scotty in the award winning web series, Star Trek Continues". Archived from the original on May 1, 2013. Retrieved May 15, 2013.
35. Star Trek Fans (January 17, 2012). "Bring Back Christopher Doohan for 'Star Trek XII'". Variety. Retrieved January 20, 2012.
36. "Chris cameo Into Darkness". Retrieved May 15, 2013.
37. "L. Gordon Cooper, Jr. – Participant on board The Legacy Flight". Space Services Inc.
38. Korte, Tim (July 26, 2006). "'Star Trek's' Scotty Sending Ashes to Space". Associated Press. Retrieved May 17, 2013.
39. "'Scotty's' 'beamed up' ashes fall in New Mexico". CNN. May 19, 2007. Archived from the original on June 15, 2007. Retrieved April 22, 2016.
40. Bergin, Chris (August 2, 2008). "SpaceX Falcon I FAILS during first stage flight". NASASpaceflight.com. Retrieved April 22, 2016.
41. Miami, Jacqui Goddard. "Ashes of Star Trek's Scotty smuggled on to International Space Station". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved December 26, 2020.
42. Lane, Frederick (April 3, 2007). "Ashes of Star Trek's 'Scotty' Headed to Space". Sci-Tech Today. Retrieved April 3, 2007.
43. "CNN News: 'Star Trek' actor's ashes heading to space this month".
44. Moskowitz, Clara (May 22, 2012). "Ashes of Star Trek's 'Scotty' Ride Private Rocket Into Space". New York: Space.com. Archived from the original on May 23, 2012. Retrieved May 22, 2012.
45. Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: James Doohan. James Doohan on engineering students.
46. "Last Appearance". American Cowboy. Active Interest Media, Inc: 14. November–December 2004. Retrieved May 15, 2013.
47. "Doohan us proud". linlithgowgazette.co.uk.
48. Underwood, Alva (2008). Star Trek: The Reader's Reference to the Novels 1988–1989. Vol. 7. Kobo. p. 333. ISBN 978-1434350305. born on the 3rd of March 222 (sd 1269.5) to Kathleen and William Donald Scott in Aberdeen, Scotland.
49. "Aberdeen Accent". Retrieved May 15, 2013.
50. "Aberdeen claims Scotty". Retrieved May 15, 2013.
51. "James Doohan | The Classic TV History Blog". Retrieved May 3, 2019.

Further reading

• Stuever, Hank (July 21, 2005). "The Actor, Boldly Going With the Flow". Washington Post. Retrieved September 25, 2013.

External links

• James Doohan at IMDb
• James Doohan at the TCM Movie Database
• James Doohan at Memory Alpha
• James Doohan at the Internet Off-Broadway Database

• 1920 births
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