Encyclopedia
James Montgomery Doohan was an Irish Canadian character and voice
actor best known for his portrayal of Scotty in the
television and
film series
Star Trek. Short of Spock's ears, Doohan's characterization made Scotty one of the most recognizable characters in the
Star Trek franchise.
Early life
Doohan was born in
Vancouver, British Columbia, the youngest of four children of William and Sarah Doohan, recent Catholic refugees from mainly Protestant
Belfast during the
Irish War of Independence . His family later moved to
Sarnia, Ontario where he attended high school at the Sarnia Collegiate Institute and Technical School where he excelled in mathematics and science. Doohan's father, who worked at times as a dentist, pharmacist, and veterinarian, is said to have invented an early form of high-
octane gasoline in 1923. According to Doohan's autobiography, his father was an alcoholic who tormented his family.
Military service
At the outbreak of the
Second World War, aged 19, Doohan joined the
Royal Canadian Artillery, and was eventually commissioned as a lieutenant in the 13th Field Regiment, part of the divisional artillery of the
3rd Canadian Infantry Division. Doohan went to the United Kingdom in 1940 for what became years of training. His first combat assignment was the invasion of
Normandy at
Juno Beach on
D-Day. Shooting two snipers along the way, Doohan led his unit to higher ground through a field of
anti-tank mines and took defensive positions for the night. Crossing between command posts at 11:30 that night, Doohan took six hits from a Bren Gun fired by a nervous sentry: four in his leg, one in the chest, and one through his right middle finger. The chest bullet was stopped by his silver cigarette case, and the shot finger was amputated . Despite his wounds, Doohan remained in the military, trained as a pilot and flew an artillery observation plane, though he was once labeled the "craziest pilot in the Canadian Air Forces". He was not actually a member of the Royal Canadian Air Force, however, as he flew for one of three Air Observation Post Squadrons and remained an Army officer of the Royal Canadian Artillery.
Early acting career
After the war, Doohan started his acting career after being disheartened by the laughable quality of a radio drama, leading him to privately study
Shakespeare, and with his first work a CBC radio show appearance on January 12, 1946. He took a drama class in
Toronto, and later won a two-year scholarship to the Neighborhood Playhouse in
New York City, where classmates included fellow Canadian
Leslie Nielsen,
Tony Randall and
Richard Boone. For several years he would shuttle between Toronto and New York as work demanded. During this period Doohan appeared on some 4000 radio programs and 400 television programs, and earned a reputation for his versatility. In the mid-1950s he appeared as forest ranger "Timber Tom" in the Canadian version of
Howdy Doody .
Doohan also played the lead role in the CBC TV drama production "Flight into Danger", based on Arthur Hailey's novel
Runway Zero-Eight, later adapted as
Terror in the Sky and spoofed in
Airplane!. His credits also included
The Twilight Zone,
Outer Limits,
Bewitched and
Fantasy Island.
Star Trek
Doohan always had a gift for using foreign accents. Auditioning for the role of Montgomery Scott, Chief Engineer of the
USS Enterprise, before
Gene Roddenberry , Doohan did several different accents. Roddenberry asked which he preferred, and Doohan reportedly replied "If you're going to have an engineer, you'd better make him
Scottish" . In later years he would revisit this casting process at Star Trek conventions, demonstrating a variety of possible voices and characters. When Roddenberry produced
in the early 1970s, Doohan's ability to perform different voices was utilized by having him perform most "guest star" male roles in the series, including Robert April, conjectured first captain of the
Enterprise.
The Scott character, as conceived, would have been a semi-regular, but just as fellow cast members
Leonard Nimoy, as the alien science officer
Spock, and
DeForest Kelley, as the irascible medical officer
Dr. McCoy, were elevated in importance to leads alongside
William Shatner's Capt.
James T. Kirk, it was made clear that Lt. Cmdr. Scott was the third-in-command of the
Enterprise and at times the ship was left in his care. Scott was frequently used in subplots regarding disabled ship components and as a foil for Kirk's ambitious tactical approaches, which were said to strain the propulsion and defenses of the starship. In the end, many fans saw the
Enterprise itself as the show's star, leaving Scott in an enviable position as her defender. For example, in "The Trouble With Tribbles", Scotty allowed Klingons to insult Kirk repeatedly, but was only provoked to violence when the
Klingons insulted the
Enterprise. Doohan was often quoted as saying, "Scotty is 99% James Doohan and 1% accent."
Using his considerable vocal skills, Doohan devised the
Vulcan and
Klingon language dialogue heard in
. Later, professional linguists, particularly Marc Okrand, expanded Klingon into a fully constructed language with a working grammar.
After the series ended, Doohan found himself typecast and had a hard time getting other acting roles. After a conversation with his
dentist, he realized that he would "always be Scotty", and he was able to support himself with income from personal appearances. Otherwise, he had minor, fleeting parts, often trading on his
Trek fame, such as the Captain in the short-lived Saturday morning live-action kids' show,
Jason of Star Command, or a
cameo in the made-for-TV movie
Knight Rider 2000 is a 1991 sequel [i] movie [i] to the television series
Knight Rider [i]. ...
as "Jimmy Doohan, the guy who played Scotty on
Star Trek". When the
Star Trek franchise was revived, Doohan reprised his role of Scotty in seven
Star Trek films and made a guest appearance on
, all of which left him financially comfortable. Even so, he would never return to the busy, versatile career he once had.
Doohan was once quoted as saying "I like Captain Kirk, but I can't say that I'm very fond of Bill ." He openly despised his fellow Canadian , making public statements on radio shows, especially the
Howard Stern Show. Doohan accused Shatner of showboating, stealing lines, and trying to keep other actors in the background. On the other hand, an
Associated Press article published at the time of Doohan's final convention appearance in late August 2004 stated that Doohan had forgiven Shatner and they had mended their relationship.
Later life and death
Doohan suffered from
Parkinson's disease,
diabetes, and
lung fibrosis in later life. In 2004, he was diagnosed with
Alzheimer's disease. On July 20 2005, at 5:30 in the morning, he died at his home in
Redmond, Washington with his wife Wende and long-time friend Steve Stevens at his side. His agent identified the cause as pneumonia and Alzheimer's disease.
Doohan's ashes are to be sent into space at his request.
Space burial firm Space Services, Inc. confirmed that he had arranged for his
cremated ashes to be released into Earth orbit, and are scheduled to be on the Explorers Flight, a
Falcon 1 rocket launched from California's
Vandenberg Air Force Base in October 2006. The launch was originally scheduled for earlier in the year, however a failure during the rocket's maiden flight in March 2006 delayed the flight. The remains of more than 120 others will also be on the flight, including astronaut
Gordon Cooper, Mareta West , and
Star Trek writer John Meredyth Lucas, who died in 2002.
Legacy
Doohan was the second member of the original
Star Trek cast to die, after
DeForest Kelley, who died in 1999.
Scotty's exploits as the redoubtable Chief Engineer aboard the
Enterprise inspired many students to pursue a career in engineering. Because of this the
Milwaukee School of Engineering granted Doohan an honorary degree in engineering. He was immortalised with a star in
Hollywood's Walk of Fame on August 31 2004.
Since in
Star Trek lore Scotty was born in the town of
Linlithgow, Scotland, the
West Lothian Council plans to place a commemorative plaque in the town in memory of Doohan. Other towns have groups claiming to be Scotty's birthplace and wishing memorials are
Aberdeen,
Elgin, and
Edinburgh.
In an
ironic coincidence, he died on the anniversary of the
Apollo 11 was the first manned mission to land on the Moon [i]. ...
lunar landing, arguably the greatest engineering achievement in human history.
As a writer
Doohan, with the assistance of longtime
Star Trek author
Peter David, wrote an autobiography entitled
Beam Me Up, Scotty: Star Trek's "Scotty" in his own wordsHe collaborated on a series of three
science fiction novels with S.M. Stirling:
- The Rising
- The Privateer
- The Independent Command
Private life
Doohan was married three times. He had four children, Larkin, Deirdre, and twins Christopher and Montgomery, with first wife Janet Young before a 1964 divorce. A marriage to Anita Yagel from 1967 to 1972 produced no children. In early 1974, he was introduced to 17-year-old fan at a theatre performance, and they later married the same year on October 4, 1974. The best man for the wedding was fellow Trek actor, William Campbell.
The children from that union were Eric, Thomas, and Sarah, who was born in 2000, when Doohan was 80.
- Doohan, James. Beam Me Up, Scotty: Star Trek's "Scotty" in his own words/ James Doohan with Peter David. pg. 169-170.
References
External links
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- BBC News, July 7 2004
- San Francisco Chronicle August 31 2004
- FoxNews July 20 2005
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