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-Short Attention Span Theater-
Scotty Transports to the Big Starship in the Sky
2005-07-20
And, best of all, he was a hero in real life, too. God bless you, Mr. 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.

...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.
Posted by:Chuck Simmins

#22  That aboot sums it up, TGA.

We need more Scotty-types in this world. That's for sure.
Posted by: Alaska Paul   2005-07-20 23:20  

#21  He, I liked that running gag:
"Scotty how much time to fix this?"
"At least 2 days, Captn"
"You got 15 minutes"
"Hokay" (walks away grumbling)

LOL
Posted by: True German Ally   2005-07-20 21:31  

#20  /agree with Frank G.

Scotty got me into engineering. He was the first one to make being a "proto-geek" cool.

Additionally he was a good man - read up about his life post-Star-Trek, a genuine good guy.

And on top of that, a war hero - 1st day, Normandy, taking 6 MG rounds... Wow. Such a full life.

James Montgomery (Scott) Doohan, The world is a better place for you having been here - and a slice of what makes it good went with you today.

God rest your soul gently, you will be missed.

Posted by: OldSpook   2005-07-20 21:26  

#19  Christ, Steve...don't do that to me. Amazing Grace on bagpipes and I'll lose it
Posted by: Frank G   2005-07-20 21:16  

#18  God bless 'em, he was an actor's actor.
Posted by: Ernest Brown   2005-07-20 20:55  

#17  You want tears, Frank? I just heard on Entertainment Tonight that they are going to launch his ashes into space during a mission.

I hope they remember the bagpipes.
Posted by: Steve   2005-07-20 20:55  

#16  incredible... every time I've seen this thread, I teared up. I'm such a puss. God speed, James
Posted by: Frank G   2005-07-20 19:52  

#15  ..Wondering if anyone remembers his last appearance as Scotty, in a terriffic Next Gen episode that ended with him sailing off to explore the Universe - that's how I'm going to remember him.
And as far as a toast, I've got something here - not sure what it is...but it's green.

God bless you, Mister Doohan.

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski   2005-07-20 19:29  

#14  Carefully place our hero in a PHOTON torpedo casing, and fire Scotty off to a "Genesis" like planet...

A true hero, as many here have already observed...
Posted by: borgboy   2005-07-20 15:41  

#13  Here's to you Scotty.
Posted by: bigjim-ky   2005-07-20 15:14  

#12  Scotty was always my favorite character. When I was a kid, Star Trek got me into science fiction, which got me interested in science. Scotty inspired me to go into engineering, so I could design warp drives.

(True geek confessions: I went to a Star Trek convention once, got his autograph, and told him the above, minus the warp drive part.)

Well, obviously, that came to naught, but I got a physics PhD out of the deal.

I read his autobiography, and the only thing I remember offhand is that at one point Monty was watching him drill his men and told him, "good voice".

It hasn't been very long since he was diagnosed with Alzheimers. I'm glad he didn't have to suffer with it long.
Posted by: Angie Schultz   2005-07-20 15:08  

#11  I always hoped for the day that Scotty, after the inevitable order from Capt. Kirk to fix the dilithium mega turbo muffler bearing in 30 minutes, would tell him in his beautiful brogue "Well, it won't get done then, will it!?"


RIP James.
Posted by: Doc8404   2005-07-20 13:45  

#10  Awwww. RIP, Scotty.

The original Star Trek seems hokey on TV now, but it sure shaped a couple of generations, didn't it?
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut   2005-07-20 13:35  

#9  Don't beam me aboard just yet, Scotty, I have more RB comments to make.
Posted by: Captain America   2005-07-20 13:31  

#8  He liked good Scotch, he must have been a good man.
Posted by: True German Ally   2005-07-20 13:08  

#7  not
Posted by: Shipman   2005-07-20 13:06  

#6  Cripes, now when the captain "pooshes" the engines too hard, they really are going to blow. Hero and a great actor besides.
Posted by: remoteman   2005-07-20 12:54  

#5  RIP Good Scotty!
Posted by: BigEd   2005-07-20 12:24  

#4  He's
Posted by: Mrs. Davis   2005-07-20 12:21  

#3  Okay. Who's wants to say it?
Posted by: tu3031   2005-07-20 12:18  

#2  Zowie. Rest well, Scotty.
Posted by: Seafarious   2005-07-20 12:06  

#1  Smoking can save your life.
Posted by: JFM   2005-07-20 12:04  

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