James Doohan, RIP
Another great Trekker, James Doohan, who played Scotty on Star Trek, is dead at 85.
I remember Doohan as one of the most interesting of the co-stars on the old Trek series, where he played the engineering officer in charge of the teleportation technology on board the Enterprise. He first began as a radio performer, then in the mid-60s, he auditioned for a role on Star Trek, and won that of Montgomery Scott, chief engineer on board the Enterprise.
Most interesting, that I didn't really know until now is that:
When the series ended in 1969, Doohan found himself typecast as Montgomery Scott, the canny engineer with a burr in his voice. In 1973, he complained to his dentist, who advised him: "Jimmy, you're going to be Scotty long after you're dead. If I were you, I'd go with the flow."There are quite a few actors on TV who've undergone the problem of typecasting, and it's a shame that Doohan had to be one of them. But I'm glad that he was able to accept it.
"I took his advice," said Doohan, "and since then everything's been just lovely."
I'll certainly miss him, and I thank him very much for his contributions to one of TVdom's most classic space adventures.
