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."

"I took his advice," said Doohan, "and since then everything's been just lovely."

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'll certainly miss him, and I thank him very much for his contributions to one of TVdom's most classic space adventures.