LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Actor James Doohan, best known as the feisty, Scottish-accented chief engineer on television's original "Star Trek" series -- a role immortalized by the catch phrase "Beam me up, Scotty" -- died on Wednesday at age 85, his manager said.
Doohan died at his home in the Seattle suburb of Redmond, Washington, of complications from pneumonia and Alzheimer's disease, about a year after he was diagnosed with the degenerative neurological illness, manager Steve Stevens said in an interview.
The actor's wife of 28 years, Wende, was at his side. Doohan's last public appearance was in October, when he was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
The Canadian-born actor also had suffered from the chronic lung disease pulmonary fibrosis, which doctors believed was linked to Doohan's exposure to hazardous chemicals during his military service in World War Two.
Doohan was wounded as an infantryman during the D-Day invasion of Normandy and returned to action later in the war as a fighter pilot.
A native of Vancouver, British Columbia, Doohan was a prolific voice actor on Canadian radio before making his move into television in the 1950s.
But he will be remembered for playing Lt. Commander Montgomery Scott, or "Scotty," the can-do chief engineer aboard the starship USS Enterprise on the original "Star Trek" series, which ran from 1966-69 on NBC. He reprised the role for several big-screen "Star Trek" features.
One of Scotty's chief functions on the show was to operate the transporter device used to "beam" crew members aboard the Enterprise from distant planets -- often in response to an order that entered the pop culture as the catch phrase "Beam me up Scotty."
The often-excitable Scottish brogue effected by Doohan for his role became as much a signature element of the show as science officer Mr. Spock's logical stoicism or chief surgeon Dr. McCoy's irascibly folksy manner.
According to Stevens, Doohan auditioned for the part in several European accents before the show's creator, Gene Roddenberry, asked him what nationality he thought best suited the part.
"He said, 'It's got to be a Scotsman,' and so he did it and it ended up being a Scotsman," Stevens once recounted. He said Doohan learned to do a convincing brogue from a Scottish-born soldier he bunked with during the war.
Doohan is the second actor from the central cast of the original "Star Trek" to die -- DeForest Kelley, who played Lt. Cmdr. Leonard H. "Bones" McCoy, died in 1999.
Stevens said funeral services would be for family members only, but Doohan's wife plans to send the actor's ashes into space via the same private launch service that carried Roddenberry's remains into orbit after his 1991 death.
ping
Beam me up Scotty to the big mansion in the sky.
One of the all time greats from back when Canadians were real men!
The "real" hero of the U.S.S. Enterprise. Thank you, sir!
85! Wow
Scotty, you did the best you could.
RIP
Bumping this.
Safe Jouney, Scotty.
I'll always think of you fondly.
My wife and I had the honor of meeting James Doohan a number of years ago. We chatted with him for a few minutes. He was very cordial, not full of himself like some of the present-day "stars."
Incredible! Compare his real wounds versus Moi Kerri!
"At 11:30 that night, he was machine-gunned, taking six hits: four in his leg, one in the chest, and one through his middle right finger. The chest bullet was stopped by his silver cigarette case; he would later generally hide the amputated finger on screen. Despite his wounds, Doohan remained in the military, trained as a pilot for the Royal Canadian Air Force, and flew an artillery observation plane, though he was once labeled the "craziest pilot in the Canadian Air Forces".
I so enjoyed that one scene in an episode of the 1st ST series where Messrs. Scott, Chekhov and Sulu are sitting at a table having a drink in a futuristic bar. Klingons come over picking a fight. Klingons bad mouth the reputation of Capt. Kirk. even calling him "a Denubian slug worm." Mr. Scott refuses to fight and keeps telling his buddies to keep their cool and won't let them retaliate. However, when the Klingon starts bad mouthing the Enterprise by calling it "a broken-down rusted bucket of bolts." Mr. Scott rises to the occasion and gives them the fight of their life. Later, when Capt. Kirk interrogates his men to find the cause of the fight, he gets shocked and insulted by Mr. Scott's response. So Mr. Scott is disciplined by having to stay in his quarters. Mr. Scott is so happy that he finally gets time to read his new tech manuals.
bump
"Diplomats! The best diplomat I know is a fully activated phaserbank" - Scotty...
Story I heard was that he trained his men by weaving between electrical transmission towers and under the wires. Very typical of the 'craziness' of Canadian soldiers of that time and that lasted up until Trudeau took over.
Sad day for all...
Doohan was wounded as an infantryman during the D-Day invasion of Normandy and returned to action later in the war as a fighter pilot.
That is quite an accomplishment!
read later
Off-screen, he was a man who exuded class all the way and was a heroic World War II veteran who braved the horrors of D-Day. Godspeed, Mr. Doohan, for God has beamed you home.
