Scotty beams up

I was sorry, though not surprised, to hear that actor James Doohan, Scotty from Star Trek: The Original Series, had passed away at age 85. He had been afflicted with Alzheimer's disease for the past few years, and had had to withdraw from the public spotlight.



Back in the day, when I was a rabid Star Trek geek, I had the pleasure of seeing Mr. Doohan in person on a couple of occasions at Trek conventions. I even got to exchange hellos with him face to face at one such event.

You never really know a person in those situations, of course, but it was my observation that Mr. Doohan seemed like a pretty nice guy. He always appeared genuinely pleased that fans came out to meet him and hear him speak. Unlike some members of the original Trek cast about whom I could tell stories, I never saw him cop an attitude with a fan, or ignore a request for an autograph, or behave rudely or imperiously. More than once, I heard him say to a fan who addressed him as "Mr. Doohan," "Call me Jimmy." When asked by fans how his unfamiliar last name was supposed to be pronounced, he would invariably reply, "It's Doohan, as in How ya doin'?" Everyone I ever met in Trek fandom spoke of him in glowingly complimentary terms.

And yes, even though I knew well beforehand that Doohan was actually Canadian, I was a tiny bit disappointed when I first heard him speak in person that he didn't really talk with that familiar Scottish burr all the time.

I'm sure that his career suffered from his being typecast as Scotty from Star Trek. But there are a lot worse things for which one could be famous.

Engines ahead full, Mr. Scott.