James Doohan: 1920-2005
James 'Scotty' Doohan passed away yesterday, from complications of Pneumonia and Alzheimer’s Disease.
I don’t quite know what to say. I never met the man, and outside two or three interviews, never heard him speak as himself. Along with nearly everyone else, I knew him best as Scotty on Star Trek. The unmistakable brogue, the same haircut for forty years, the uncanny ability to fix anything and everything, always in the nick of time.
I didn’t know that James was at Normandy on D-Day. A sterling silver cigarette case (a gift from his brother) deflected a bullet, safely in his pocket 4 inches from his heart. Another injury that day cost him his middle finger on his right hand. Did anyone watching Star Trek ever notice it was missing?
I didn’t know that more than half the students at an Engineering college cited Scotty as their primary inspiration in studying that field in the first place. I can’t say I’m surprised.
I did know that the man was a wizard for accents. He could walk around his home as a kid and use a different dialect in every room of the house. He was the reason I tried them out in the first place; I was just trying to sound like Scotty.
His work on Star Trek, as one of the most popular characters of the series, will not be forgotten.
His family asks that donations be made in Doohan's name to his favorite charity, Cowboys for Kids in Arizona.
I don’t quite know what to say. I never met the man, and outside two or three interviews, never heard him speak as himself. Along with nearly everyone else, I knew him best as Scotty on Star Trek. The unmistakable brogue, the same haircut for forty years, the uncanny ability to fix anything and everything, always in the nick of time.
I didn’t know that James was at Normandy on D-Day. A sterling silver cigarette case (a gift from his brother) deflected a bullet, safely in his pocket 4 inches from his heart. Another injury that day cost him his middle finger on his right hand. Did anyone watching Star Trek ever notice it was missing?
I didn’t know that more than half the students at an Engineering college cited Scotty as their primary inspiration in studying that field in the first place. I can’t say I’m surprised.
I did know that the man was a wizard for accents. He could walk around his home as a kid and use a different dialect in every room of the house. He was the reason I tried them out in the first place; I was just trying to sound like Scotty.
His work on Star Trek, as one of the most popular characters of the series, will not be forgotten.
His family asks that donations be made in Doohan's name to his favorite charity, Cowboys for Kids in Arizona.
posted by Casey Jones @ 7/21/2005 11:00:00 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home