Early this morning, James Doohan died of pneumonia and Alzheimer's Disease.
I would argue that the character of Scotty is the most widely known in all of Star Trek. Sure, Spock makes a big impact with his pointed ears and Vulcan salute, and "live long and prosper" is universally known among geeks. McCoy's "he's dead, Jim" is also a well-known catch phrase from the original series. But even non-geeks, people who have never seen a single episode of Star Trek (yes, hard to imagine, but there are such people) have very likely heard the phrase "beam me up, Scotty" and know that its a reference from Star Trek.
Of the four "minor" characters of the original cast, Scotty certainly registered the strongest to me. I truly don't think the writers gave him any more to do than Sulu, Chekov, or Uhura, but James Doohan took what he was given and created an inspiring and memorable character.
Of course, he will be remembered long after his death. Despite the best efforts of Paramount (and Rick Berman and Brannon Braga) to kill Star Trek, it's not going to fade from memory any time soon.
I raise my glass (of Scotch, of course) to James Doohan.
9 comments:
I was fortunate to have seen him when he came to the hampton air & space museum several years ago. I also raise a glass to toast the great Scotty. what's in the glass?... [shrugs] it's green!
-the mole
You should try to get Kendrick to come on here for a guest appearance to tell his Jimmy story. Classic.
I saw Jimmy Doohan, along with Nichelle Nichols, and George Takei (and maybe Walter Koenig too, I can't recall for sure), at the Star Trek 30th Anniversary celebration in Huntsville. It was a casual "forum" with them sitting on stage telling stories and answering questions. It was so laid back that I'm pretty sure Jimmy was dozing off at one point.
Sad day, indeed.
Growing up in the south of England, I though THAT's what a Scottish accent was! His is stereotyped but not so far off the mark. You could probably find a salty sea dog or two that speaks like that.
Isn't "beam me up, Scotty" a famous mis-quote, like "play it again, Sam"?
R.I.P, Mr. Scott. I thought you had passed away already but it's still sad :(.
Yes, I believe that "beam me up, Scotty" is indeed probably a misquote. I can't say for sure... but rarely was there ever one person using the transporter alone. And usually, the phrase was inverted: "Scotty -- beam us up."
We should also note the passing of William Shatner, whose body has been assumed by an old Asian woman.
I've got a couple of Scotty stories myself.
I first met him at a con and he was raging drunk on stage, yelling at us. Not quite the Shatner SNL skit, but still funny and sad, all at once.
I also took a Trek cruise in 93 (how's that for geeky?) and sat with a bunch of people in the bar watching him put the moves on a 20 year old girl. Did he bag her? Think of Scotty's nickname, that's all I will say. :)
Nice to have met you, Mister Scott.
I ran the Decipher booth at the said appearance at the Hampton Air and Space Center. Whilst introducing myself to ol' Scotty, he cut me off and said "Are you going to stand there and talk all day or do you want your picture taken?" PR promotion at its finest. The next guy in line had a model of the Enterprise and wanted one of the warp nacelles (or whatever you call it, I don't claim to be a Trekkie) signed. Scotty wasted no time in complaining about how small it was and how tough it was to sign.
I second the vote for Kendrick's story; I've heard it and any story involving Scotty and penetrations can't help but be entertaining.
- Bishop
giromide,
Sorry, but you just can't dig on the new Shatner! He my not be James T. Kirk any longer but he's now Denny Crane!
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