Biography for
James Doohan More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

3 March 1920, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Date of Death

20 July 2005, Redmond, Washington, USA (pneumonia and Alzheimer's disease)

Birth Name

James Montgomery Doohan

Nickname

Jimmy

Height

5' 8" (1.73 m)

Spouse

Wende Doohan	(12 October 1974 - 20 July 2005) (his death) 3 children
Anita Yagel	(22 November 1967 - 1972) (divorced)
Janet Young	(1949 - 1964) (divorced) 4 children

Trivia

He and wife Wende became parents to 7 lb. 13 oz. Sarah. [11 April 2000]

He and his wife Wende have two adult sons, Eric & Thomas.

Toured as Spokesman for Philips Electronics HDTV 1999.

Landed on Juno Beach on D-Day as a member of the Royal Canadian Artillery. Soon after, while walking across a mine field, he and his unit were attacked by enemy fire, as the Germans shot at them with machine guns. He was hit by four bullets to the leg, his middle finger of his right hand was shot off, and a bullet struck his chest. His life was saved when it hit a silver cigarette case which had been given to him by his brother.

He was given an honorary Degree in Engineering by the Milwaukee School of Engineering where apparently half of the students polled said they were inspired to study engineering by his role in "Star Trek" (1966).

He used to live across the street from Ralph Thorson and his family, the main subjects and the writer of the movies The Hunter (1980) as well as the television series "The Huntress" (2000).

Children with Young are: Larkin (1954), Deirdre (1957), and twin boys, Montgomery Doohan (1959) and Christopher Doohan (1959). Larkin is a nurse, and Deirdre an aspiring singer/actor.

Was among many WWII veterans to publicly thank Steven Spielberg for not holding back on the intensity of the Normandy Invasion scene in Saving Private Ryan (1998).

Grew up in Sarnia, Ontario, Canada.

Attended S.C.I.T.S. high school in Sarnia.

Episodes of "Star Trek" (1966) in which one can see that his middle finger is missing: "The Trouble with Tribbles"; "Cats Paw"; "Day of the Dove" (when Doohan grabs a claymore) and "The Lights of Zetar" (towards the end, when Scotty grabs Lt. Mira Romaine). Also in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984), when Scotty is handing McCoy the parts from the Trans-Warp Drive, as well as in Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989) when Scotty is holding a plastic bag dinner given to him by Uhura.

According to the Director's Edition DVD of Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979), the Klingon language first introduced in that movie and later featured in many later Trek movies and television episodes was initially devised by James Doohan. His original sounds were later expanded upon and refined by others, ultimately resulting in William Shakespeare plays and The Bible being translated into Klingon years later. Ironically his character, Scotty, complains of difficulty reading Klingon at the start of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986).

Although Marc Okrand is credited with creating the Klingon language of Star Trek, James Doohan came up with an unrefined version for Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979).

Received the honour of a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on August 31, 2004.

Suffered from Alzheimer's disease and was ravaged by Parkinson's disease, diabetes, lung fibrosis and pneumonia.

During his early stage work, he demonstrated a remarkable gift for foreign accents. He tried several during his audition for "Star Trek" (1966) and Gene Roddenberry was immediately taken by his Scottish brogue. Roddenberry cast him as the (previously-unnamed) ship's engineer character and they improvised the name Montgomery Scott ('Scott' for the accent and 'Montgomery' for Doohan's middle name).

Made his first ("Where No Man Has Gone Before" episode of "Star Trek" (1966)) and last (Star Trek: Generations (1994) ) "Star Trek" appearances with William Shatner.

Did many of the voice-over parts on the original "Star Trek" (1966), including the M-5 from "The Ultimate Computer" and Sargon from "Return to Tomorrow".

Suffered a massive heart attack in 1979.

His grandson, Kyle, was born in 1987. He is the son of Doohan's second daughter, Deirdre.

He was the youngest of four children of William Doohan (a pharmacist, veterinarian and dentist) and Sarah Doohan. His early life was miserable due to his father being a drunk and abusive to the entire family.

At 8:58 a.m. Mountain Time on 28 April 2007 (and after several delays), some of his ashes were sent about 70 miles above the earth on a private SpaceLoft XL rocket by Houston's Space Services, Inc., a company specializing in such memorials. The rocket was lost for three weeks after the flight but now has been found and all remains are still intact. Also among the participants of this flight were the ashes of US astronaut Gordon Cooper and "Star Trek" (1966)writer/director/producer John Meredyth Lucas, as well as 199 others. Space Services, Inc. had previously sent up the ashes of "Star Trek" creator Gene Roddenberry and LSD guru Timothy Leary in 1997.

His parents, William and Sarah Doohan, were (at the time of his birth) recent Catholic refugees from mainly Protestant Belfast who left Ireland during the War of Independence (also called the Anglo-Irish War).

Won a two-year scholarship to New York's famed Neighborhood Playhouse, where his classmates included fellow Canadian Leslie Nielsen, Tony Randall and Richard Boone.

He was the only then-living "Star Trek" (1966) cast member not to lend his voice to the "Futurama" (1999) episode "Where No Fan Has Gone Before", leading to his character Scotty being replaced by the farcical Welshie. According to the show's creators, his only response to their request that he appear on the show was a simple "No way.".

Now he has passed away, Grace Lee Whitney, born April 1930, is the oldest living Star Trek cast member.

On D-Day, his Royal Canadian Artillery unit was assigned to land on Juno Beach (the Canadian beach - Gold and Sword were British, Omaha and Utah were American). When returning to his Command Post, after liaising with the unit's Regimental Survey Officer, Lieutenant Doohan was machine-gunned and took eight bullets: three in his hand, smashing his middle finger; four in his leg and one in his chest. The one shot in his chest would have proved fatal if not for a silver cigarette case he had in the breast pocket of his uniform.

Diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. [July 2004]

Appeared in episodes of three different series with Leonard Nimoy: "Star Trek" (1966), "Star Trek" (1973) and "Duckman: Private Dick/Family Man" (1994).

The date of his death, July 20, 2005, is the anniversary of what is arguably the greatest engineering achievement in human history, the landing of Apollo 11 on the Moon.

Gained weight in the early 1980s as a consequence of quitting smoking.

Was scouted for acting roles in Hollywood by fellow Canadian actor William Shatner. When asked by Gene Roddenberry what accent to give the engineer, he chose Scottish, for Scotland's numerous engineering accomplishments and his own ancestry.

A cocktail known as the "Beam me up, Scotty" (Jim Beam, 7-Up and Glenlivit single malt scotch) is named in honor of James Doohan's character.

In Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986), the Dr. Nichols character wore an "I Quit Smoking" badge. This represents an engineer's surrender of a habit. James Doohan had personal experiences with his father's alcoholism, while living in Birtish Columbia, Canada.

In Gene DeWeese's 2005 Star Trek novel "The Engines of Destiny", a last farewell to Doohan is made. Scotty finally retires at age 200 from being a "Miracle Worker", at Starfleet's Corps of Engineers.

Received a special tribute as part of the Annual Memorial tribute at The 79th Annual Academy Awards (2007) (TV), which was over 18 months after his actual death.

Before he gained his fame as "Scotty" on "Star Trek" (1966), he started in television being sent into outer space in "Space Command" (1953) and "Tales of Tomorrow" (1951).

In real life, he had some engineering expertise. He often went boating with Gene Roddenberry after "Star Trek" (1966)'s cancellation, and recalled in an interview that his experience was needed to save Roddenberry from serious danger.

Another episode of Star Trek (1966) that you can see his missing middle finger is "Friday Child". When he is making the Captain's log entry a crew member hands him a report to sign and you see his right hand.

Personal Quotes

I like Captain Kirk, but I can't say that I'm very fond of Bill Shatner (William Shatner).

I really didn't have to work, shall we say, with "Star Trek." It was a natural. When I opened my mouth, there was Scotty. It's like I tell people what you see in Scotty is 99% James Doohan and 1% accent.

That's the responsibility of all actors: to keep your character as vibrant as possible. I just live my life and I like my characters to live that life, too. At least Scotty, anyway, because Scotty is the closest to Jimmy Doohan that I've ever done.

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