By BOB THOMAS, Associated Press Writer
6 minutes ago



LOS ANGELES - James Doohan, the burly chief engineer of the Starship Enterprise in the original "Star Trek" TV series and movies who responded to the command "Beam me up, Scotty," died Wednesday. He was 85.



Doohan died at 5:30 a.m. at his Redmond, Wash., home with his wife of 28 years, Wende, at his side, Los Angeles agent and longtime friend Steve Stevens said. The cause of death was pneumonia and Alzheimer's disease, he said.

Doohan had said farewell to public life in August 2004, a few months after being diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.

The Canadian-born Doohan was enjoying a busy career as a character actor when he auditioned for a role as an engineer in a new space adventure on NBC in 1966. A master of dialects from his early years in radio, he tried seven different accents.

"The producers asked me which one I preferred," Doohan recalled 30 years later. "I believed the Scot voice was the most commanding. So I told them, `If this character is going to be an engineer, you'd better make him a Scotsman.'"

The series, which starred William Shatner as Capt. James T. Kirk and Leonard Nimoy as the enigmatic Mr. Spock, attracted an enthusiastic following of science fiction fans, especially among teenagers and children, but not enough ratings power. NBC canceled it after three seasons.

When the series ended in 1969, Doohan found himself typecast as Montgomery Scott, the canny engineer with a burr in his voice. In 1973, he complained to his dentist, who advised him: "Jimmy, you're going to be Scotty long after you're dead. If I were you, I'd go with the flow."

"I took his advice," said Doohan, "and since then everything's been just lovely."

I knew it would come soon. He's been in bad health for quite some time.

Watch for more news at http://www.startrek.com. I'm sure they'll have a memorial on there. It's just too soon yet.

Very sad. And doesn't he have a very young child? I seem to remember his having have a baby within the past few years.

RipHer2Shreds said:

Yeah, I think he's got a daughter under 10.

RipHer2Shreds said:

Yeah, I think he's got a daughter under 10.

JediMaster said:

He didn't waste time spreading his seed even when he got up in age. I guess Viagra served him well.

JediMaster said:

I believe she was born in 2000.

He fathered 9 kids!!!
Wow!!!

IMDb's bio/trivia page:
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001150/bio

Best anecdote:
A fan wrote him once and stated that she was going to kill herself. He wrote her back, gave her encouragement, and told her that he wanted to see her at the next convention he appeared at. She was and visited every convention that he attended until he left the public eye.

JediMaster said:

He didn't waste time spreading his seed even when he got up in age. I guess Viagra served him well.

Hotlegs said:

I bet he said "Now beam me up damnit!" every time.

I heard he hated William Shatner. One reason is becuase when his little dog died, Shatner laughed. Shatner reported this on Conan Obrien and his only explanation was "well, it was one of those little dogs." Shatner seems like an ass but I thought it was funny.

pkidwell said:

Well,you can't help but wonder if there is any truth to that story. However, we have notived how much of an arrogant ass Shatner seems to be.

Hotlegs said:

It was no secret that he hated Shatner. In fact, most of the cast didn't get along with Shatner at all. Takei & Koenig have also been outspoken about how Shatner was pretty much an ass to everyone, and how only Nimoy, Kelly and Grace Lee Whitney could even remotely get along with him.

Shatner is a major smart-ass, but I find it amusing. I think he missed his calling in life, he should have been a comedian. The guy is funny as hell.

JediMaster said:

You're right Shatner humor is off the scale for sure. I saw him on Late Night With Conan and he was hilarious.