James Doohan, 1920-2005
Actor James Doohan, best known as “Scotty” on TV’s Star Trek, passed away this morning of pneumonia and Alzheimer’s. He had retired from public life last year. More info is available at Star Trek’s website.
He was a very talented man, adept at linguistics as well as acting (he even laid down the foundations for the Klingon language). One other thing that impresses me is his attitude towards his typecasting (a typical by-product of starring in Star Trek). Many actors bristle at being typecast, but Doohan loved it. However, it wasn’t always thus. According to Yahoo! News’s obituary:
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.”
Doohan is the second Star Trek actor to have passed on. DeForest Kelly (”Dr. McCoy”), died in 1999.