- Born
- Died
- Birth nameJames Montgomery Doohan
- Nickname
- Jimmy
- Height5′ 11″ (1.80 m)
- Best known as Scotty in Star Trek he was educated at High School in Sarnia, Ontario, where he acted in school productions.
When WWII began he joined the Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery eventually obtaining the rank of Captain. He was wounded on D-Day, suffering severe damage to his right middle finger which was removed ahead of first knuckle, then became a flying observer for the rest of the war. His daring aerial maneuvers flying in an observation plane got him known as the craziest pilot in the Royal Canadian Air Force.
Once the war ended, he found himself on many other adventures although none of them would come anywhere close to what he experienced before.
He would become a popular voice actor who participated in thousands of CBC programs spread across both radio and television.
Later on, during the mid-1960's, he would develop into the Star Trek great we now know as Montgomery Scott, "Scotty".
In 1946 he won a 2 year scholarship to the Neighbourhood Playhouse in New York City and from there went to teach for three years.
In 1953 he returned to Canada and lived in Toronto for 8 years acting on radio, television and some films before moving to Hollywood where he also appeared in a number of popular television series such as the Canadian version of The Howdy Doody Show, Hawkeye and the Last of the Mohicans, R.C.M.P., Gunsmoke, The Twilight Zone, Hazel, The Gallant Men, Bonanza, The Richard Boone Show, The Outer Limits, Ben Casey, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, The Fugitive, Laredo, Bewitched, The Virginian, The Man from Uncle, The F.B.I., Peyton Place, Daniel Boone, Marcus Welby M.D., Fantasy Island, Magnum P.I., Danger Bay and The Bold and The Beautiful, while in between he made a return to the stage for various plays.
James Doohan departed the scene at the age of 85 on 20 July 2005.
Many current-day engineers credit Scotty with being their childhood inspiration and in honour of his memory a portion of Doohan's ashes were sprinkled in space by the rocket SpaceLoft XL.- IMDb Mini Biography By: COLONEL77, Tonyman 5 - His first professional job was a 15 minute radio show for which he was paid $12 in January 1946. He did some 4,000 radio shows in the 8 or 9 years that he worked in Toronto and 400 live tv shows, a year or two later he went to Hollywood. Throughout the 60's he utilized his gift of speaking in many dialects in a variety of tv series, His now famous Scottish brogue was first used in an episode of Hazel (a British tv series) and over 100 films and television shows.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Tonyman 5
- SpousesWende Doohan(October 12, 1974 - July 20, 2005) (his death, 3 children)Anita Yagel(November 22, 1967 - 1972) (divorced)Janet Young(1949 - 1964) (divorced, 4 children)
- ChildrenSarah DoohanEric DoohanThomas Doohan
- Lieutenant Commander Montgomery Scott on Star Trek (1966) and seven of the Star Trek films
- Scottish brogue which he often used while portraying Montgomery "Scotty" Scott
- Catchphrase: "I'm givin' her all she's got, Captain!" (When asked by Captain Kirk to push the Enterprise engines beyond their limit)
- One of the proudest moments in his career was when he communicated with a fan whom he deduced was struggling with suicidal feelings. Doohan invited her to a convention and invited her to more conventions. Eventually, the woman disappeared and he could not find her. He then received a letter eight years later from the woman who said she had just received her degree in Engineering and thanking him for his help.
- Was among many World War II veterans to publicly thank Steven Spielberg for not holding back on the intensity of the Normandy Invasion scene in Saving Private Ryan (1998).
- 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 that hit a silver cigarette case which had been given to him by his brother.
- Like his co-star DeForest Kelley, he was proud to learn that his performance had inspired many people to follow his characters profession (Engineering).
- Suffered from Alzheimer's disease and was ravaged by Parkinson's disease, diabetes, lung fibrosis and pneumonia.
- 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.
- [1998] I wish I could say that Bill (William Shatner) is a nice man, but he isn't.
- [1998, on if he's tired of hearing the line 'beam me up']: I'm not tired of it at all. Good gracious, it's been said to me for just about 31 years. It's been said to me at 70 miles an hour across four lanes on the freeway. I hear it from just about everybody. It's been fun.
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