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"Scotty" Gets Walk of Fame Star
linuxwrangler writes "Actor James Doohan, aka Scotty on the original Star Trek series received his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame today. This is expected to be Doohan's last public appearance as he suffers from Parkinson's disease, diabetes and lung fibrosis as well as recently diagnosed Alzheimer's disease."
Here's to James Doohan, both for the man he was, seeing combat action on D-Day (where he lost a finger) and for the unforgettable character he gave us. A double toast of the finest Canadian and Scotch whiskeys for him and Scotty!
Well, Scotty was great, but I have to say Doohan himself was better--if perhaps not quite as in love with geeks as we are with him.
In Total Sell-Out, Brian Michael Bendis (you know, the comic book writer in charge of Powers and Ultimate Spider-man...) tells the most hilarious story of sitting by Doohan at a convention.
When it became evident that Bendis was sympathetic to the annoyance brought about by a constant "Beam me up, Scotty!" from fans, Doohan let loose.
"That's right, smart ass. Kiss my tribble. Bite me. Beam this, ya bloody nerds..."
Bendis describes it as being witness to one of the greatest moments a geek could aspire to. I couldn't agree more.
No hoax. Free PCs.
...when the engineer outlives the doctor. No engineer should have to see his doctor die.
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Jun 11 1999 3:15PM DeForest Kelley, who, as Star Trek's folksy spaceman Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy, frequently issued the dire (and trademark) "He's dead, Jim" diagnosis, died today at the Motion Picture and Television Country Home and Hospital in Woodland Hills, California. He was 79.
There's nothing Intelligent about Intelligent Design.
Yes he lost the middle finger on his right hand during the invasion of Normandy.
Scotty's Missing Finger
They shot around it in the T.V. series. Remember all those close up shots of just the hands on the transporter? They aren't Scotty's hands.
Sometimes my arms bend back.
Meaning no disrespect to Doohan, but all a walk of fame star really means is that you paid $15,000 to the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, and they recognised your name.
Inclusion on the walk of fame is done entirely based on nomination, and since a successful nomination costs so much, people only ever nominate themselves, or are nominated by their studio/publicists. Which is why Britney Spears, David Spade and Pee Wee Herman all have their own stars, but Al Pacino never bothered.
The more I learn about the Internet, the more amazed I am that it works at all.
Parkinson's is indeed a total bitch. And the thing is that there is such a thing as Parkinson's Related Dementia, and also a form of dementia caused by TIAs or small strokes.
Unfortunately, it will not become clear until the autopsy (if there is one) what Doohan actually had and what is causing the dementia symptoms.
It is good that people are honoring our beloved "Scotty" now, rather than posthumously or after he's too far gone to appreciate it.
Knowledge is power. Knowledge shared is power multiplied.
I never met him either, but I have talked to people that go to the conventions.
Starting with the first one which was 25 to 30 years ago.
They all say James is a great guy, a real sport, and used to be quite the drinker and scamp.
He'd joke with all the guys and flirt with all the girls.
Sounds like someone I'd be proud to hang out with.
His son organized donations for it.
"[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz
Please mod this up, I'm on as AC so it won't matter to my account.
In case anyone didn't know of it's existence.
Doohan's Autobiography is one of the best books of it's kind. It was written some years ago, and should be available in most metro libraries. He seems to give an honest look at his life, which is nearly as inspiring (maybe it is more so) as his characters on Star Trek.
Before he passes on, it's nice to have so many thinking of him and sending their prayers.
I got to meet Mr. Doohan at a Star Trek convention almost twenty years ago. He was the guest of honor at that one, and I learned some interesting things about him from his monologue. Most TV viewers are familiar with his Scottish brogue, but he was a master of literally hundreds of accents - he could do a Texan's drawl just as convincingly. In the original Trek series, he did many of the voice-overs and sound effects for the robots, computers, and aliens in those episodes. And he is also credited with the invention of both the Klingon and Vulcan languages. A very talented gentleman. I was glad I got the chance to meet him.
Alzheimer's is the corruption and death of neurons by unknown agents (the amyloid placques associated with it do not seem to be a direct causitive action, from the last SciAm article [yeah, real authoritive, I know...] about it).
Parkinson's is caused by parts of the brain having impaired production of/response to dopamine in the inner brain.
You don't have to be 75 years old to get Parkinson's [Davis Phinney, Michael J. Fox].
Both suck to be a witness to (my experience was watching my grandmother wither away from Parkinson's). It is very hard to get to the point where you enjoy and appreciate the fewer and fewer lucid moments the person has. Eventually, they do just become a visage of what they once were.
It sucks when someone you know dies suddenly in a car crash, heart attack or any other sudden cause. It sucks when it takes someone 10-15 years to slowly die from Parkinson's/Alzheimers [and I imagine, any terminal disease].
James Doohan is a war hero...a Lieutenant in The Royal Canadian Artillery he was injured by machine gun fire on Juno Beach on D-Day. He was shot in the leg and the hand, which cost him a finger. After recovering from his wounds, he became a spotter plane pilot, earning the title of "The craziest pilot in the Canadian Air Corps".
Every person who stormed the beaches on D-Day is a Hero, and to have survived nearly being killed, and getting into an even more dangerous role in the War speaks to the courage and valour Mr. Doohan has as a person, some of of which came through in his charactor of Scotty.
He should be made a member of The Order of Canada, the highest honour Canada can bestow upon it's citizens. This man has inspired many people to go on and earn degrees in engineering, and that is a great service to society. Having attended a number of his talks at Carleton University in Ottawa, I can say that I have always been impressed by him as a person.
ttyl
Farrell
CAN-CON 2019 - Ottawa's only book oriented Science Fiction Convention! October 18-20, Sheraton Hotel, Ottawa, Canada h
Doohan didn't invent the Klingon Language, that was Marc Okrand.
The spoken Klingon in ST:TMP were random grunts. Okrand did the job of not only inventing a language, but backfitting it to those grunts such that people who understood the language could actually understand those grunts.
This is, of course, not to detract on Doohan's achievements - his star is very well deserved.
-- Soruk
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