"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."

Comments

poor guy

[AdamTheBastard]

"he suffers from Parkinson's disease, diabetes and lung fibrosis as well as recently diagnosed Alzheimer's disease"

I never knew the guy but boy do I feel sorry for him.

Re:poor guy

[DAV3]

I can't believe the parent post is moderated +4, Insightful. That has got to be the most shallow and thoughtless sentiment I have ever encountered. The Alzheimers will make it more difficult for him to manage his diabetes and other illnesses. The increased burden on his family and his own sense of loss of identity (at least during the onset of the Alzheimers) will also makes things worse.

Nothing like a positive comment from someone who simply doesn't care...

Re:poor guy

[Gannoc]

I can't believe the parent post is moderated +4, Insightful. That has got to be the most shallow and thoughtless sentiment I have ever encountered. The Alzheimers will make it more difficult for him to manage his diabetes and other illnesses. The increased burden on his family and his own sense of loss of identity (at least during the onset of the Alzheimers) will also makes things worse.

He certainly meant it to be "funny", but I've heard people say things like this before.

Alzheimers does not "make you forget" that you're sick. In the early to middle stages, it makes things worse as you forget to take medications and are unable to follow the directions of your doctors. Eventually, you need to be moved somewhere for round the clock treatment.

People with end-stage cancer and Alzheimers aren't "lucky" because they can forget about the cancer. Instead, they feel the terrible pain of dying, without understanding what is going on around them. Many times, they don't recognize their own families, so they die "alone" and in horrible pain. Its among the worst ways to die a "natural" death.

So, lets back off on the fucking alzheimers jokes.

Re:poor guy

[Anonymous Coward]

Well this is slashdot. Nerds and kids.

Anyway, my Uncle is one of the friendliest, most caring people I've ever known. But he can't handle death.

When my brother was killed, my Uncle sat at the funeral telling jokes. Non stop. That's how he handles things. I was aghast at the time, and criticised him for this, but I now know he was heartbroken, and this is the only way he could handle it.

I like to think all the jokesters here have a little of this issue in them. They are trying to be upbeat jokers about terrible illnesses.

One grandmother had altzheimers. It was just the name of a disease to me until I witnessed it up close. But until you've seen a person go days not recognizing anyone, then suddenly wake up screaming "Where am I? What am I doing here?" uhmmmm...it's shocking, and not funny, and tragic. She was okay to deal with when she was not recognizing us, just a little afraid of us, and she was okay when she recognized us, too. It was the transistions--that was the most frightening.

It was very painful when she transistioned, very emotional, lots of screaming and crying, wondering who and where she was. It was tough to watch and deal with.

I'm a loner and lone wolf, so I know I will end badly with no one by my side. So I hope it's quick and with not much for anyone to clean up :-)

Sad

[Klar]

"he suffers from Parkinson's disease, diabetes and lung fibrosis as well as recently diagnosed Alzheimer's disease"

I wish him the best health possible for his life.

Re:Sad

[ElrondHubbard]

I trust that most, if not all, of those reading this post realize that this constitutes an advanced stage of the death of the Original Series, if not the ideals that it stood for. The final movement began, naturally, with the death of Gene Roddenberry, and entered the final downward slide with the subsequent death of DeForest Kelley. Furthermore, we all recognize that Scotty was the first among equals of the non-Kirk-Spock-McCoy segment of the original cast. Mr. Doohan, we hardly knew ye. Thank you for representing my country on the beaches of Normandy. I hope that I and mine shall not neglect your sacrifice in days to come.

I do not think this word means what you think...

[YankeeInExile]

...and he was an aspiration throughout my formative years

An aspiration? Perhaps he was an inspiration.

Not to say the expected thing...

[simrook]

but I expect that to many of us on slashdot, Doohan represented an element in our lives that started many of us down the path of technology. I know for myself at least, it was watching Star Trek with my father (who's name is Scott, an engineer, and has was called Scotty by his coworkers) that started myself on the path of computers, science, and engineerning.

It is unfortunate that this all is happening to him, as he is a very nice person. After a star trek convention in the mid 90's, I was waiting around for an autograph, a small kid, and he was the only person to come over and say hello. Something I'll remember.

There's really no point to this post, just random museings from yet another Star Trek nerd.

With every other post being a bad Star Trek joke

[JudgeFurious]

I'm just going with a "thanks for the memories"

On the one hand he suffers from a large number of physical problems but on the other hand he's lived to 84 years of age and had a hell of a ride during a life that many could only dream of. I hope his remaining time is spent with family and in comfort.

A star worthy of a star

[H_Fisher]

I was one of the people who got to meet Doohan, however briefly, with a family friend who's a newspaper reporter. We got to speak with him for a few minutes behind the scenes at a convention in Charlotte, NC over a decade ago. He was friendly and courteous; I was 11 at the time and a major fan of TNG and TOS, and though you know he dealt with his share of babbling fans (young and old) he smiled the whole time and signed several autographs for us.

I can't think of a lot of actors - especially ones who're mainly famous for an offbeat role in a campy '60s series - who could maintain that good humor after a lot of years; the other cast members (William "Get A Life" Shatner and Leonard "I Am Not Spock" Nimoy had their ups and downs with the typecasting that came with their roles, and they've written about it in their memoirs) ... But when all was said and done, James Doohan seems to have done well for himself and enjoyed his part in Trek-lore all the way.

Parkinson's Disease

[Judg3]

is a terrible thing to witness. I watched my grandmother succumb to it over many years. She received it in her mid 40s, which is somewhat rare. The doctors thought she might have had a small stroke or two in her sleep that started the process.

At first it was a slight shaking in her arm that would go away. Then it wouldn't go away. Then it was her whole arm, then the whole side of her body.
It really snowballed on her, in a span of 5 years she went from driving and writing checks and such (via a special pen that had a large grip on it) to being in a wheelchair 24/7 and barely leaving her bedroom. (My grandfather died of bone cancer during that time) She basically stopped wanting to live.

The doctors put her on all kinds of medications and she went to the Mayo clinic constantly. They where talking about an experimental stem cell surgery to see if it would stop the brain deteration, but due to the costs and public outcry against stem cell research she never went through with it. The doctors said it's a part of life almost - if you live long enough you're basically guaranteed to get Alhzeimers, Parkinson's Disease, or both.

I miss you nanna!

Re:Congratulations

[SYFer]

Indeed. Scotty is one personage who is worthy of posts on slashdot that contribute nothing more than a "me too." The character that he so vividly created is a part of every American geek's cultural heritage and even though he was an actor as opposed to a real engineer, I'll bet he inspired a great many of the older posters here in their formative years. The spirit of Scotty lives in every "can do" engineer, sysadmin, coder and rocket scientist out there.

Though his body may fail him, his personality, utter magnanimity and talent will live on forever. I salute him. He is truly a geek's geek.

Every Man

[DumbSwede]

I always liked the original Star Trek, and while Doohan might not have been a major reason for watching, he certainly played his role with admirable flair as a no nonsense every-guy. Hard working, hard playing (drinking) and proud of his Scottish roots. While we may have admired Kirk, Spock, and McCoy, we knew the way to space was paved with study, hard work, and sweet, as symbolized by Scotty.

All of the Characters were a little one dimensional, but at least they were varied. Many dramas of the 60s and 70s we peopled by everyone is a hero, everyone is perfect types, with perhaps just one or two transient bad apples thrown in, just to motive plot lines. Scotty drank. Kirk was an impulsive Cowboy. Spock was conflicted over his being a half-breed and trying to straddle two heritages. Uhura was afraid of aging and loosing her looks. McCoy was unhappy living in world dehumanized by technology. Checkoff was young and unseasoned. Sulu had an inscrutable exterior, but a child like exuberance waiting to be released. Yeoman Rand was not quite emotionally mature and prone to hero worship. Nurse Chapel fixates on something she can't have (Spock).

We liked all of them. We liked their eccentricities, and by extension we like the actors that played them and brought so much joy into our lives.

Mr Doohan is still with us, but given all these woes he has to overcome in these the late years of his life, I feel a little closer to him, and will morning his passing a little more. Perhaps more than all the others as they flicker out, because as I said before, Scotty is the every-man.

Enough with the beam me up jokes please. I really do think of these people as my friends, and this is sad news

Wikipedia, not TheFreeDictionary.

[Grendel Drago]

Link to Wikipedia directly, not FreeDictionary. FreeDictionary is an outdated and spammalicious copy of Wikipedia.

--grendel drago

Re:Congratulations

[Weaselmancer]

True, and well spoken. Scotty is permanently in the geek lexicon. You'd be hard pressed to find a single human being in the western hemisphere that doesn't know what "Scotty, beam me up" means.

In fact, I'm an engineer, and one of the best pieces of engineering advice ever given to me was from his character. "You didn't tell him how long it would really take, did you? You'll never get a reputation as a miracle worker that way."

I still exaggerate my time estimates to this day, and when I come in under the deadline, I look as good as Scotty does, each and every time. I've had entire semesters at college that taught me less useful knowledge than that one simple quote.

Mr. Doohan is a geek icon, and an amazing person aside from his acting career. Most geeks don't know it, but he was part of the D-Day landing. A truly amazing person, and the world will be a smaller place with him not in it. Godspeed, Mr. Scott.

A class act

[still cynical]

I normally have no interest in celebrities in general, but my one meeting with James Doohan showed me that he was a class act.

A couple of friends of mine dragged me to a Star Trek convention in the early 90s. Doohan was the featured star. After the obligatory question and answer session, which he handled with more humor and patience than I would have, he went out into the hall to sign autographs. I probably slowed my friends down a bit as I have no interest in autographs, but I didn't want to be left alone in the middle of the convention, so I joined them at the very end of the line. After an eternity (much longer for Doohan, who I'm sure was getting writer's cramp and a migraine after hearing the same joke and quotes from everybody in line) he made a big deal about us being the very last people in line. He seemed genuinely flattered that we waited so long to meet him, and had us come around behind the table to have multiple pictures taken with him.

How many TV and movie stars would have simply been happy to get it over with? How few would have shown that kind of humor and good nature to just a few more of many, many fans?

Scotty, if you read this, you greatly impressed me, restored my faith in celebrity, and made a fan for life. A sincere "Live long and prosper."

You truly have inspired many

[illusioned]

Normally on slashdot when you post an opinion that 200 other people have already brought to light, you are scored as redundant. However, I think in this case the fact that you are still able to see all the praise shows just how much one man can affect more then he could ever imagine. In my childhood you were one of the people that taught me that the word can't doesn't exist. You helped affirm that ones best effort will always see them through. And so far, you've been right. May you live out the rest of your life free of pain and worry, and thank you for helping me become all I had hoped to be.

Doohan vs. Shatner

[FrankHaynes]

Throughout the years of "Star Trek" episodes and movies, Jimmy's relationship with series star Shatner was tense.

"To this day, they don't know why," Chris said, "but they've made up within the last year."

"It was a long battle," he said. "It came to the point that neither of them knew why they were angry at each other, and they're getting old."

Probably because Shatner is a pompous ass, and you can quote me on that.

I recall reading my sister's MAD magazine from the 1960s in which they interviewed Shatner, Nimoy, and Kelley. I cannot forget the quote by Shatner that "I can't stand conceited, pompous people."

Then when the reports from conventions, interviews with co-stars, and other indications of how Shatner really is, that quote became particularly interesting to me, much like the pot calling the kettle black.

Conversely, I've never heard a bad word about Jimmy Doohan from anyone who has met him or worked with him. He just seems like an affable guy who doesn't take things too seriously; just think of the calm way he said "Aye" in the TNG episode "Relics" at the end as he boarded his shuttlecraft gift.

Contrasted against Shatner I can see how they would rub each other the wrong way.

Re:Warp factor 10 time dilation?

[shfted!]

She was actually 18 at the time. I should have said his wife of 25 years at the time. Yeah, he robbed the craddle, that's for sure.

Now if only I could figured out why my programs always segfault when I use pointers...