Beam Me Up, Scotty...

James Doohan (March 3, 1920 – July 20, 2005)
~In memoriam~


I have an action figure of Montgomery Scott as he appears in Star Trek: Generations. I'm pretty sure it's still in there somewhere. I even got a Next Generation engineering playset to put him in, even if it is mismatched. As a kid, I imagined Scotty working the engineering section of the Enterprise tirelessly, managing a clever concoction of juryrigged circuitry and wires against all odds.

The man's performances always affected me somehow. When he bumped his head in ST V, that scene cracked me up. When he reminisced in Relics, or when he lost one of his crew in ST II, I felt for the guy. He was a terribly underused actor, as the curse of typecasting enveloped most of the Original Series cast. But he was a good actor, and he brought the characters he portrayed to life.

He helped a lot of fans and was an inspiration to many. It may sound cliche but many people's lives were changed because of that little science fiction show we call Star Trek, and he helped shape it. He was a joy to fans, and was considered one of the nicest TOS cast members. He never tired of that old line, "Beam Me Up, Scotty;" he said that it always made him happy somehow.

He lived the last years of his life battling with Alzheimers disease, and he said goodbye to the public life last year, flanked by fellow cast members and fans alike, a star on the Hollywood walk of fame his parting gift.

He's gone now, to some other place in the stars, or probably beyond it, hopefully not trapped in some transporter feedback loop like in that TNG episode, but riding along in some starship, boldly going where none of us has gone before.

Rest in peace.