LOS ANGELES – “Former ‘Star Trek’ cast member James Doohan is beaming. Doohan. who played the engineer Scotty, grinned and waved to fans as he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The 84-year-old actor was recently diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. He also suffers from Parkinson’s disease, diabetes and lung fibrosis.” (Source, Xanadu News)
Scotty, we hardly knew you. There are few of us who will ever get the limelight, even briefly. James Doohan was in the right place at the right time, appearng in an amazing show that was anything but well funded or world-class, and was soon cancelled. That show was Star Trek.
Funny how it is. Scotty appeared in about twenty-five of the original shows and seven of the spin-off movies. His screen time in each of these ranged from minutes to nearly a whole episode. That’s probably not even a full 40 hours on screen over these past four decades. Yet he is one of the few actors whom we could watch constantly, in countless shows and movies. He is that good.
This actor, in that short amount of time he was on screen, generated a most memorable character. If you are a Trekker (or Trekkie) you know that in the over one hundred books, and countless on line fan fiction, that Star Trek generated, his character continues to live on. And as we read them, in our mind’s eye, it is Doohan who is playing the part of Scotty.
For us, there will never be anyone else who is Scotty, the First Engineer of the Enterprize, who was indeed a miracle worker.
We could all could use a Scotty in our lives, right? Someone to keep us on track, and make it all work when its going to hell in a handbasket, or someone to beam us up when things really get rough.
James, thank you for making Scotty live for us.
All the best, and may your journey, and your days, be long and prosperous.
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