Background:

Irish Canadian character and voice actor James Doohan, born in 1920, died in 2005, rose to fame thanks to his portrayal of darling chief engineer Montgomery “Scotty” Scott on the iconic science fiction series “Star Trek” (NBC, 1966-69), a role which he later reprised in the Star Trek movie series, “Star Trek: The Motion Picture” (1979), “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan” (1982), “Star Trek III: The Search for Spock” (1984), “Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home” (1986), from which he received a Saturn nomination for Best Supporting Actor, “Star Trek V: The Final Frontier” (1989) and “Star Trek: Generations” (1994). He also provided the voice of Scotty as well as many other characters in “Star Trek: The Animated Series” (NBC, 1973-1974). The actor’s depiction of the Scottish Chief Engineer of the Starship Enterprise became one of the most noticeable aspects in the Star Trek franchise. Although highly tied with his “Star Trek” role, Doohan managed to make various performances, including Mr. Blake in the daytime soap “Return to Peyton Place” (1974), Commander Canarvin on the Saturday-morning series “Jason of Star Command” (1979), Damon Warwick on the CBS soap opera “The Bold and the Beautiful” (1996),  Sheriff Carlson in the film “Bug Buster” (1998) and Clive Chives in Philip Spink's comedy, “The Duke” (1999).

Doohan had three marriages in his life time. He had four children from his first marriage to Janet Young (together from 1949 to 1964) and got an additional three children from his last marriage to Wende Doohan (together from 1974 to his death). His second marriage to Anita Yagel (together from 1967 to 1972) did not produce a child.   


Craziest Pilot

Childhood and Family:

The youngest of four children of William and Sarah Doohan, James Montgomery Doohan was born on March 3, 1920, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. His parents were Catholic refugees from mostly Protestant Belfast during the Anglo-Irish War. Later, he moved with his family to Sarnia, Ontario, and attended high school at the Sarnia Collegiate Institute and Technical School (SCITS), where he was good at science and mathematic.

James had a miserable upbringing. He and the entirely family were abused by his alcoholic father. He finally left home at age 19 and joined the Canadian Forces. An outstanding soldier, James was commissioned as a captain in the Royal Canadian Artillery. While escorting his men into a combat on D-Day, he got injured in the hand and leg which finally led to the amputation of his finger. Despite his wounds, James remained in the military, and spent the rest of the war becoming a pilot observer. He was once named the “craziest pilot in the Canadian Air Forces.”           

In 1949, a 29 year old James married Janet Young. They had four children: Larkin (born 1954), Deirdre (born 1957), and twin boys, Montgomery Doohan and Christopher Doohan (born 1959), before divorcing in 1964. James married second wife Anita Yagel on November 22, 1967, but the marriage ended in separation in 1972. James married Wende Doohan on October 12, 1974. The couple had two sons, Eric and Thomas, and one daughter, Sarah, who was born on April 11, 2000 when James was already 80 years old.               

On July 20, 2005, James passed away at his home in Redmond, Washington, after suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, which was devastated by Parkinson’s disease, diabetes, pneumonia and lung fibrosis. His wife of 31 years, Wende, and long-time friend and agent, Steve Stevens, were at his side.  


Canada’s Busiest Actor   

Career:

After serving in the Canadian Military, James Doohan returned home to Canada and performed a few scenes for the local radio stations. He received a two year scholarship to New York’s renowned Neighborhood Playhouse, where he studied along with future stars like Leslie Nielsen, Jackie Gleason and Tony Randall. He made his television acting debut in an episode of the NBC “Martin Kane, Private Detective” in 1949 and continued to do numerous voiceovers on radio before returning to Canada in 1953.

Doohan spent the next eight years alternating between New York and Canada. He worked on hundreds of radio and television programs as well as in a number of films and plays and made a name for himself as the busiest actor in Canada. His television regular gig came when he was cast as Phil Mitchell in the science fiction series “Space Command” (1953), opposite Andrew Anthony and Robert Barclay. In the early 1960s, Doohan headed to Hollywood to further pursue his career.

Doohan made a number of guest appearances in television shows, including “The New Breed” (1962), “Bonanza” (1962-1963), “The Twilight Zone” (1963), “G.E. True” (1963), “The Gallant Men” (1963), “The Outer Limits” (1964), “Bewitched” (1965) and “The Virginian” (1963-1965). He branched out to features with an uncredited part as defense attorney in “The Wheeler Dealers,” a 1963 comedy directed by Arthur Hiller and starring Lee Remick, James Garner and Phil Harris. He followed it up with other uncredited parts or small roles in such films as “Signpost to Murder” (1964), “36 Hours” (1965), “Bus Riley's Back in Town” (1965), “The Satan Bug” (1965) and “Jigsaw”  (1968).  

Doohan’s luck started to change when he won the signature role of Montgomery Scott, Chief Engineer of the USS Enterprise, in the Gene Roddenberry created science fiction television series “Star Trek,” thanks to his amazing gift for foreign accents. Debuting on NBC on September 8, 1966, the show was canceled by the network after three seasons due to poor ratings, with the final episode aired on June 3, 1969. The show later found huge success when it was syndicated throughout the world in 1972. While the show emerged as one of the most popular science fiction series in the world, Doohan himself gained his celebration status.

When “Star Trek” was developed into a cartoon series in 1973, Doohan joined the show to perform his character, Scotty, and other characters like Arex, Commodore Robert April and Gabler. “Star Trek: The Animated Series” ran on NBC for two seasons from September 8, 1973 until October 12, 1974.  

In the meantime, Doohan also took other acting projects. He had small roles in the films  “Pretty Maids All in a Row” (1971) and “Man in the Wilderness” (1971) and also played Mr. Blake in the daytime soap “Return to Peyton Place” (1974). He provided the voice of Commander Canarvin in the 1979 Saturday morning science fiction series “Jason of Star Command” (1979-1980). In 1979, the actor again reprised his role as Cmdr. Montgomery “Scotty” Scott in “Star Trek: The Motion Picture” (1979), the first of seven “Star Trek” movie series.    

Doohan played Scotty on several “Star Trek” films during the 1980s, such as “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan” (1982), “Star Trek III: The Search for Spock” (1984), “Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home” (1986) and “Star Trek V: The Final Frontier” (1989). He maintained his presence on the small screen by making guest appearances on such shows as “Fantasy Island” (1983, as Governor Gaspar d’Annard), “Magnum, P.I.” (1983, as Archie MacPherson), “Hotel” (1985, as Roger) and “Danger Bay” (1988, as Pete). After appearing in an episode of “MacGyver” (1990), Doohan was invited to play variations of his iconic character in the TV film “Knight Rider 2000” (1991), starring David Hasselhoff, and the movie National Lampoon’s “Loaded Weapon 1” (1993). He reprised the role again in the films “Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country” (1991) and “Star Trek movie Star Trek: Generations” (1994) as well as in an episode of the spin-off series “Star Trek: The Next Generation” (1992).

Doohan continued to appear in other films like “Amore!” (1993, as Dr. Landon), “River of Stone” (1994), “New York Skyride” (1994) and “Storybook” (1996, as Uncle Monty). He played Damon Warwick on the CBS soap opera “The Bold and the Beautiful” (1996) and Pippen in an episode of the UPN sitcom “Homeboys in Outer Space” (1996). In 1998, Doohan played Sheriff Carlson in the action film “Bug Buster,” opposite Randy Quaid and Katherine Heigl. He closed out the decade with appearances in two films, “The Duke” and “Through Dead Eyes” (both 1999).

On August 31, 2004, Doohan received a star on the Walk of Fame. During the ceremony, he made an official farewell to his fans due to his poor health. He passed away on July 20, 2005.  Prior to his death, the recipient of the SFX Lifetime Achievement Award appeared as Judge Peterson in the direct to video film “Skinwalker: Curse of the Shaman,” starring Amanda Paytas, Timothy Parham and Donald Craig. The film was released on May 17, 2005.


Awards:

SFX: SFX Lifetime Achievement Award, 2004
SFX: SFX Lifetime Achievement Award, 2003 Show Less