James Doohan was
best known to
Star Trek fans as Scotty (
Montgomery Scott), the chief
engineer aboard the U
.S.S. Enterprise, in the original
Star Trek series. Doohan was
born on
March 3, 1920, in
Vancouver,
British Columbia, and spent his
early years in there and in
Sarnia, Ontario. Surviving the anguish of living with an alcoholic father, he left
home at age 19 to
join the
Canadian Forces, fighting with the
Allies in World
War II. After outscoring his fellow soldiers on an officer's exam, he became Captain in
the Royal Canadian Artillery. While leading his men into
battle on D-Day, Doohan was wounded in the leg and hand, and eventually
lost a
finger. For the remainder of the
war, he became a pilot observer, and received the dubious distinction of being called the "craziest pilot in the Canadian
Air Forces." After returning home to
Canada, Doohan performed a few scenes for
the local radio station, and was awarded a two-year scholarship to the
Neighborhood Playhouse in
New York City. Beginning in 1946, he trained at
the Playhouse with
Sanford Meisner, alongside such
future stars as
Leslie Nielsen,
Tony Randall and
Jackie Gleason. In the ensuing eight years, Doohan shuttled between New
York and Canada where he worked on 4000
radio programs, 400
live and taped variety and dramatic television shows, several films and plays. Though he became known as Canada\'s busiest
actor, he eventually
found himself following other fellow actors in the pilgrimage to
Hollywood. There, his versatility and
talent as a dialectician helped him earn parts in more than 100
motion pictures and television series, including
The Twilight Zone,
Outer Limits,
Fantasy Island, "Loaded Weapon 1" and "
Double Trouble." He has also appeared in the first
seven Star Trek motion pictures...
; "James Doohan")
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