Today would have been.....

[EnsignHarper]

...Jimmy Doohan's 94th birthday! As has been said before his Scotty is the one 'subordinate' character whose role and importance actually grew as the series went along, and a lot of that is due to Doohan's presence, not only in playing a 'genius' engineer, but bringing his experiences in the military to give Scott credibility as a third in command.

It is sort of sad that Doohan's abilities as an actor get short shrift - he was trained at the famed Neighborhood Playhouse, and later actually served an instructor there. He hardly ever got a chance to show his skills off on TOS - we get a glimpse in TNG's Relics, though, and he did a bang up job in a recurring role on a soap - The Bold and the Beautiful I think.

So I now have to admit, that once I started getting into Trek - after hating it just because my big sister liked it- I was always drawn to Scotty. It became a very nice thing indeed that I found out we actually shared a Birthday! It actually gave me a very nice thing to bring up the only time I ever got to meet a member of the cast at a signing.

 

[bbailey861]

Nice remembrance. Also, Mr. Doohan was a Canadian WWII vet who participated in the D-Day landings. There were times where you could see his military experience shine through the character.

 

[Shik]

I was always drawn to Scotty.

Was it because of the increased gravitational effect of his enlarged mass?

I was thinking about this the other day, that TOS mains sometimes didn't have much of a career after the show. Shatner did, of course, & Takei. Nimoy & Koenig, kind of (the latter taking some years to really ramp up again). Kelley, Doohan & Nichols...far less so. I don't think it was typecasting but almost an inability of the industry to see them in anything BUT that role.

 

[22 Stars]

I was always drawn to Scotty.

Was it because of the increased gravitational effect of his enlarged mass?

I was thinking about this the other day, that TOS mains sometimes didn't have much of a career after the show. Shatner did, of course, & Takei. Nimoy & Koenig, kind of (the latter taking some years to really ramp up again). Kelley, Doohan & Nichols...far less so. I don't think it was typecasting but almost an inability of the industry to see them in anything BUT that role.

This is pretty much the definition of typecasting though...

 

[Shik]

I was always drawn to Scotty.

Was it because of the increased gravitational effect of his enlarged mass?

I was thinking about this the other day, that TOS mains sometimes didn't have much of a career after the show. Shatner did, of course, & Takei. Nimoy & Koenig, kind of (the latter taking some years to really ramp up again). Kelley, Doohan & Nichols...far less so. I don't think it was typecasting but almost an inability of the industry to see them in anything BUT that role.

This is pretty much the definition of typecasting though...

I suppose. Perhaps what I meant to say was that the industry believed the populace would have trouble seeing them in other roles.

 

[mendelin]

James Doohan was brilliant in TOS-movies. It's a pity, that he didn't have much of a career after Star Trek. It's not fair.

 

[Push The Button]

He was the featured guest at the one and only Trek con that I ever attended, and I'm glad that I got to see him in person that day, even if it was only for a few minutes.

Happy Birthday Mr. Doohan, and rest in peace, you deserve it.

 

[Gary Mitchell]

Happy belated birthdy Ensign Harper and James Doohan.