Nor of biology, alas. James “Scotty” Doohan gave his last con appearance over the weekend, and Tuesday will mark his final planned public appearance, as he accepts a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
The 84-year-old actor, who played “Scotty” on the ’60s TV series, decided to retire after being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease several months ago. He blew kisses to a crowd of Trekkie faithful gathered at Sunday’s finale of a two-day tribute held at the Renaissance Hollywood Hotel.
Doohan, who also has Parkinson’s disease and diabetes, mingled with fans at the convention and spoke at a news conference between Scotty impersonation contests and a panel discussion titled, “The Influence of Scotty on Society.”
Scotty was always one of my favorites, too often pushed out of the spotlight by the Big Three, but, on those occasions when he got to be in charge, or got a good line — “Wolf in the Fold,” “The Trouble with Tribbles,” “Mirror, Mirror,” “Friday’s Child” come immediately to mind — always showing fiery determination, an effacing sense of humor, and a deep loyalty to Star Fleet, his ship, and his Captain. That was Doohan’s doing, and he was a fine character actor and, from all I’ve read, quite a nice fellow. He’ll be missed.
My favorite Scotty line was when Kirk was trying to get Scotty to take some shore leave but he was reading his tech manuals. Kirk told Scotty to relax. Scotty replied, “But I am relaxing.”
The other won was when he was in the drinking contest with the Andromedans. He was asked what one of the drinks was and he said, “It’s grrreen.”
In real life I enjoyed it when I heard James Doohan admit that the first movie was lousy. (This was a speech given for visiting lecturers at Iowa State University in 1980 or 1981.)
The first line you mention was from “The Trouble with Tribbles.” Scotty is thus pleased when, after the bar brawl, Kirk confines him to quarters.
The second is from “By Any Other Name,” one of the less unpalatable third season episodes. And, yes, the drinking contest between him and the Andromedan (Tamar, I think) was amusing.
Two other favorite moments of mine are during “The Enterprise Incident” when he discovers that Kirk is still alive, and during “Mirror, Mirror,” when Kirk overrides his volunteering to stay behind in the Mirror universe.
The line from “By Any Other Name” was re-used in the TNG episode, “Relics,” which featured the return of Scotty. I was watching it with some fellow con attendees, all of whom were too young to have cut their Trek teeth on TOS. They all laughed hysterically when Data identified the drink with the simplistic description, “It is green.” I had to explain the real reason it was so funny!
That was a fine TNG episode. And probably one of the more character-appropriate resurrections done.
Photos from the Walk of Fame ceremony here .