James Doohan Not In A Coma and Likely To Survive

ThreeHamsWillKillHim writes "Apparently, it's rumored that actor James Doohan, from Star Trek fame, is in a coma." The article notes that he's not likely to come out of it. James Doohan is 82 and is known best for his role as Engineer Lt. Commander Montgomery Scott on Star Trek. CD: Update, he's home undergoing rehab for his bout of pneunomia.

Better way?

[qslack]

Isn't there some better way to learn about cool people like this guy before they're likely to die? I thought of this when the author of ping died, too.

Maybe Slashdot could do a montly/(bi)weekly thing on "Lifetime Geek Achievement Awards."

I'm sure that 99.99% of these people use the Web, so it would be really cool to thank these people for all they've done for technology.

Any thoughts?

Greatest Engineer Ever

[Torgo's Pizza]

James playing Scotty inspired me to be the computer engineer I am today. He showed that true heros are the guys behind the scenes keeping the ship afloat. Not only that, his character showed that engineers could be smart and *cool* at the same time.

I truly hope he gets better because losing him would be a loss to all geeks.

Sad...

[JanusFury]

He was always one of my favorite actors from the original star trek. He added a unique sense of humor to it - especially the movies. I still remember the scene in the movie (I forget the number of it, it was the one with the whales :P), where he reprogrammed a black-and-white macintosh to support voice activation. :) The various 'cameo' episodes in other ST series where he showed up, were excellent as well - I remember the ST:TNG episode where they found him, that was excellent.

He'll be missed.

Re:Better way?

[guttentag]

pdate, he's home undergoing rehab for his bout of pneunomia.

Since he's apparently OK, we should invite him to do a Q&A on /. Surely Wil Wheaton [wilwheaton.net] or another /. reader must have the connections to get in touch with him...

Futurama

[cyr]

Maybe this explains why Scotty was left out of the latest Futurama "where no fan has gone before"...

Hilarious episode BTW, especially if watched in the middle of a TOS marathon.

Futurama 'season' finale?

[molrak]

Does anyone know if his illness was the reason he wasn't included in the Futurama [slashdot.org] season finale with the remainder of the living crew of the Enterprise(more accurately, the surviving cast of Star Trek), or did he not want to participate in the project?

Re:Futurama

[McSpew]

I thought Doohan had died a couple of years ago and that was why he'd been left out. Of course, DeForest Kelley is long gone and they still had a facsimile of him in the show.

I'm glad to hear Doohan is still alive, even if he is responsible for quite possibly the worst Scottish accent ever by an actor.

I never liked Welshie.

Stupid Trivium

[ewhac]

That Mac was supposed to be an Amiga.

I was not directly involved with the debacle, but was closely connected with Commodore personnel who were in a position to know. Paramount originally wanted to use an Amiga in that scene in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. To that end, they contacted Commodore to obtain an Amiga 1000 for use.

The dweezil at the other end informed them that Commodore had no procedures in place for distribution of promotional machines (marketing? What's that?). However, they would be willing to sell them a machine at cut-rate developer pricing. Surprisingly, Paramount agreed, cut a check, and sent it off.

Fast forward a couple weeks: No machine. Another call to Commodore. It turns out that the amount of the check failed to include some trivial fee (shipping, tax, whatever), and the machine wasn't going to be shipped. Paramount was invited to send another check for the corrected amount.

Paramount understandably got fed up and made it's next call to Cupertino, CA. Apple not only gave Paramount a machine, they assigned them a programmer to do whatever they needed to make the machine dance for the camera.

Just another page in the ponderous tome of Commodore's incompetent management.

Schwab

Why he's my hero

[Macrobat]

The documentary Trekkies has an interview with him where he talks about a fan letter/suicide note he got form a depressed fan. He found out where she lived, called her up, and asked her to meet him at the next convention he was going to attend. She did.

He kept doing this for a while, meeting her at conventions and asking her to be at the next one...that's a pretty common suicide-prevention tactic, to get a promise from someone that you'll see them sometime in the future. That way they can't kill themselves.

He lost touch with her for a few years, and thought the worst, until he got a letter from her stating that she'd gone to grad school (Engineering, I think), and that his intervention saved her life. When he was telling the story, he was fighting back tears.

So yeah, he had a chance to do the Right Thing, and he did it. Celebrity may be a fickle thing, but he used his influence well.

That's why I admire him.

Re:Hate to break it to ya, Doohan was an actor....

[Lars T.]

Ahh, but he did invent the Klingon language (while being drunk). At least that's what he claimed in an interview once - while being drunk too, I guess ;-)

On /. no one can hear you scream

[i0lanthe]

"Just" Wil? Say rather, are any of the others as cool as Wil. Sounds more diplomatic...

I'd be inclined to guess that most actors, even sci-fi-happy actors, aren't too much more interested in news-for-nerds than the average American (not even all self-proclaimed geeks read slashdot, after all). On the other hand, you never know who might be lurking. But on the gripping hand, people who lurk are people who don't want to attract attention (sort of by definition).

using our powers for good

[trb]

Wouldn't it be cool if scads of folks slashdotted him with get well notes (in the US mail)? The dude is not feeling too well, and is practically the patron saint of geeks. I don't know his address, but I assume that some /.er knows how to find it, and could follow up here.