A Conversation with Jimmy Doohan, Star Trek's Scotty (1994) 

That story Doohan told about the suicidal girl always brings a tear to my eye. He was a good soul, did a good deed, and helped to save someone's life. A fine documentary, and thank you, James Doohan, for BEING Scotty in the show and the movies. Now, you're among the stars for all time.

Here we are 25 years later. Missing him like our favorite neighbor that passed away. RIP Jimmy "Scotty" Doohan.

I met Mr. Doohan at a con when I turned 16. I brought a portrait of him in had sketched. I was young, impressed by the man,of course, and autistic before there was a word for it. He looked at that drawing... And passed it around bragging, "Look wat this boy did." The man was a saint! He didn't have to dote on me and my silly gift, but he did. God bless you, Mr Doohan!

Now THIS is an interviewer. He actually lets Mr. Doohan talk without interrupting! I love Paul Rosa!

I appreciate the interviewer not interrupting Mr. Doohan while he is telling his story.

This man is a legend. I miss him.

The worlds been darker since he passed. A hero, and i don't mean just for his work on star trek.

"Scotty" . . . LIVES FOREVER ! I hold a "Degree" in MEC.Engineering BECAUSE of you "Scotty" . . . THANK YOU ! "Rest Well" you've EARNED IT !

I miss Mr. James Doohan, I feel Honored, that I met this Gentleman twice, he was such a great, nice guy and I thank him for his time to talk with me, I will always remember him, Thank you Jimmy Doohan for your positive being.

Jimmy was perhaps the nicest actor I ever knew. Humble. Caring. Gentle. Smart. Generous. Everything you would imagine he would be, and more. Once, we spent almost an hour discussing various ideas for tractor beams. True story. He was as interested in the possibilities as anyone was.

I would see Scotty driving his green minivan around town on occasion, it always made my day.

Fantastic insight into the life of James Doohan, a fine actor and an immense human being, a real gentleman who will always be missed.

The man truly deserved the title of " Miracle Worker"!

Jimmy will live forever as his character Scotty. What a great legacy.

What a lovely person he was. Such a bright character. When you listen to him talk, he not only has so much fun with life, but he's also freaking brilliant.

A great storyteller, I could listen to him all day

When I look at him, I see his smirk saying "aye sir".

You can add me to the long list of young lids, who became Engineers, because of and inspired by "Scotty" ! And I retired 4 years ago!.

Rare to see a true gentlemen today . RIP

I'm glad to have had the opportunity to watch Star Trek in the seventies. I still enjoy it in 2022... Thank the entire cast, and crew. We won't work like that again...

How cool was this guy. Saving that girl's life the way he did? Imagine how many other actors wouldn't have even bothered to read her cry for help? The way he followed up was truly inspirational. THAT is what you are supposed to do with your gifts. My brother and I were Trekies before it was fashionable. We would tune in every week when it was on TV and while I was always a Spock guy my brother, who was always the better mechanic, loved Scotty. He even named his first son Scotty and the thing is, if you put him now right next to James Doohan when this was filmed you would swear they were brothers. He looks more like my brother than I do. RIP Scotty. You were a patriot of the first order and a good man. Or, as Spock would say, "Live Long and Prosper."

Maybe it’s because I’m so used to hearing Mr. Doohan as Scotty, but I SWEAR I hear hints of Scotty’s accent when he speaks normally.

Such a lovely man, and it’s good to learn Jimmy has Irish roots. Prayers for Jimmy’s memory from Northern Ireland ☘️🙏🏻

I had the honor on meeting Jimmy Doohan in 1998 at the California State Fair

Had a chance to talk with him for a few minutes in the late 1980's at a car show in Phoenix. Nice guy, very friendly and warm.

What an outstanding human being: brave, sensitive, intelligent, spiritually attuned, generous, feisty, modest and immensely entertaining. R.I.P. to the legendary Jimmy Doohan ❤🖖

I have always loved watching StarTreck and it was amazing to me that in college one of my teachers spoke of the Scotty principal which is as a tech to never underestimate a repair time. So his methodology is in the curriculum of computer education today. Awesome!

I love that shirt on him, and chuckled that of all the cast, he didn’t mention Shatner at the end.

Jimmy Doohan, playing the character of Montgomery Scott, inspired me to learn computers and electronics. It led me to join the US Navy and become a Fire Controlman, where I retired after 20 years. Then start a career as a Field Service Engineer. I have always love to fix broken things which I can attribute to my Dad and to Mr. Doohan.

James you are a favorite of all fans for sure!

James Doohan always seemed like a very classy man. He suffered more than most of the cast from type-casting after the 1960's Star Trek finished. Charles Durning was also on the beaches at Normandy and that experience (and the loss of comrades that day) always stayed with him. I always loved the way Doohan played Scotty as more interested in the ship than his rank. When he deputised for Kirk on the Enterprise, he did that job capably, but without any ego. That's reflected in what Doohan said about playing an engineer and not a captain.

Two years after this interview, I attended a Star Trek convention in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada and James Doohan was the guest speaker. I wanted to go to the convention, but as soon as I found out about James Doohan being there nothing could have kept me away. A few thousand of us gathered in the grand ballroom of the Chateau Laurier to hear his talk and to watch the blooper reel that he had brought along. It is a treasured memory. Miss you Jimmy.

I would’ve liked to have seen James Doohan on Babylon 5 as I think he would’ve fitted in there fantastically.

I had the honor of meeting him at a relatively small con in Cedar Rapids Iowa. He stood when I was introduced to him,took my hand and called me darling, something I usually don't get called. He was very kind,and I felt very sad when he left us. I was glad to have met him.Hope he's journeying among the stars

100 years of Mr. Doohan, and course the future has a place for this legend....!

A humble interesting man. R.I.P.

I still think about him on my birthday March 3rd. He was born in 1920. I was born in 1960. Happy Heavenly birthday.

Amazing. I watch or listen to, refer to or think about Star Trek TOS every day. All the main characters were simply amazing and unique. Got his book and have read it over a dozen times.

This man was at DDAY! THE LARGEST SEA INVASION IN HUMAN HISTORY!!!!!

What a great man. I met him at 10 years of age and I was just so in awe of him. I will never forget that day

I have always been a fan of Scotty (James Doohan) because he reminded me of my father and other elders in my life while I was growing up. No matter how technical it was.. whether it was the TV or the car breaking down.. my dad could fix it. When I was a kid growing up in the 1970's my dad could fix anything that broke down. That is why I am such a devoted Scotty fan.. as everything depends on the people with the skills to fix anything.

You always have a special place for your first Love and your first Star Trek convention! My first was with Scotty on March 3, 1990-his 70th birthday. Such a fond memory. RIP Jimmy Doohan!

God bless you Jimmy. The show you were in has given me so much pleasure over the decades

What a great guy back then people had a heart ❤️ of Gold to help out people and see the future for the kids growing up.

Legends never die... they just take their place in the sky.

That wholesome content smile when he was asked if he loved being an engineers. :')

Miss you Scotty. You really should've had more of a larger role on Star Trek. Whenever you over the con, I looked forward to watching you use your Irish to stand your ground. You were a memorable character and, to me, equal to the top 3, no question. Thank you Scotty and yes, I do remember that you are orbiting Earth. Who knows? Maybe you're somehow having adventures, saving Earth or meeting ET's. 😊

Fascinating interview.

Love the interview .. love James doohan .. love he was Canadian .. didn’t realize he was in Air Force ..ww until recently .. and special thanks to interviewer Rosa who correctly left interviewee speak .. and notably added questions viewers really wanted to ask. Thx.

He was amazing.

Jimmy Doohan (RIP) of the original Star Trek A great artist and a very humble person. The character "Scotty" is unforgettable.

4:43 great moment. The irony that Jimmy says he can fix anything "until computers came along" whereas the character Scotty basically operated and repaired futuristic computer systems / engines!

The Brilliant Jimmy Doohan, 'Scotty' what a character, Actors like this don't come around too often simply great.

James Doohan going toe to toe with Sanford Meisner. Now THAT's a picture!

Wow, Jimmy Doohan learned from Sanford Meisner. Honor!

What a man. We miss you, Jimmy.

Great interview thank you !!!

Proud to be Scot/Irish, loved Scotty " shes giving us all shes got captain"

The only 'Star Trek' thing I ever got to do, was to take a cab and see him get his Star on the Walk of Fame! It was so hot that day, I am the one in the pictures of the day, under the Umbrella with a few older Trekker woman I was sharing it with! He remains my Favorite.

Man, I miss this wonderful man.

This is fabulous! Not only do we get to see and hear Mr. Doohan and his wonderful life, but we also get to learn about the Griffith Observatory. Well done.

Its amazing to hear the stories from all of the actors of the original show. I'm not sure how much of their real-life backstories contributed to being selected to play a role in the show, but their backgrounds as regular people certainly entered into their character's backstories and personalities. Such as Doohan's family being from Ireland (his character's accent) and liked to work on mechanical things. definitely a very unique show that even today's generation still finds entertaining. RIP James!

We need a room at STLV 2022 where all of these videos play 24/7.

What a great soul James is and was. An amazing actor. Could listen to him talk for hours he is missed very much

I slways loved the bits of TOS where Scotty was left in charge and would run the bridge with Uhura and Chekov or Sulu. And the bits when he'd get out his spanners whilst Spock manned the switches. Perhaps viewers have seen the film of the Star Trek convention where Neil Armstrong shook his hand.

Great interview with Mr. Doohan about his life before and after Star Trek. I never knew he was a pilot or that he saved a woman's life by his encouraging her to show up at his public appearances. God Rest His Soul for all his good works.

howkriv I attended a presentation by James Doohan in the 1970s, or maybe 1980s, in Culver City, California. It started about 7 pm. About 10 pm, Scotty was still going strong when a den of Cub Scouts sitting in the back of the room got up to leave because the hour was getting late. Scotty stopped his presentation, went to the Scouts and shook hands with one and thanked them for coming to the presentation. I thought that was pretty nice.

Very great interview, lots of memories, lots of stories. It's amazing how many details of his professional life Doohan remembered after all these years.

24:44 … “my Irish was getting up” … check out the eyes. We believe you Jimmy!

Thank you so much for the upload. This is truly a gem. Cheers from Sweden 👍

His description of why the scripts were terrific is why I've been a fan of Star trek since it first aired on TV. I got my kids into it, my son still watches Star trek. I wanted them to understand the morality of people being fallible but still trying to do the right thing. I think that was the underlying message of all the Star trek episodes in the original series in particular.

I miss seeing Mr. Scott on T.V. on the original Star Trek Series I remember him doing one episode on the Next Generation series I just wish I could have meet him in person and say thanks for everything that you did on the old Star Ship Enterprise

This was a great interview, he's such a warm person. When I was in the 7th grade, around '72, my parents moved me from Santa Barbara where I had grown up, had many friends and was happy down to Canoga Park in the middle of the school year after everyone had made their friends for the year. For the first time in my life I was alone with no friends, and I was miserable. The only consistent thing was Star Trek reruns, which made me happy. My dad was really into Celtic music, so I liked the character of Scotty a lot. Star Trek gave me comfort, it was familiar. My mom, who was very conventional, thought for some reason it was "weird" for a adolescent girl to like a Science Fiction program so much, and told me I was "too interested" whatever that means. My dad liked SF, and he secretly let me sneak into his office to watch Star Trek on his little TV. He liked Scotty too. It literally kept me sane. One weekend there was a Star Trek convention, and I was so excited. Of course my mom forbid me to go, because she considered Star Trek fans to be "losers" though my dad wanted to go with me. I was so disappointed, I wanted to meet my favorite actors and like minded people. Eventually I started to fit in at school but I still liked Star Trek, and finally my mom relented and let me watch it openly, right before the reruns got cancelled! I am now 63 years old, a widow and retired Counselor, and my friend just got me the full collection of the Original Star Trek for Christmas. I'm having a great time watching it again. I wasn't suicidal like that girl James Doohan helped, but it did literally hold me together during that awful time in Canoga Park dispite my mom's interference and with my dad's sneaky subterfuge. I really enjoyed this video, I wish I'd met him in person. I've never actually been to a Star Trek convention, but I've been to many general Science Fiction conventions. I can't call myself a Trekker, but I do like it very much and it kept me together during a difficult time.

What a great man.

The fact that Jimmy is not only a war hero but somebody that actually worked with his hands in real life makes him all the more loveable. Being apart of the WW2 Juno invasion is something that can't be truly fathomed. Star Trek TOS still stands up today against a lot of the modern content being spewed out from some sort of broken intellectual diarrhea machine. I just recently re-watched the Remastered version and loved it. The Kirk, Spock and Bones trio is unmatched to this day. And TOS wouldn't be the great series it is without each of the cast members, Scotty included. Sure Shatner was over the top, but it somehow fits, though I wish he wasn't so abrasive to work with at times. And it is heart breaking to know that only a few years before Nemoy passed away, he stopped talking to Shatner and died before they could mend their life long friendship.

My mom and I got to meet and hang out with Mr. Doohan - He even sang her a scottish diddy.... What a wonderful man... I met George Takei and I would say that he is amicable at best...

Born in Ireland. Explains a lot, particularly that grin and his real voice.

This was great. Thank you for sharing.

R.I.P. TO JIMMY DOOHAN. ( SCOTTY). FROM U.K. (2022).

Awesome, thanks for uploading!

He reminds me so much of my grandfather. He was a cook in the Navy, in the Pacific Theater. He always toned down his role. Grandpa was also a gunner. No idea if he ever saw combat. He was humble. Not like these veteran asshats of today.

God I miss these guys!

James Doohan has saved people's lives in many different ways, he was amazing.

It amazes me all the voice work he did for Star Trek The Animated Series.

Unfortunately in a star trek convention with James doohan at Central washington university in ellensburg, washington back in the late 70's I was able to ask doohan 2 questions. The first one was How long does it take you to memorize a script? Doohan said he could walk a couple times around the inside of the auditorium we were in and memorize a page. The second question was, do you prefer to act in science fiction films. Doohan became upset with me and accused me of stereotyping him and said he could act in any film he wanted to. After the convention, Doohan signed autographs. I held onto doohans autograph for awhile and eventually lost it but I still remember how doohan got mad at me.

Rest in Peace Jimmy! Your son did an excellent job portraying you in the Star Trek Fan videos and also as the assistant transporter operator in the New movie as well.

Jimmy couldnt have been more right about "staying out of other countries' business"

My son an i met him at a Star Trek convention in Huntsville Al. Stood in line a good while to get an autograph. A guy came up and said no more autographs. We were almost there after standing an hour or two. Scotty saw that my young son was really disappointed. He called us up, told the attendant to let us by, walked outside and talked to us a few minutes. Really nice guy who made a great impression on both of us. Shatner didn't give us the light of day. Scotty was always a real guy, and played his part that way. Star Trek always was a glimpse into the True future like no other. In the future, to be nicknamed Scotty, Spock, etc will be a real compliment to space explorers. I hope to be named Spock, or Scotty, the ones people have respect for. Live long and prosper. She needs more power.

Good job interweaving observatory info between parts of the Doohan interview.

I was lucky to get his autograph. He was promoting The Voyage Home video release at a Great Scott supermarket.

Jimmy Doohan was a wonderful man. Got to meet him at a convention, and got to stand and talk with him for a while. He was so nice and down to earth. I will truly miss him. He also inspired me to go into the engineering field, something I really loved. God bless his soul.

Great interview. I love Scotty

Wow, Harold Ramis is a Star Trek fan.

I had the pleasure & priviledge of spending the weekend with Jimmy at the Red Hour Festival in San Francisco years ago and Imintroduced him to his future wife, Wendy. Jimmy was a wonderful man and I miss him a lot.

I often wondered what made people like Jimmy Doohan, William Conrad, Leslie Neilson and George Sanders voices so unique; They were radio voice actors.

James is a treasure. All Trekkies will remember him and all he's done for not only the franchise, but all he's done for humanity. There has to be more people out there like him. If that happens, the world will be a much better place.

Oh wow. 50 years later scotty still makes my heart skip beats & quiver...lol

Great interview. Very humble actor/human being.

A truly great man! He was extremely talented and so very down to earth and grateful for his lot in life.

Not only a great interview with Jimmy Doohan, but a treat for me to see Anthony (Tony) Cook! When I was a kid he invited me to join an astonomy club he ran. I was about 9 or 10 and the rest of the club members were in college or late high school but they took me in and I learned a lot and enjoyed going to the meetings. I'd met Tony at the Claremont Colleges and he saw me with a book on the solar system while I was playing in the elevator (going up and down aimlessly) while my dad was there getting his Masters Degree.