Actor James Doohan, Star Trek's "Scotty" has died at age 85.
I didn't know he lost a finger in World War II and was able to hide the fact on screen. Actually, he took a total of six bullets at Normandy.
He was among the Canadian forces that landed on Juno Beach on D-Day. "The sea was rough," he recalled. "We were more afraid of drowning than the Germans."
The Canadians crossed a minefield laid for tanks; the soldiers weren't heavy enough to detonate the bombs. At 11:30 that night, he was machine-gunned, taking six hits: one that took off his middle right finger (he managed to hide the missing finger on screen), four in his leg and one in the chest. The chest bullet was stopped by his silver cigarette case.
Tough bird.
Also, for those interested here's "Scotty's" Starfleet bio.
Having grown up with Star Trek from its original NBC run in the 1960s, though its syndication and then movies, its hard to see my early heroes go.
1 comment:
Strange isn't it? Fate that is.
Sort of like an episode of the Twighlight Zone.
The quiver of a finger upon the trigger of a gun - this way or that - a fraction of a second - in the midst of all hell breaking loose - and who we end up knowing as "Scotty" - that there even was a "Mr. Scott" is decided.
He must have known each year, month, week, day, moment of his life was "extra" - a gift.
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