Trek’s James “Scotty” Doohan Dies

James Doohan, 85, who played engineer Scotty on the original Star Trek series, died of pneumonia in his home Wednesday in Redmond, Wash. He had Alzheimers.

Born in Canada, Doohan's fine Scottish TV accent was actually just fine acting. He was a character actor for more than a decade before being cast in the NBC sci-fi series in 1966.

His portrayal of the irascibly lovable engineer whose relationship to his warp drive or his transporter room was more emotional than technological drew him a legion of fans who helped make "Beam Me Up, Scotty" a Boomer catch-phrase.