Beam Me Up, Scotty [Paperback]

James Doohan (Author), Peter David (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 1996 | Series: Star Trek

Montgomery Scott, the endlessly resourceful chief engineer of the "Starship Enterprise" TM, has been a familiar presence in our collective imagination for over three decades. All around the world, everyone knows "Scotty" -- but far fewer know the true story of actor James Doohan, who has brought Starfleet's legendary "miracle worker" to life for three seasons on television and in seven major motion pictures. Here at last are all the colorful details of Doohan's life and times, including:
How war hero Jimmy Doohan charged the beach at Normandy on D-Day, and how World War II left its mark on him forever.
How Doohan landed the part of Scotty on the classic "Star Trek" television series, and how the character acquired an accent.
Memories of William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, and all of the original crew of the "U.S.S. Enterprise" TM, and the feuds and friendships that formed among them.
How Doohan made his peace with "Star Trek: The Next Generation" ® -- and brought Scotty back to television for one very special episode.
The long and affectionate bond between Doohan and generations of Trek fans -- and how "Star Trek" brought true love into Doohan's life.
"Beam Me Up, Scotty" is an entertaining and indispensable look at the unforgettable personality behind one of the twentieth century's most enduring icons.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This is clearly meant to supplement the already fairly extensive knowledge possessed by your average Trekkie: e.g., the book presumes you know who Majel Barrett is (Number 1/Nurse Chapel/Deanna Troi's mother/Gene Rodenberry's wife) and that you're up-to-date with earlier gossip about the crew dynamics, which allows Doohan to gloss over his feelings about William Shatner: "I have to admit, I just don't like the man. And, as has been well-documented elsewhere, he didn't exactly have a knack for generating good feelings about him." As evidenced by the above, the writing leaves something to be desired, but there are insights and trivia enough for the fan. Actually, the best part predates Star Dates, as Doohan recounts a youth defined mostly by his family's poverty and his father's alcoholism. In 1939, motivated, no doubt, by equal parts devotion to duty and desire for escape, Doohan joined the military, where he spent five years in training before seeing action on the beaches of Normandy. On returning, he trained at a theater in New York City, worked with Leslie Nielsen, Jackie Gleason, Tony Randall; got a few TV roles; and even had a run-in with the entertainment industry's red-baiters. Doohan's a basically sanguine guy, with real insights into the extremely sharp double edges of his fame. After Star Trek limped to the end of its third season, Doohan said he was "saddled with all the disadvantages of a popular series (namely, being locked into a particular characterization) and none of the advantages (namely, continued employment)." With the old crew now unlikely to appear in any subsequent movies, Doohan clearly hopes this will clear the decks for a new acting career, sans brogue.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

More than 10 years older than the other Star Trek actors who have given us their memoirs, Doohan remembers things they can't, such as radio as the primary entertainment medium and World War II from a participant's perspective. The war remains very bright in his memory, and his war experiences constitute a big, engrossing part of this book. A Canadian army lieutenant, he took part in D-Day, caught some machine-gun fire, and lost a finger. He also lost his intended bride to a doctor back home, so he immediately became an air surveillance pilot. He survived the war, anyway, and coming home after six years in the service, studied acting at New York's Neighborhood Playhouse (Richard Boone, Lee Marvin, and close friend Leslie Nielsen were classmates), finally faced down the father whose drinking and violence had marred his childhood, and married his first wife in 1949. The marriage lasted 17 years, not happily; meanwhile, he moved to TV and Hollywood. It is page 127 before Star Trek memories commence. Those who think that isn't soon enough should get in a 12-step group for Trekkoholics. Sure, there are good things in Doohan's ST recollections (e.g., he allows that an outstanding performance by Bill Shatner as Captain Kirk was "pretty okay" --ouch!), but what precedes it is arguably better. Broad-minded Trekkers should chow down. Ray Olson

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Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Pocket; Reprint edition (December 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671520563
• ISBN-13: 978-0671520564
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #882,008 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A brief comment, July 25, 2005

By 

magellan (Santa Clara, CA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Beam Me Up, Scotty (Paperback)

I was 14 when the original Star Trek came out, and it was always the high point of the week for me. I wasn't exactly a nerd in school, although the science classes were my favorite, and so I thought the science and technology in Star Trek was the coolest stuff I had ever seen. In 1965 it was still the Cold War and we lived under the specter of possible global nuclear annihilation, and then along comes this little TV series, which showed that humans might finally abolish war and achieve peace (at least on earth), and that science and technology might create a better future for the human race. The combination of the positive message along with all the cool technology was an irresistible combination for me, and so I hardly ever missed a show.

So although I've never been to a Trekkie conference or participated in any of the typical fandom events, I was a big fan of the original (and subsequent series) and so still count myself as a true "Trekkie."

With the recent passing of James Doohan last week this brief autobiobraphy will remain the one and only commentary on his life. The book concentrates more on Doohan's earlier life and his experiences and career up till Star Trek, including his poor childhood, his military service during WWII, and early acting experiences, and most people would probably prefer that he devoted more space to that. But Doohan was 10 years older than most of the other people in the cast, except for DeForest Kelly, and it was interesting to read his perspective on many of these events. He is honest in admitting his dislike for Capt. Kirk, which takes some courage--since that by itself might predispose some people to giving the book a one-star review.

One thing I have to mention is that the scene where Scotty is explaining to Capt. Kirk when he finally punched the Klingon officer that started the fight in the bar in the episode, The Trouble with Tribbles, was considered the funniest scene in the whole series by the fans. I'm not going to go into anymore details than that or the dialog since I'm sure all the diehard fans here remember the scene from start to finish.

I just had one other comment, which is that the character of Scotty was interesting in that basically what they did was to create a likable and charismatic nerd or geek. I've always found Americans' widespread disdain for nerds paradoxical since we are the most high-tech society on earth and are responsible for inventing and developing almost all the high-tech science, engineering, and medical technology, and we even win most of Nobel Prizes in science, and yet nerds and geeks still get no respect here, and are still widely derided. :-) Well, Scotty's amiable and charismatic personality both on and off the set changed all that and made it, if not fashionable to be a geek, at least acceptable.

I will always remember Doohan, who was one of my personal favorites among the cast, and can only hope that he beams up to a better place than the world he left behind.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Sometimes it takes on the tone of a report rather than an adventure, September 10, 2007

By 

Charles Ashbacher (Marion, Iowa United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Beam Me Up, Scotty (Paperback)

As an older person, I was there when Star Trek first aired and when it exploded into syndication. The boys in my junior high school quickly adopted many of the phrases of the show, including the title of this book. Over the years, I have read every book about Star Trek that I have encountered. Unfortunately, until recently I had never seen this one, so I was pleased when it appeared on the shelf of a local used book store.
However, while Doohan has certainly led an interesting life, in this book Scotty could have used more effective writing support. The prose often takes on the tone of someone writing a report in a diary rather than an attempt to explain the life of Doohan. If it were not for his memorable role in Star Trek, I most likely would not have finished the book.
Doohan lost the middle finger of his right hand while fighting in France in World War II. A member of the Canadian military that stormed the beaches of Normandy, he was hit with at least seven bullets, so his survival was truly amazing. Star Trek does not appear until page 127, over halfway through the book. There is a section of twenty-five pages where Doohan describes several of the episodes. There are some solid insights and it would have been better if it had been longer. While he does spend some pages describing the personal interactions between the people who acted out Star Trek, there is not enough to satisfy the avid fan of the genre.
Doohan clearly states his dislike of William Shatner, although he has nothing but praise for Leonard Nimoy and the remaining actors and actresses. He describes the friendships he built with some of the people who helped make Star Trek, noting how that was the beginning of the vast community that has existed for forty years.
This book was a disappointment in the sense that it gives too brief a glimpse into Star Trek as viewed through the eyes of what grew to be a main character. If there would have been more about the genre, reading it would have been much more satisfying.

8 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars That`s just like Jimmy, September 22, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Beam Me Up, Scotty (Paperback)

I read Jimmy`s biography and I liked it a lot. Allright he`s not a writer (he had Peter David for that). But he`s a very gifted story teller. His WWII stories are very interesting (Bad-boy indeed). I mean he wrote about his friends, his numerous girlfriends, actors and actresses he likes. He let Shatner get away with a simple "I just don`t like that man". Well, me, I had a great time reading this. Laughed a lot when I read about his first sexual encounter. And I think I even blushed. Just wasn`t prepared for that! That man is so admiably straightforward. So if you wanna know a little more about James Doohan, you better get this one quick. It`s fascinating. You`ll see what a romantic, warm man he really is.