Alex Carson
James Doohan was a hero to many people who grew up watching him play Scotty on Star Trek. But did you know that Doohan’s heroic behavior started way further back? He was a member of the Canadian Army that, along with the American and British Allies, stormed the beaches of Normandy on D-Day in World War II. During the battle, Doohan suffered multiple injuries but managed to survive to see another day. Keep watching as Facts Verse presents: James Doohan (Scotty from Star Trek) Concealed His Injury On-Screen.
Early Life
James Doohan was born in Vancouver, Canada in 1920. His father was fairly successful in the medical field, working at various points as a veterinarian, a dentist, and a pharmacist, but also had a serious drinking problem, which made things difficult for James and his three older siblings.
James went to Sarnia Collegiate Institute and Technical School, and was a star student, particularly in things like math and science. But after graduating, he left home to enlist in the the Royal Canadian Army. At that point, he was only 19. And World War II was starting to ramp up casualties more and more each week. James sent to England to join the war effort in 1940. At that point, he was 19 and already a lieutenant in the Royal Canadian Army.
He went to England with the 14th Field Artillery Regiment of the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division. For a few years, his time in the war saw him safe from any of the major battles. But four years after hitting the shores of England, James involved in the most famous battle in World War II: The invasion of France at Normandy. Keep watching as Facts Verse presents: James Doohan (Scotty from Star Trek) Concealed His Injury On-Screen.
D-Day
The D-Day invasion an intricately planned and expansive attack on the shores of France by the allied forces. They knew that in order to have any chance of defeating the Germans. They needed to regain a foothold in France. It’s an operation jointly run by the U.S., Great Britain, and Canada, and each country had an assigned expanse of beach they were tasked with invading. As a part of the Canadian military, Doohan’s division took on what’s known as Juno Beach.
The allies did their best to clear out the area with air support. Even bombarding places that had nothing to do with the attack points, just to add confusion into the mix for the enemies. But even with those tactics, it was clear that the men who landed at the various beachfronts around Normandy were going to be potentially outmatched and outgunned.
They were tasked with the assignment of not only storming the beaches with their equipment in tow. But also landing the ships close enough to the beaches that they wouldn’t be pulled under water by the weight of their packs as they tried to swim to shore. This meant they had to land at the battle location within close range of the enemy. And thus were open to attacks from German guns as soon as they landed. Then they had to traverse the beaches, somehow avoiding the many land mines planted by the Germans. All while dodging the hail of bullets fired by German snipers. And if they managed to make it past the beaches, they’d have German armed forces awaiting them.
Doohan and his fellow Canadian soldiers managed to accomplish these seemingly impossible feats, though not without great casualties. They managed to finally emerge victorious and captured the area they were taksed with by 12pm on that fateful June 6th. Doohan is said to have killed two German snipers on the way, and managed to survive the ordeal. But he didn’t come away unscathed. Keep watching as Facts Verse presents: James Doohan (Scotty from Star Trek) Concealed His Injury On-Screen.
Doohan’s injuries
While Doohan and his men knew they had secured a huge victory by getting through the water, the beaches, and the nearby area. They also understood that they were in danger at almost every minute. Thus, tensions were extremely high. The men sat, fortified for a bit, awaiting German reinforcements to attack them. This nervous energy led directly to Doohan getting badly injured. He was on his way back towards his post, around 11pm that night, when a fellow Canadian soldier thought he was a German soldier, and promptly shot him several times. He was hit four times in his knee, once in his right hand, and another in his chest. The bullet that hit his hand took his middle finger clean off. And the bullet that hit his chest would have killed him 99 times out of 100.
But it just so happened that he’d just returned a silver cigarette case back into his shirt pocket. The case caused the bullet to deflect slightly, moving its path away from his vital organs. The silver cigarette case had been a present from his brother, and Doohan would often joke later in life that, in a bizarre twist, smoking had actually saved his life. Keep watching as Facts Verse presents: James Doohan (Scotty from Star Trek) Concealed His Injury On-Screen.
Fortunately for Doohan, the allies, and his millions of fans later in life, Doohan survived miraculously. He was even able to get healthy enough to return to military service. Doohan joined the Royal Canadian Artillery, and learned how to fly Taylorcraft Auster Mark IV planes.
He was also a bit of a showoff and a risky flyer. Despite not actually being a part of the Canadian Air Force, he was, at one point, given the nickname of “craziest pilot in the Canadian air force.” In 1945, he bet his fellow pilots that he could successfully fly his plane in between two telephone poles that were quite close together. The bet didn’t actually contain any monetary repurcussions though. According to Doohan, he wanted to try the audacious move, just to prove to the rest of the pilots that he could.
He was successful in his daring stunt, but suffered the repercussions of a severe dressing down by his superiors afterward. James Doohan was a hero to many people who grew up watching him play Scotty on Star Trek. But did you know that Doohan’s heroic behavior started way further back? He was a member of the Canadian Army that, along with the American and British Allies, stormed the beaches of Normandy on D-Day in World War II. During the battle, Doohan suffered multiple injuries but managed to survive to see another day. Keep watching as Facts Verse presents: James Doohan (Scotty from Star Trek) Concealed His Injury On-Screen.
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James’s Acting Career
In 1946, not long after his bold flying stunt, Doohan returned home to Canada. And he brought his confident and freewheeling attitude back with him. This exhibited when, during Christmas of that year, he heard a radio drama and decided it’s the worst thing he’d ever heard. And instead of simply turning it off, he headed to a local radio station and creating his own recording. The operator at the station so taken aback by Doohan’s boldness and skill, he recommended that he start taking classes at a Toronto acting school.
James took his advice, and soon offered a two year scholarship at the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York.
After heading back to Toronto in 1953, he found work all over town in various acting capacities. He had jobs in radio, on stage, and in some TV shows too, including bit parts in Bewitched and the Twilight Zone. And of course, before long, he nailed the audition for the part that changed everything: Star Trek’s Montgomery “Scotty” Scott.
As everyone knows, the character of Scotty had a thick Scottish accent. This was a departure from Doohan’s natural Canadian accent. But since he’d done so much radio in the years leading up to his audition, he had developed a knack for a variety of accents. Doohan ended up trying out several different ones when he was auditioning for the show’s producers. He pitched the idea that the Scottish accent he had made him sound the most commanding. The producers agreed, and he got the part, provided he spoke in that accent. Doohan thrilled, later commenting that the character of Scotty “99% James Doohan and 1% accent.”
Doohan played the role of Scotty for all of the episodes of the original Star Trek’s run, from 1966 to 1969. And despite the show having a surging fanbase, NBC felt it had run its course and cancelled it.
Of course, as we all know, that was far from the end of Star Trek. Eight years later, as Star Wars was setting box office records, Paramount wanted to cash in on the resurgence of love for science fiction. So they rebooted Star Trek into a film. 1979 saw the release of Star trek: The Motion Picture. Fortunately, James brought back on to play Scotty. He also continued to play him in the five sequels that came after that. James Doohan was a hero to many people who grew up watching him play Scotty on Star Trek.
But did you know that Doohan’s heroic behavior started way further back? He was a member of the Canadian Army that, along with the American and British Allies, stormed the beaches of Normandy on D-Day in World War II. During the battle, Doohan suffered multiple injuries but managed to survive to see another day. Keep watching as Facts Verse presents: James Doohan (Scotty from Star Trek) Concealed His Injury On-Screen.
Hiding his Injury On Screen
As we covered earlier, James Doohan was a decorated WW II war hero. He and his fellow allied soldiers helped win the day on the shores of Normandy, effectively helping turn the tide of the war. And Doohan severely injured in the process. While some of the lasting effects internal, the most obvious injury from an outsider’s perspective his missing middle finger that had shot off. While Doohan not embarrassed by this injury, he didn’t want it to be a distraction on screen. So he tried his best to hide in in every episode of Star Trek, as well as the films.
However, eagle eyed fans of Star trek have noticed several episodes where his injury is apparent. His injured hand can be seen in a few episodes of the show, namely, “The Trouble with Tribbles”, “Tomorrow Is Yesterday”, “The Enemy Within”, and “The Ultimate Computer”. It can also seen in “The Lights of Zetar” and “Catspaw”. As far as films, it can be as well as in The Search for Spock, in a scene when Scotty is handing parts to Dr. McCoy. And it can seen in an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, in an episode called “Relics.”
Now it’s time to hear from you. What’s your favorite memory of James Doohan? Let us know in the comment section below. And before you go, be sure to give this video a like, and subscribe to Facts Verse if you haven’t already. Click the bell icon to stay updated on all our latest content!
