Bad news about James Doohan (Merged) (1 Viewer)

[Greg_S_H]

James Doohan has long been ill, but he has now been diagnosed with Alzheimer's. I understand he was planning to make a farewell appearance at a convention, but I suppose that isn't likely now.

http://www.syfyportal.com/article.php?id=1436

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/allnews...name_page.html

God bless, Scotty.

 

[Dan Rudolph]

Word is he's not too bad yet. I don't think it would prevent a convention appearance.

 

[LizH]

So sad. :frowning:

 

[MatthewLouwrens]

Sad news. It's inevitable that we'll start hearing stories like this about the original ST crew - I mean, the show is 40 years old, and we have already lost DeForest Kelly - but when you're actually faced with the news, it's still rather startling.

Interesting to read this:

 

[JasonRH]

Sad news indeed:frowning:

 

[Richard Waller]

After losing my mother to Alzheimer's a couple months back, I have nothing but pity for Doohan's family. No one should have to suffer through this terrible disease.

 

[DanaA]

My wife's mother was afflicted with this disease. It's very sad for James Doohan. I'm still hoping that they come up with a cure or at least much more effective means of treatment. We're praying for you James.

 

[StephenA]

Sad news. I had a next door neighbor that had Alzheimer's who best friends with my grandmother for over 50 years. I have lived here and known her all my life and by the end she didn't even know who I was and thought I had just moved here.

 

[Keith Paynter]

Yahoo! News

Doohan is in early stages of the disease that eventually took Ronald Reagan's life. He has also been struggling with Parkinson's disease, diabetes and fibrosis due to chemical exposure during World War II and the D-Day invasion in France.

It's saddening to know that Doohan will be in a downward spiral in his final years.

 

[Rex Bachmann]

This is already being discussed in the "Bad News about James Doohan"http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htforum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=203392-thread.

 

[JonZ]

"He has also been struggling with Parkinson's disease, diabetes and fibrosis due to chemical exposure during World War II and the D-Day invasion in France."

I had no idea he was there.

Sad news

 

[Bill Williams]

It was during his World War II days that he lost the middle finger from one of his hands. That's why whenever you saw him on Star Trek, he had his hands covered or balled up in a fist or covered with gloves or carrying something, anything to maintain the illusion of normalcy for the character. There were a couple of rare slips, one in "The Trouble With Tribbles" in which we got a rare glimpse of the missing finger (the scene where Scotty enters the rec lounge carrying an armload of tribbles), and one in "Star Trek: Generations", when we see Scotty standing on Deck 15. (Good thing that we're getting one of his lost scenes, the orbital skydive prologue, on the upcoming 2-disc DVD. They should have also included the 23rd century coda as well.)

It really is sad that this is happening to him. I lost my dad over two years ago to strokes and Parkinson's, so I can definitely say that Alzheimer's, strokes, and Parkinson's are tragically debilitating to anyone.

It really has become a metronome now, as William Shatner said in 1999 on the passing of DeForest Kelley. We lost Gene Roddenberry in 1991 to strokes, and De Kelley in '99 to cancer, and now Jimmy Doohan's health is failing. All we can do is pray for and give encouragement to him and his family.

 

[Tony Whalen]

My wife's mom suffers from Alzheimer's. Sadly, she's no longer aware of anything. It's so sad and hard on everyone. I hope that with new treatments and such that James doesn't get to that stage. Thoughts are with his family.

Oh, and James' biography is an interesting read. I believe that his middle finger was shot off.

 

[Mikel_Cooperman]

I saw him a couple of years ago at a Con and he was in bad shape then and was barely able to speak.
This is not good.

 

[Hugh Jackes]

My mom is well down that awful road too. Sadness comes in waves.

 

[Jeff Jacobson]

Wow, I never knew he had a missing finger.

 

[Tony Whalen]

They covered it pretty well in ST, didn't they? Once you know it, its interesting to watch TOS, and see how Scotty is always hiding his right hand. (Except for closeups of hands on the transporter console, where it obviously was NOT Jimmy Doohan.)

As Bill said above, there were only a couple of slips over the years...


I'll have to look up the story on how exactly he lost the finger.

 

[Bill Williams]

Here's a link to one of those rare slips of Doohan's missing finger from his right hand, taken from a Decipher CCG of "Trouble With Tribbles":

http://www.decipher.com/startrek/car...ribblesgo.html

 

[todd s]

The following updated info was posted at www.trektoday.com