JAMES DOOHAN DIES ...

I just had to stop today to do this ...

James Doohan died at 5:30am this morning in his home in Redmond, Washington. He was 85.

James Doohan was born on March 3rd, 1920 in Vancover, British Columbia.

At the age of 19 he joined the Canadian Army and became a lieutenant in the artillery. James was one of the soldiers who stormed Juno Beach at Normandy on D-Day. He took six bullets from a machine gun later that night. One blew off his right middle finger, four in his legs, and one in his chest.

James recovered from his wounds and became an actor.

Maybe you don't know who James Doohan is but I'll give you a hint that is guaranteed to clue you in ...

"Beam me up Scotty!"

James became the Scotish engineer on STAR TREK.

And as far as an acting career goes - Star Trek was just about it for James. He didn't care though - he embraced it. James was, personally, perhaps the warmest of all of the cast of Star Trek. He was a permanent fixture at most Star Trek conventions. He took THOUSANDS, perhaps tens of thousands of photos with fans whenever and wherever they requested one.

Try to find a photo of James on the Internet where he ISN'T smiling. It's tough to do.

And James was a family man too. Oh yes, he had NINE children and his youngest, Sarah, was born in 2000 when he was 80 years old.

In a 1998 interview, Doohan was asked if he ever got tired of hearing the line "Beam me up, Scotty."

"I'm not tired of it at all," he replied. "Good gracious, it's been said to me for just about 31 years. It's been said to me at 70 miles an hour across four lanes on the freeway. I hear it from just about everybody. It's been fun."

Yes it has James. We'll miss you!