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James Doohan
James Doohan was born on March 3, 1920 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and died on July 20, 2005 in Redmond, Washington of pneumonia and Altzheimer's disease.
An actor with a long career, he is most famous as Commander Scott in the TV series, Star Trek, and the subsequent movie series.
According to the Director's Edition DVD of Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979), the Klingon language first introduced in that movie and later featured in many later Trek movies and television episodes was initially devised by Doohan. His original sounds were later expanded upon and refined by others, ultimately resulting in William Shakespeare plays and The Bible being translated into Klingon years later. Ironically his character, Scotty, complains of difficulty reading Klingon at the start of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986).
At 8:58 a.m. Mountain Time on 28 April 2007 (and after several delays), some of his ashes were sent about 70 miles above the earth on a private SpaceLoft XL rocket by Houston's Space Services, Inc., a company specializing in such memorials. The rocket was lost for three weeks after the flight but now has been found and all remains are still intact. Also among the participants of this flight were the ashes of US astronaut Gordon Cooper and "Star Trek" (1966)writer/director/producer John Meredyth Lucas, as well as 199 others. Space Services, Inc. had previously sent up the ashes of "Star Trek" creator Gene Roddenberry and LSD guru Timothy Leary in 1997.
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