Proud new father James Doohan (Montgomery Scott) was revered as a hero by a convention of astronomers held last weekend in Ventura, California, and the 80-year-old actor said he has no intention of slowing down.

Doohan appeared as the keynote speaker at Astrocon 2000, a meeting of amateur and professional astronomers from around the world hosted by the Ventura County Astronomical Society, held July 19-22. Rather than present a prepared speech, though, the U.S.S. Enterprise Chief Engineer fielded questions from the audience, who were interested in knowing how he broke into acting and how he developed the accent he used as Scotty.

But first, though, he had to brag about Sarah Christina Ann, his baby girl. "She's 14 weeks old now. Oh, she's gorgeous." He told the group to be sure to look at her picture as they come by the autograph table later.

Doohan related his colorful life story, from the time when he was only about 6 years old and started doing accents (to the bafflement of his parents), to his stint in the Royal Canadian Artillery in World War II, to his evolution as an actor in Canada, New York and Hollywood.

It turns out the Scottish accent he used for the role of Scotty was inspired by a fellow soldier, "a Scotsman from Aberdeen" who slept in the cot next to him while he was stationed in England in 1940. "You know what--Gene Roddenberry always said to me, 'Now, don't make it so thick.' But I loved to make it as thick as possible. I really tried to imitate that Aberdeen accent."

He related his experience of being involved in D-Day in 1945, surviving treacherous seas and invading enemy territory. "I got hit by a machine gun, and received four (bullets) in the left knee, and three hit that one finger--and they eventually took it off--" He showed his right hand, missing the middle finger. "--and one hit a sterling silver cigarette case that my brother had given me for being best man at his wedding. And I still have that at home, with the dent in it." He added that he took most of the dent out and continued using that cigarette case until 24 years ago when he quit smoking.

After the war, Doohan started attending a veterans' school in London, Ontario. In late 1945, he put the books down and turned the radio on. "And I heard the worst radio drama I had ever heard. Couldn't believe how terrible it was." This motivated him to find some Shakespeare and other reading material and march into the local radio station and say, "I want to make a recording."

This "tryout" eventually led to a scholarship at the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York City, where he trained under famed acting coach Sanford Meisner. "He turned out to be one of the greatest drama teachers in the world." The war hero's career was then on track. "In 1948, I was on television the very first Tuesday of television. I played a detective in 'Martin Kane, Private Eye' with William Gargan." He went on to do 55 TV shows in New York, and more in Canada.

By the early 1960's, Doohan started working in Hollywood. In 1965 his agent sent him to read for the part of a Chief Engineer, a character that was not yet fully developed. During the audition, "I changed my accent eight different times, and Mr. Roddenberry said, 'Which accent do you like?' I said, 'Well, if you want a good engineer, he better be a Scotsman!'" Since the Scottish people have 50 different accents, he said, he picked the Aberdeen accent he learned from his bunkmate in the war. "So that's how I became Scotty."

When asked if he has any ambition to continue acting, he replied, "I'm still an actor. Yes, I continue everything." He said he has done a lot of Internet commercials, and has recently acted in stage shows with Nichelle Nichols, George Takei and Walter Koenig.

Of course, some of the conventioneers were also interested in what he thought about certain astronomical subjects. What planet would he most like to visit? Doohan expressed excitement about recent discoveries regarding Mars, including the apparent evidence of water there and the increasingly strong possibility that it could harbor life. "I'd love to go to Mars. I'm a little slower now, but I'd still love to go."

Does he believe in the existence of extraterrestrial life, and has he ever encountered something he could not explain? "Oh, I definitely believe in aliens, but I have never seen anything that I could consider to be an alien. But I definitely believe that there are aliens somewhere in this universe of ours, and we just have to wait and see. We may wait 5000 years, but we're starting out now."

How did he come to be known as "Dr. Doohan"? He said he got the title from the Milwaukee School of Engineering. "They honored me by telling me that more than 50 percent of the students who come to their school say that I was responsible for them becoming engineers," he told the applauding audience. "So they gave me an honorary doctorate of engineering, and that's how I can use the word 'Doctor.'"

One question was, "What does it feel like to be beamed?" He answered, "It's very pleasurable to be beamed. You end up beaming all over the place."

Favorite episodes? "'The Trouble With Tribbles' was one of the most fun shows to do." As for the movies, "The fun movie to do was the whales," he said, referring to "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home." However, "I think our best movie was number six, 'Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.'"

After the session, the astronomers lined up for Doohan's autograph, and many were quite effusive in their affection for him. About 375 people attended the conference, which was held at a beachside resort.

Further coverage of the event is available at www.vcas.org/astrocon.

Story & photos by Sandy Stone