Star Trek's 'Scotty' to be beamed up to final resting place

Jul 21, 2005, 17:03 GMT

Los Angeles - The remains of Star Trek's "Scotty", played by actor James Doohan who died this week, are to be beamed into outer space in keeping with the actor's wishes, Doohan's agent said Thursday.

The character of Scotty, the chief engineer on the Star Ship Enterprise, became a pop culture icon as he responded to the famous command of the series' Captain Kirk, who in every episode said, "Beam me up, Scotty".

Doohan, who died at his Washington home Wednesday aged 85, is to follow in the trail of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry whose ashes were fired into space following his death in 1991.

"He will be up there with a mate and that is fantastic," agent Steve Stevens said of Doohan's request.

A private firm in Houston, Texas has agreed to carry some of Doohan's ashes on a commercial space rocket, although it is unclear when the launch will happen.

The Canadian-born actor, who said he never got tired of hearing the catchphrase, died from pneumonia after succumbing to Alzheimer's last year.

His wife of 28 years, Wendy Doohan, was at his bedside, according to reports.

A survivor of the allied assault on Normandy in World War II, Doohan had few other major roles besides the Scottish engineer during the three years that Star Trek ran on U.S. television and in the seven feature films the series spawned.