posted 07-06-2004 08:24 PM                    

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Agent: Star Trek's "Scotty" diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease

By MELANTHIA MITCHELL
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER

SEATTLE -- James M. Doohan, the actor who played "Scotty" on Star Trek, has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, his agent confirmed Tuesday.

Doohan, 84, was diagnosed with Alzheimer's "within the last couple months," agent Steven Stevens told The Associated Press. He said Doohan is in the beginning stages of the disease, a progressive neurological disorder that afflicted former President Ronald Reagan, who died June 5.

Doohan also has suffered for some time with Parkinson's disease, diabetes and fibrosis due to chemical exposure during World War II and the D-Day invasion in France, said Stevens, of Sherman Oaks, Calif.

Doohan lives in Redmond, a suburb northeast of Seattle. A telephone number was not listed and a call his son, Chris Doohan, of California, was not immediately returned Tuesday.

Stevens said he last saw Doohan in January in Los Angeles when the actor made a cameo appearance in the upcoming horror film, "Skinwalker: Curse of the Shaman."

"He didn't have any energy and he seemed very frail. But as soon as they yelled 'Action,' he was the same old feisty Scotty," said Stevens, who has represented Doohan for the past 28 years.

Doohan was born March 3, 1920, in Vancouver, British Columbia. His career spans more than 50 years, but he is best known for his role as the USS. Enterprise's affable chief engineer, Cmdr. Montgomery Scott, in the original 1966-69 "Star Trek" TV series.

He has lived in Redmond for almost a dozen years with his wife, Wende. They have a 4-year-old daughter and two older sons, and Doohan has four children from a previous marriage, Stevens said.

Doohan was selected last month to receive a star Aug. 31 on Hollywood's Walk of Fame.

Before his induction, Doohan plans a three-day Star Trek farewell convention, Aug. 28-30, in Hollywood, Stevens said. All surviving members of the original Enterprise crew are scheduled to attend, including William Shatner, who played Capt. Kirk, and Leonard Nimoy, who was Mr. Spock.

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