Happy birthday, Jimmy—we do miss you

You would have been 94 today.

So many accolades are already out there, but here's my simple one today:

I was a friend, late... but a fan always.

Nobody takes the newbies under the arm like you did:

—outside Bochum, Germany, October 1995

STV: Preview Week Part 2: CHRIS Doohan provides the DNA as Scotty for 'Star Trek Continues'

Of all the fan films and all their cast members—celebrity or not—I doubt there is a case quite like what you see with one role in Star Trek Continues, where DNA trumps all.

Yes, the real-life actor behind one of those iconic Star Trek characters—the late, great Jimmy Doohan, our beloved "Scotty" of course —is being represented in the recast role by none other than his own son, Chris Doohan. Not an actor, Chris has slipped into the role, worked on his "Doohan Scotch" accent, and the result is absolutely amazing—as you can see in this test short filmed last summer.

As you can see in our meetup, Chris is pretty non-plussed by all this—which, as for all of us in the cast, was both a lot of hard work and just having a hoot of a shoot ...

Star Trek Continues has its world premiere at 6 p.m. this Friday, May 24 at Phoenix Comicon's main room—a screening, cast Q&A, and a mass signing! Look for it online as soon as possible via the STC website and the Facebook page.

A birthday "salute" to Jimmy Doohan

James "Scotty" Doohan would have been 92 today, already nearly seven years after his passing in 2005.







In honor of his birthday I'll not only share his widow Wende's tweet earlier today, from just after midnight ...

... but also these items she shared with us during our recent shoot for THE CON OF WRATH, since Wende was very much there for that infamous Houston weekend, along with their two  boys Eric and Thomas.

These are Jimmy's framed World War II medals, beginning with the D-Day landings among the Canadians who took Juno Beach, one of five from "the world's longest day"—and where Jimmy famously lost his right middle finger. And in this setting, they surround a photo of the handsome buck in uniform! Thanks again Wende, and thanks for sharing; I thought it would make a nice remembrance today.

We'll have a Trekland "Switching to Visual" chat with Wende up soon.