Goodbye

It may have been the wisest career advice James Doohan ever received, even if it did come from his dentist. The year was 1973, and the actor was complaining — between rinses — about being typecast by his role as Montgomery Scott on the seminal '60s sci-fi series Star Trek. ''Jimmy,'' his dentist supposedly told him, ''you're going to be Scotty long after you're dead. If I were you, I'd just go with the flow.''

Doohan, who died at 85 in Redmond, Wash., on July 20, after a long battle with Alzheimer's, ultimately went with the flow, reprising the role of the starship Enterprise's frequently flummoxed chief engineer in seven feature films, a guest appearance on the franchise's TV sequel The Next Generation, and even the occasional commercial. While it may not have been his dream role — ''I can't change the laws of physics!'' was probably the most memorable line of dialogue he (repeatedly) delivered during his three-year stint on the show — it did turn him into a cult icon beloved by Trekkies and normal earthlings alike.

For the record, Doohan was not a Scotsman but a Canadian who served his country during World War II by storming the beaches of Normandy. (He landed the Scotty gig after auditioning several different accents for Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, and they both liked his burr the best.) Also unlike Scotty, a lifelong bachelor wedded only to his work on the Enterprise, Doohan was married three times and had seven children, the last born when he was 80. Still, Doohan will soon have at least one thing in common with the sci-fi character that made him immortal — he'll be traveling to the stars. His family, fittingly, has announced plans to rocket some of his ashes into space.

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