At 85, Doohan leaves behind his wife of 28 years, Wende, and their 5-year-old daughter Sarah, along with six adult children - Larkin, Deirdre, Chris, Montgomery, Eric and Thomas - and numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

James Doohan was born on March 3, 1920, in Vancouver, British Columbia, and had left home at 19 to join the Canadian Forces in World War II. Soon after, he became Captain in the Royal Canadian Artillery, and while leading his men into battle on D-Day, Doohan was wounded in the leg and hand, and eventually lost a finger. After the accident, Doohan became a pilot observer, and was even dubbed the "craziest pilot in the Canadian Air Forces."

Upon return to Canada, he performed for the local radio station, and was awarded a two-year scholarship to the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York City. Beginning in 1946, he trained at the Playhouse with Sanford Meisner, alongside such future stars as Leslie Nielsen, Tony Randall and Jackie Gleason.

For the next eight years, Doohan would travel between New York and Canada, performing in over 4000 radio programs, 400 live and taped television shows, and a number of films and plays. Known as Canada's busiest actor, he eventually, he made his way into Hollywood. After his last Star Trek feature, Doohan traveled trough the United States and Canada on a speaking tour through over 250 colleges. He even made appearances at Star Trek conventions.

Doohan died in his sleep at his home in Redmond, Washington, at 5:30 a.m. local time with his wife Wende at his side. Cause of death was pneumonia, complicated by Alzheimer's disease, according to Doohan's agent and longtime friend Steve Stevens of Los Angeles.

James Doohan is the second member of the original series to pass away. DeForest Kelley, who played Doctor Leonard "Bones" H. McCoy passed away on June 11th, 1999.