Surely, you must be kidding. Leslie Nielsen was the best man at James Doohan's second wedding? Yes, he was, and don’t call us Shirley! It happened in 1967, when Doohan married Anita Yagel. Also in attendance that day: Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry. Doohan and Yagel divorced in 1972.

For those wondering about the connection between Doohan, who co-starred as Montgomery Scott, the intrepid engineer aboard the USS Enterprise on Star Trek: The Original Series, and Nielsen, the star of Forbidden Planet, Police Squad!, Airplane!, Creepshow, and the Naked Gun movies, they became friends while studying at the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York City. Another of their classmates was Tony Randall, who’d later find success with Pillow Talk, 7 Faces of Dr. Lao, The Odd Couple, and Down with Love, a Ewan McGregor-Renee Zellweger romantic comedy that co-starred Star Trek: Voyager’s Seven of Nine, Jeri Ryan.

Sticking with the Doohan-Nielsen connection,...