DeForest Kelley - wikipedia DeForest Kelley DeForest Kelley Kelley at a 1988 Star Trek convention Jackson DeForest Kelley ( 1920 - 01 - 20 ) January 20, 1920 Toccoa, Georgia, U.S. June 11, 1999 ( 1999 - 06 - 11 ) ( aged 79 ) Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California, U.S. Cause of death Stomach cancer Resting place Remains scattered in Pacific Ocean Education Decatur Boys High Occupation Actor Years active 1947 -- 1998 Home town Atlanta, Georgia Spouse ( s ) Carolyn Dowling ( m. 1945 ; his death 1999 ) Jackson DeForest Kelley ( January 20, 1920 -- June 11, 1999 ), known to colleagues as `` Dee '', was an American actor, screenwriter, poet and singer known for his roles in Westerns and as Dr. Leonard `` Bones '' McCoy of the USS Enterprise in the television and film series Star Trek. Contents 1 Early life 2 Career 2.1 Early roles 2.2 Star Trek 2.3 Later career 3 Death 4 Filmography 4.1 Film 4.2 Television 5 Notes 6 References 7 External links Early life Kelley was delivered by his uncle at his parents ' home in Toccoa, Georgia, the son of Clora ( née Casey ) and Ernest David Kelley, who was a Baptist minister. DeForest was named after the pioneering electronics engineer Lee de Forest. He later named his Star Trek character 's father `` David '' after his own father. Kelley had an older brother, Ernest Casey Kelley. Kelley was immersed in his father 's mission in Conyers and told his father that failure would mean `` wreck and ruin ''. Before the end of his first year at Conyers, Kelley was regularly putting to use his musical talents and often sang solo in morning church services. Eventually, this led to an appearance on the radio station WSB AM in Atlanta. As a result of Kelley 's radio work, he won an engagement with Lew Forbes and his orchestra at the Paramount Theater. In 1934, the family left Conyers for Decatur, Georgia. He attended the Decatur Boys High School, where he played on the Decatur Bantams baseball team. Kelley also played football and other sports. Before his graduation in 1938, Kelley got a job as a drugstore car hop. He spent his weekends working in the local theaters. During World War II, Kelley served as an enlisted man in the United States Army Air Forces from March 10, 1943 to January 28, 1946, assigned to the First Motion Picture Unit. After an extended stay in Long Beach, California, Kelley decided to pursue an acting career and relocate to southern California permanently, living for a time with his uncle Casey. He worked as an usher in a local theater in order to earn enough money for the move. Kelley 's mother encouraged her son in his new career goal, but his father disliked the idea. While in California, Kelley was spotted by a Paramount Pictures scout while doing a United States Navy training film. Career Early roles Kelley 's acting career began with the feature film Fear in the Night in 1947. The low - budget movie was a hit, bringing him to the attention of a national audience and giving Kelley reason to believe he would soon become a star. His next role, in Variety Girl, established him as a leading actor and resulted in the founding of his first fan club. Kelley did not become a leading man, however, and he and his wife, Carolyn, decided to move to New York City. He found work on stage and on live television, but after three years in New York, the Kelleys returned to Hollywood. In California, he received a role in an installment of You Are There, anchored by Walter Cronkite. He played ranch owner Bob Kitteridge in the 1949 episode `` Legion of Old Timers '' of the television series The Lone Ranger. This led to an appearance in Gunfight at the O.K. Corral as Morgan Earp ( brother to Burt Lancaster 's Wyatt Earp ). This role led to three movie offers, including Warlock with Henry Fonda and Anthony Quinn. In 1957, he had a small role as a Southern officer in Raintree County, a Civil War film directed by Edward Dmytryk, alongside Elizabeth Taylor, Montgomery Clift and Lee Marvin. He also starred in the lead role as a U.S. Navy submarine captain in World War II in The Silent Service. He appeared in both season 1, episode 5, `` The Spearfish Delivers '', as Commander Dempsey and in the first episode of season 2, `` The Archerfish Spits Straight '', as Lieutenant Commander Enright. Leonard Nimoy also appeared in two different episodes of the series at around the same time. Kelley appeared three times on Gunfight at the O.K. Corral : first in 1955, where he portrayed Ike Clanton in the television series You Are There ; again, two years later in the 1957 film of that name, playing Morgan Earp ; and perhaps in an ironic salute, once again on October 25, 1968, in a third - season Star Trek episode titled `` Spectre of the Gun '', this time portraying Tom McLaury. Kelley also appeared in episodes of The Donna Reed Show, Perry Mason, Wanted : Dead or Alive, Boots and Saddles, Dick Powell 's Zane Grey Theater, Death Valley Days, Riverboat, The Fugitive, Lawman, Bat Masterson, Have Gun - Will Travel and Laredo. He appeared in the 1962 episode of Route 66, `` 1800 Days to Justice '' and `` The Clover Throne '' as Willis. He had a small role in the movie The View from Pompey 's Head. For nine years, Kelley primarily played villains. He built up an impressive list of credits, alternating between television and motion pictures. However, he was afraid of typecasting, so he broke away from villains by starring in Where Love Has Gone and a television pilot called 333 Montgomery. The pilot was written by an ex-policeman named Gene Roddenberry, and a few years later Kelley would appear in another Roddenberry pilot, Police Story ( 1967 ), that was again not developed into a series. Kelley also appeared in at least one radio drama, Suspense, where series producer William M. Robson introduced him as `` a bright new luminary in the Hollywood firmament ''. Star Trek Kelley as Dr. McCoy In 1956, nine years before being cast as Dr. McCoy, Kelley played a small supporting role as a medic in The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit in which he utters the diagnosis `` This man 's dead, Captain '' and `` That man is dead '' to Gregory Peck. Kelley appeared as Lieutenant Commander James Dempsey in two episodes of the syndicated military drama The Silent Service, based on actual stories of the submarine section of the United States Navy. In 1962, he appeared in the Bonanza episode titled `` The Decision '', as a doctor sentenced to hang for the murder of a journalist. The judge in this episode was portrayed by John Hoyt, who later portrayed Dr. Phillip John Boyce, one of Leonard McCoy 's predecessors, on the Star Trek pilot `` The Cage ''. In 1963, he appeared in The Virginian episode `` Man of Violence '' as a `` drinking '' cavalry doctor with Leonard Nimoy as his patient. ( Nimoy 's character did not survive. ) Perhaps not coincidentally, the episode was written by John D.F. Black, who went on to become a writer - producer on Star Trek. Just before Star Trek began filming, Kelley appeared as a doctor again, in the Laredo episode `` The Sound of Terror ''. After refusing Roddenberry 's 1964 offer to play Spock, Kelley played Dr. Leonard `` Bones '' McCoy from 1966 to 1969 in Star Trek. He reprised the character in a voice - over role in Star Trek : The Animated Series ( 1973 -- 74 ), and the first six Star Trek motion pictures ( 1979 to 1991 ). In one of the Star Trek comic books it was stated that Dr. McCoy 's father had been a Baptist preacher, an idea that apparently originated from Kelley 's background. In 1987, he also had a cameo in `` Encounter at Farpoint '', the first episode of Star Trek : The Next Generation, as Admiral Leonard McCoy, Starfleet Surgeon General Emeritus. Several aspects of Kelley 's background became part of McCoy 's characterization, including his pronunciation of `` nuclear '' as `` nucular ''. Kelley became a good friend of Star Trek cast mates William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy, from their first meeting in 1964. During Trek 's first season, Kelley 's name was listed in the end credits along with the rest of the cast. Only Shatner and Nimoy were listed in the opening credits. As Kelley 's role grew in importance during the first season he received a pay raise to about $2,500 per episode and received third billing starting in the second season after Nimoy. Despite the show 's recognition of Kelley as one of its stars he was frustrated by the greater attention that Shatner received as its lead actor and that Nimoy received because of `` Spockamania '' among fans. Shy by his own admission, Kelley was the only cast member of the original Star Trek series program never to have written or published an autobiography ; the authorized biography From Sawdust to Stardust ( 2005 ) was written posthumously by Terry Lee Rioux of Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas. Kelley regarded `` The Empath '' as his favourite Star Trek television episode. Later career Hollywood Walk of Fame After Star Trek, Kelley found himself a victim of the very typecasting he had so feared. In 1972, he was cast in the horror film Night of the Lepus. Kelley thereafter did a few television appearances and a couple of movies but essentially went into de facto retirement other than playing McCoy. By 1978 he was earning up to $50,000 ( $188,000 today ) annually from appearances at Star Trek conventions. Like other Star Trek actors, Kelley received little of the enormous profits that the franchise generated for Paramount, until Nimoy, as executive producer, helped arrange for Kelley to be paid $1 million for Star Trek VI : The Undiscovered Country ( 1991 ) which would eventually be his final live - action film appearance. He also appeared in the very first Star Trek : The Next Generation episode, `` Encounter at Farpoint '', in which he portrayed a 137 - year - old Dr. McCoy. In a TLC interview done in the late 1990s, Kelley jokingly said one of his biggest fears was that the words etched on his gravestone would be `` He 's dead, Jim. '' Reflecting this, Kelley 's obituary in Newsweek magazine began : `` We 're not even going to try to resist : He 's dead, Jim. '' On the other hand, he stated that he was very proud to hear from so many Star Trek fans who had been inspired to become doctors as a result of his portrayal of Dr. McCoy. For his final film, Kelley provided the voice of Viking 1 in the 2nd / 3rd installment in the children 's series The Brave Little Toaster Goes to Mars. Later in life, Kelley developed an interest in poetry, eventually publishing the first of two books in a series, The Big Bird 's Dream and The Dream Goes On -- a series he would never finish. Death Kelley died of stomach cancer on June 11, 1999, at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles. His body was cremated and the ashes were scattered in the Pacific Ocean. Filmography Film 1947 : Fear in the Night as Vince Grayson 1947 : Variety Girl as Bob Kirby 1947 : Beyond Our Own as Bob Rogers 1948 : Gypsy Holiday as Carl Romano 1948 : Canon City as Smalley 1949 : Life of St. Paul Series as Aram 1949 : Duke of Chicago as ' Ace ' Martin 1949 : Malaya as Lt. Glenson ( uncredited ) 1950 : The Men as Dr. Sherman ( uncredited ) 1953 : Taxi as Fred ( uncredited ) 1954 : Duffy of San Quentin as Eddie Lee -- Police Detective 1955 : House of Bamboo as Charlie ( uncredited ) 1955 : Illegal as Edward Clary 1955 : The View from Pompey 's Head as Jim Foster -- Hotel Clerk ( uncredited ) 1956 : The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit ( unbilled ) as Medic ( uncredited ) 1956 : Tension at Table Rock as Jim Breck 1957 : Gunfight at the O.K. Corral as Morgan Earp 1957 : Raintree County as Southern Officer 1958 : The Law and Jake Wade as Wexler 1959 : Warlock as Curley Burne 1963 : Gunfight at Comanche Creek as Amos Troop 1964 : Where Love Has Gone as Sam Corwin 1965 : Black Spurs as Sheriff Dal Nemo 1965 : Town Tamer as Guy Tavenner 1965 : Marriage on the Rocks as Mr. Turner 1966 : Apache Uprising as Toby Jack Saunders 1966 : Johnny Reno ( uncredited ) 1966 : Waco as Bill Rile 1972 : Night of the Lepus as Elgin Clark 1979 : Star Trek : The Motion Picture as Dr. Leonard McCoy 1982 : Star Trek II : The Wrath of Khan as Dr. Leonard McCoy 1984 : Star Trek III : The Search for Spock as Dr. Leonard McCoy 1986 : Star Trek IV : The Voyage Home as Dr. Leonard McCoy 1989 : Star Trek V : The Final Frontier as Dr. Leonard McCoy 1991 : Star Trek VI : The Undiscovered Country as Dr. Leonard McCoy 1998 : The Brave Little Toaster Goes to Mars as Viking 1 ( voice ) ( final film role ) Television 1949 : The Lone Ranger ( as Bob Kittredge in episode `` Legion of Old Timers '' ) 1950 : The Lone Ranger ( as Sheriff Buck McCall in episode `` Gold Train '' ) 1952 : The Lone Ranger ( as the Doctor ) ? 1953 : The Lone Ranger ( as Doctor David Barnes in episode `` Death in the Forest '' ) 1953 -- 1954 : City Detective ( episodes `` Crazy Like a Fox '' and `` An Old Man 's Gold '' ) 1955 : Science Fiction Theatre ( as Captain Hall in episode `` Y... O... R... D... '' ) 1956 : Gunsmoke ( appeared in various episodes ) 1957 : M Squad ( appeared in the episode `` Pete Loves Mary '' ) 1957 : The Silent Service ( appeared in the episode `` The Gar Story '' as the Commanding Officer, LtCDR Maurice `` Duke '' Ferrara ) 1958 : The Silent Service ( appeared in the episode `` The Spearfish Delivers '' as the Commanding Officer CDR James C Dempsey ) 1958 : Wanted : Dead or Alive ( as Sheriff Steve Pax in `` Secret Ballot '' ) 1958 : Zane Grey Theater ( appeared in the episode `` Shadow of a Dead Man '' as a man killed by a rattlesnake ) 1959 : Wanted : Dead or Alive ( as Ollie Tate in `` The Empty Cell '' ) 1959 : Trackdown ( as Tom in episode `` Quiet Night in Porter '' ) 1959 : Rawhide ( as Slate Prell in episode `` Incident at Barker Springs '' ) 1959 : Mackenzie 's Raiders ( as Charles Barrons in episode `` Son of the Hawk '' ) 1959 : Mickey Spillane 's Mike Hammer ( as Eddie Robbins in episode `` I Ai n't Talkin ' '' ) 1959 : 26 Men ( appeared in episode `` Trail of Revenge '' with Leonard Nimoy ) 1959 : State Trooper ( as Graham in `` The Patient Skeleton '' ) 1959 : Richard Diamond, Private Detective ( as the Sheriff in `` The Limping Man '' and as Ken Porter in `` The Adjuster '' ) 1960 : Richard Diamond, Private Detective ( `` The Fine Art of Murder '' ) 1960 : Two Faces West ( as Vern Cleary in `` Fallen Gun '' ) 1960 : Johnny Midnight ( as David Lawton in `` The Inner Eye '' ) 1960 -- 1961 : COronado 9 ( as Frank Briggs in `` Loser 's Circle '' and Shep Harlow in `` Run, Shep, Run '' ) 1961 : Perry Mason ( in episode `` The Case of the Unwelcome Bride '' ) 1961 : Shannon ( as Carlyle in `` The Pickup '' ) 1961 : Lawman ( as Bent Carr in `` Squatters '' ) 1961 : Stagecoach West ( as Clay Henchard in `` Image of a Man '' and Lieutenant Clarke in `` The Big Gun '' ) 1961 -- 1962 : Route 66 ( appeared in episodes `` The Clover Throne '' and `` 1800 Days to Justice '' ) 1961 -- 1966 : Bonanza ( appeared in various episodes ) 1962 : Have Gun -- Will Travel 1962 : Laramie `` Gun Duel '' S4 E12 ( as Bart Collins ) 1963 : The Dakotas as Martin Volet in `` Reformation at Big Nose Butte '' ( 1963 ) 1965 : The Fugitive as Charlie ( in episode `` Three Cheers for Little Boy Blue '' ) 1966 : Death Valley Days ( as Elliott Webster in `` The Lady of the Plains '' ) 1965 : Death Valley Days ( as Martin, a prisoner, in `` Devil 's Gate '' ) 1966 : I Happened 1966 : Laredo ( as Dr. David Ingram in `` The Sound of Terror '' ) 1966 : Ride the Wind 1966 -- 1969 : Star Trek as Lieutenant Commander Dr. Leonard `` Bones '' McCoy ( some footage from this series was also used in the 1996 Star Trek : Deep Space Nine episode `` Trials and Tribble - ations '' ) 1970 : Ironside ( appeared in various episodes ) 1970 : The Silent Force ( in episode `` The Judge '' ) 1972 : The Bull of the West ( telemovie based on two episodes of The Virginian ) ( as Ben Tully ) 1973 -- 1974 : Star Trek ( animated / voice ) as Lieutenant Commander Dr. Leonard `` Bones '' McCoy 1981 : The Littlest Hobo ( as Professor Hal Schaffer in `` Runaway '' ) 1987 : Star Trek : The Next Generation ( Admiral Leonard McCoy, in initial episode `` Encounter at Farpoint '' ) Notes Jump up ^ `` Carolyn Dowling ( 1916 - 2004 ) - Genealogy ''. Geni.com. Retrieved 2014 - 06 - 14. Jump up ^ Shatner, William ; Fisher, David ( 2016 ). Leonard. St. Martin 's Press. p. 108ff. Jump up ^ `` DeForest Kelley ( 1920 - 1999 ) ''. IMDb.com. June 30, 1999. ^ Jump up to : Lee Rioux, Terry ( 2005 ). From Sawdust to Stardust. Rocket Books. Jump up ^ `` DeForest Kelley ''. pathcom.com. Archived from the original on June 9, 2008. Retrieved 2014 - 06 - 14. Jump up ^ Woo, Elaine ( June 12, 1999 ). `` DeForest Kelley, Actor Beloved as Dr. McCoy on ' Star Trek, ' Dies at 79 ''. Los Angeles Times. p. 30. Jump up ^ `` Excerpt The Man in the Grey Flannel Suit ''. YouTube. 2008 - 04 - 22. Retrieved 2014 - 06 - 14. Jump up ^ wes - connors ( December 27, 2008 ). `` '' Laredo '' Sound of Terror ( TV Episode 1966 ) ``. IMDb. Jump up ^ StarTrek.com, staff. `` Star Trek Remembering DeForest Kelley ''. startrek.com. CBS Entertainment. Retrieved 2014 - 08 - 26. Jump up ^ `` '' Star Trek : The Next Generation '' Encounter at Farpoint ( TV Episode 1987 ) '' -- via www.imdb.com. Jump up ^ `` The Empath '' Story outline report and script analysis by Dave Eversole Jump up ^ Marriott, Michael ( September 15, 1991 ). `` TV View ; the ' Star Trek ' Curse : a Lifetime Starfleet Commission ''. The New York Times. Retrieved May 3, 2011. Jump up ^ Michaels, Marguerite ( December 10, 1978 ). `` A Visit to Star Trek 's Movie Launch ''. Parade. Retrieved May 2, 2011. Jump up ^ Newsweek, July 20, 1999. Jump up ^ `` DeForest Kelley ( 1920 - 1999 ) - Find A Grave Memorial ''. Findagrave.com. June 30, 1999. Retrieved June 14, 2012. References Biography portal Georgia ( U.S. state ) portal California portal Los Angeles portal Film portal Television portal Star Trek portal United States Army portal World War II portal Lee Rioux, Terry ( 2005 ). From Sawdust to Stardust : The Biography of DeForest Kelley, Star Trek 's Dr. McCoy. Pocket Books. ISBN 0 - 7434 - 5762 - 5. External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to DeForest Kelley. DeForest Kelley on IMDb DeForest Kelley at the TCM Movie Database DeForest Kelley at AllMovie DeForest Kelley ( 1920 - 1999 ) New Georgia Encyclopedia DeForest Kelley at Memory Alpha ( a Star Trek wiki ) Amctv.com Article about Kelley 's Western Career Excerpt The Man in the Grey Flannel Suit on YouTube Interview with Kris Smith who looked after Kelley in his final year -- The Spectrum, February 2016. VIAF : 76513673 LCCN : no89012154 ISNI : 0000 0001 2028 8230 GND : 130003395 SUDOC : 082118213 BNF : cb14023051r ( data ) BNE : XX962669 SNAC : w6ft8srj Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=DeForest_Kelley&oldid=826730454 '' Categories : 1920 births 1999 deaths Male actors from Georgia ( U.S. state ) American male film actors American military personnel of World War II American male television actors Baptists from the United States Deaths from cancer in California Deaths from stomach cancer First Motion Picture Unit personnel Male actors from Atlanta People from Toccoa, Georgia United States Army Air Forces soldiers 20th - century American male actors Western ( genre ) television actors Hidden categories : Use mdy dates from January 2012 Articles with hCards All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from November 2017 Pages using div col with deprecated parameters Wikipedia articles with VIAF identifiers Wikipedia articles with LCCN identifiers Wikipedia articles with ISNI identifiers Wikipedia articles with GND identifiers Wikipedia articles with BNF identifiers Wikipedia articles with SNAC - ID identifiers Talk Contents About Wikipedia تۆرکجه Bislama Български Català Čeština Dansk Deutsch Español فارسی Français Frysk 한국어 Ido Bahasa Indonesia Italiano עברית Magyar Nederlands 日本 語 Norsk Polski Português Română Русский Simple English Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски Suomi Svenska Українська Edit links This page was last edited on 20 February 2018, at 18 : 24. 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Question: who played bones in the original star trek
Answer: Jackson DeForest Kelley