Actors - DeForest Kelley

Home > Listing Index > Actors > DeForest Kelley

	Actors - DeForest Kelley

DeForest Kelley (January 20 1920 - June 11 1999) was best known for his starring role as Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy of the USS Enterprise in the television show Star Trek from 1966 to 1969 and in six of the subsequent movies.

Childhood

He was born in Atlanta, Georgia, the son of Ernest David Kelley (a Baptist minister) and Clara Casey. As a child DeForest Kelley sang in the church choir, DeForest discovered that he enjoyed singing and was good at it. Eventually this led to solos and an appearance on radio station WSB in Atlanta. As a result of his radio work, he won an engagement with Lew Forbes and his orchestra at the Paramount Theater. It was DeForest's first taste of being an entertainer, and he liked it.

Kelley served in the Second World War as an enlisted member of the Army Air Forces between March 10, 1943 and January 28, 1946. After an extended stay at Long Beach, California, he decided to relocate to the state permanently to pursue an acting career. DeForest decided to move to Long Beach, California to live with his Uncle Casey. He saved money working as an usher in a local theater until he had enough for the move. While his mother encouraged him, his father hated the idea. In California, Kelley was spotted by a Paramount scout while doing a Navy Training film. Coincidentally, Kelley had originally wanted to pursue a career as a doctor.

Film Career

Kelley's first movie was the low-budget film Fear in the Night. He went on to having a career playing minor characters, chiefly in Western movies and TV Westerns. The movie was a blockbuster hit and Kelley was in the eyes of the public for the first time as a national figure. After this he made a part in the movie “Variety Girl” and was established as a leading actor. A few years later, Kelley and his wife decided to move to New York. Kelley's wife got a job in the main office of Warner Brothers. And Kelley found work on stage and on line television, but after three years in New York, the Kelleys returned to Hollywood where Kelley got a role in an episode of “You are There.” This led to his role as Ike Clampton in “The Last Gunfight at the OK Corral,” his first role as a heavy and a source of three movie offers.

For nine years DeForest primarily played heavies and found them interesting and challenging. He built up an impressive list of credits, alternating between television and motion pictures. Afraid of being type-cast, DeForest broke out of that mold by doing "Where Love Has Gone" and a television pilot called "333 Montgomery." The latter was written by an ex-cop named Gene Roddenberry. A few years later, DeForest would appear in another Roddenberry pilot, "Police Story." That didn't sell either, but it led to Star Trek and the unforgettable role of Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy. He Played Dr. McCoy from 1966 to 1969 in Star Trek (TOS) and the first six Star Trek motion pictures 1979 to 1991. He also had a humorous cameo role in the first episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, "Encounter at Farpoint".

After his roles in Star Trek, Kelley took a long vacation. After that, he did a few television appearances and a couple of movies, but primarily went into retirement. Kelley became a poet as a hobby, publishing “The Big Bird’s Dream,” and “The Dream Goes On.” Kelley would never finish this series, as he died on June 11, 1999 from stomach cancer in Woodland Hills, California at age 79. He was succeeded by his wife, Carolyn Kelley, who passed away in October 2004. Jackson DeForest Kelley will be remembered forever by his fans and also by those who knew him only by the name of Dr. McCoy. He was the first member of the original Star Trek cast to pass away.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for DeForest Kelley ]

This page is based on the copyrighted Wikipedia article DeForest Kelley; it is used under the GNU Free Documentation License. You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the GFDL.

Searches on eBay