DeForest Kelley
幻游百科,影视科幻的百科全书
| Actor DeForest Kelley. | |
| Image:BonesMcCoy2268.jpg | |
| Image: | Kelley portraying Dr. McCoy. |
| Gender: | Male |
| Date of Birth: | January 20, 1920 |
| Date of Death: | June 11, 1999 |
| Image:Kelley old.jpg | |
DeForest Kelley (January 20, 1920 – June 11, 1999) is famous for his role as Leonard H. McCoy, affectionately dubbed "Bones", on Star Trek: The Original Series. He went on to voice the character on The Animated Series and to play the character in the first six Star Trek movies. He also appeared as an aged Admiral McCoy in the Next Generation pilot episode "Encounter at Farpoint" and in the archive footage used in the Deep Space Nine episode "Trials and Tribble-ations".
Kelley was born in Atlanta, Georgia. Having always wanted to be a doctor yet thwarted by the Great Depression, Kelley instead went into show business starting as a singer with the Lew Forbes Orchestra and in radio.
In 1937, Kelley went to Long Beach, California to stay with his uncle for two weeks. That two weeks became a year. Even after returning to Georgia, he decided that California was where he wanted to be.
Living in California, Kelley joined a local theater group. There he met Carolyn Dowling, whom he would marry in 1945.
A talent scout for Paramount saw Kelley in a Navy training film during World War II. This led to a screen test and a contract, starring in his first motion picture Fear in the Night. Later that same year, Kelley co-starred with such legendary entertainers as Bob Hope and Bing Crosby in the musical comedy Variety Girl. Future TOS guest actor Richard Webb made an appearance as himself in this film.
Kelley went on to co-star with fellow TOS performers Jeff Corey and Whit Bissell as prison escapees in the 1948 thriller Canon City.
He appeared in smaller, uncredited roles in several films throughout the 1950s, most notably The Men (1950), House of Bamboo (1955, with Biff Elliot), and The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit (1956, with John Crawford and Kenneth Tobey). He also had larger, supporting roles in the 1955 film-noir Illegal, co-starring future Star Trek alumni Robert Ellenstein and Lawrence Dobkin.
Throughout the late 1950s and the 1960s, he starred or appeared primarily in western films. He played Morgan Earp in the acclaimed 1967 John Sturges western Gunfight at the O.K. Corral. Fellow Trek alumnus Whit Bissell and Kenneth Tobey also appeared in this film. Kelley then appeared in such classic westerns as Sturges' The Law and Jack Wade (1958), Warlock (1959, with Whit Bissell, Paul Comi, Frank Gorshin, Roy Jenson, and Gary Lockwood), and Town Tamer (1965, with Richard Webb). He also co-starred in a few non-westerns during this time, including Where Love Has Gone (1964, with Whit Bissell and Anthony Caruso) snd the 1965 comedy Marriage on the Rocks, starring crooners Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin.
During this time, he made guest appearances on a number of television series, including Bonanza and The Untouchables. In 1965, he was approached for a role on Star Trek, a new science fiction series by police officer-turned-television writer Gene Roddenberry. Although he was originally up for the role of the Vulcan science officer, Mr. Spock, he was eventually cast as the gruff but lovable Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy.
While Star Trek was still in production, Kelley made a cameo appearance in the pilot episode of Roddenberry's Police Story, which co-starred Steve Ihnat, Malachi Throne, and Grace Lee Whitney. (This Police Story, however, is not to be confused with a later NBC series of the same name).
He appeared in very few movies after being cast as Dr. McCoy; his only two feature-length credits following the cancellation of Star Trek were the 1971 made-for-television movie Bull of the West, co-starring Brian Keith, and the horror/science fiction B-movie Night of the Lepus, co-starring Paul Fix and a group of giant, mutant rabbits.
After Star Trek was resurrected as a motion picture franchise with the release of Star Trek: The Motion Picture in 1979, Kelley took on few other roles. His only non-Trek role throughout the 1990s (and his final role before his death) was the voice of "Viking I" in the direct-to-video animated movie The Brave Little Toaster Goes to Mars.
Kelley retired from acting in the mid 1990s, and succumbed to stomach cancer on June 11, 1999. He was survived by Carolyn Dowling, his wife of nearly 54 years, who passed away in October 2004.
See Also
External Links
- DeForest Kelley at Wikipedia.
- DeForest Kelley at the Internet Movie Database
- DeForest Kelley at TriviaTribute.com - pictures, sound clips and trivia
