History Creator / DeForestKelley

He was the only original cast member not to write an autobiography.[[note]]He made a joke of this during a convention appearance in the mid-nineties, when he jokingly threatened to Shatner and Nimoy - both of whom had written ''multiple'' autobiographies by this point -- that ''he'' was finally going to write ''his'' take on what ''really'' happened.[[/note]] Terry Lee Rioux published his biography, ''From Sawdust To Stardust'', in 2005.

He was the only original cast member not to write an autobiography. Terry Lee Rioux published his biography, ''From Sawdust To Stardust'', in 2005.

Jackson [=DeForest=] Kelley (January 20, 1920 -- June 11, 1999), better known as [=DeForest=] or just plain De, played villains in a long string of Westerns before being cast as Dr. Leonard "Bones" [[TheMcCoy [=McCoy=]]] in ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries''. Alongside Creator/WilliamShatner and Creator/LeonardNimoy, he made up a third of the PowerTrio that headed the show's cast. At the time, he was considered an odd choice; he was best known for villain-of-the-week roles in westerns by Creator/{{Paramount}}, often portraying the sort of black-hatted CardCarryingVillain that would [[ForTheEvulz randomly shoot a dog]] just to establish his villain cred. Some of his fellow cast were quite surprised that he was being tasked with playing a good-natured hero in their new series... and that he was such an amazingly sweet man in person.

* TookTheBadFilmSeriously: Just watch him in "[[Recap/StarTrekS3E1SpocksBrain Spock's Brain]]", and again in ''Film/StarTrekVTheFinalFrontier''. Even when the material is crap, this man can ''act''.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Kelley occasionally mentioned that he was first considered for the role of ''Spock'', not Bones, and this is borne out by [[http://startrekfactcheck.blogspot.ca/2013/09/casting-ideas-for-star-treks-first-pilot.html a casting memo during pre-production for the first pilot (dated October 14, 1964)]]. Once Nimoy (the first choice) was selected, Gene Roddenberry instead attempted to cast Kelley as Dr. Boyce. However, the director for the pilot episode (Robert Butler) preferred John Hoyt, who got the part. Once everyone except Nimoy was replaced for the second pilot, Roddenberry again pushed for Kelley as the new Doctor, Mark Piper, and again yielded to the wishes of the director (James Goldstone), who cast Paul Fix. When ''Star Trek'' was finally picked up for series, Roddenberry cast Kelley as Dr. Leonard [=McCoy=], in one of television's earliest and most successful examples of what we now call the SecondEpisodeIntroduction, or at least it would have been had the episodes aired in production order.

Jackson [=DeForest=] Kelley (January 20, 1920 -- June 11, 1999), better known as [=DeForest=] or just plain De, played villains in a long string of Westerns before being cast as Dr. Leonard "Bones" [[TheMcCoy [=McCoy=]]] in ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries''. Alongside Creator/WilliamShatner and Creator/LeonardNimoy, he made up a third of the PowerTrio that headed the show's cast. At the time, he was considered an odd choice; he was best known for villain-of-the-week roles in westerns by Creator/{{Paramount}}, often portraying the sort of black-hatted CardCarryingVillain that would [[ForTheEvulz randomly shoot a dog]] just to establish his villain cred. Some of his fellow cast were quite surprised that he was being tasked with playing a good-natured hero in their new series... and that he was [[MeanCharacterNiceActor such an amazingly sweet man in person]].

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'''Jackson [=DeForest=] Kelley''' (January 20, 1920 -- June 11, 1999), better known as [=DeForest=] or just plain De, played villains in a long string of Westerns before being cast as Dr. Leonard "Bones" [[TheMcCoy [=McCoy=]]] in ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries''. Alongside Creator/WilliamShatner and Creator/LeonardNimoy, he made up a third of the PowerTrio that headed the show's cast. At the time, he was considered an odd choice; he was best known for villain-of-the-week roles in westerns by Creator/{{Paramount}}, often portraying the sort of black-hatted CardCarryingVillain that would [[ForTheEvulz randomly shoot a dog]] just to establish his villain cred. Some of his fellow cast were quite surprised that he was being tasked with playing a good-natured hero in their new series... and that he was [[MeanCharacterNiceActor such an amazingly sweet man in person]].

Shy by nature, De appeared at conventions only infrequently and did even fewer television interviews, confessing on Merv Griffin that "I'm so scared -- I never do talk shows, you know, I'm absolutely a wreck." When he did appear, however, Kelley was universally remembered by fans as warm, witty, down-to-earth, incredibly welcoming, and a gentle spirit with the same compassion and general goodwill that made his character so famous.

'''Jackson [=DeForest=] Kelley''' (January 20, 1920 -- June 11, 1999), better known as [=DeForest=] or just plain De, played villains in a long string of Westerns before being cast as Dr. Leonard "Bones" [[TheMcCoy [=McCoy=]]] in ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries''. Alongside Creator/WilliamShatner and Creator/LeonardNimoy, he made up a third of the PowerTrio that headed the show's cast. At the time, he was considered an odd choice... he was best known for villain-of-the-week roles in westerns by Creator/{{Paramount}}, often portraying the sort of black-hatted CardCarryingVillain that would [[ForTheEvulz randomly shoot a dog]] just to establish his villain cred. Some of his fellow cast were quite surprised that he was being tasked with playing a good-natured hero in their new series... and that he was [[MeanCharacterNiceActor such an amazingly sweet man in person]].

Like Leonard Nimoy, De turned down the offer to reprise his role a final time in ''StarTrekGenerations''. He stated his reason being that he felt that it would ruin the sense of closure already nicely depicted in ''StarTrekVITheUndiscoveredCountry''.

Eleven years older than the young cast (most of whom, besides Creator/JamesDoohan, were in their mid-thirties), Kelley grew up on "the sawdust trail" in rural Georgia as the son of a preacher. In his late teens he moved to Long Beach, California, to pursue his dream of becoming a performer. There he met the love of his life -- Carolyn Meagher Dowling, with whom he was co-starring at The Long Beach Playhouse. They continued their courtship throughout Kelley's service in WorldWarTwo and married in 1945. He never looked twice at anyone else.

'''Jackson [=DeForest=] Kelley''', better known as [=DeForest=] or just plain De, played villains in a long string of Westerns before being cast as Dr. Leonard "Bones" [[TheMcCoy [=McCoy=]]] in ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries''. Alongside Creator/WilliamShatner and Creator/LeonardNimoy, he made up a third of the PowerTrio that headed the show's cast. At the time, he was considered an odd choice... he was best known for villain-of-the-week roles in westerns by Creator/{{Paramount}}, often portraying the sort of black-hatted CardCarryingVillain that would [[ForTheEvulz randomly shoot a dog]] just to establish his villain cred. Some of his fellow cast were quite surprised that he was being tasked with playing a good-natured hero in their new series... and that he was [[MeanCharacterNiceActor such an amazingly sweet man in person]].

Movingly, it was De who was chosen to "pass the torch" to ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'', appearing one last time as a feisty, 137-year-old Admiral [=McCoy=] in "Encounter at Farpoint", written by TOS veteran D.C. Fontana. His [[TearJerker last line]], delivered to Data, was, "Treat her like a lady, and she'll always bring you home."

'''Jackson [=DeForest=] Kelley''', better known as [=DeForest=] or just plain De, played villains in a long string of Westerns before being cast as Dr. Leonard "Bones" [[TheMcCoy [=McCoy=]]] in ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries''. Alongside Creator/WilliamShatner and Creator/LeonardNimoy, he made up a third of the PowerTrio that headed the show's cast. At the time, he was considered an odd choice... he was best known for villain-of-the-week roles in westerns be Creator/{{Paramount}}, often portraying the sort of black-hatted CardCarryingVillain that would [[ForTheEvulz randomly shoot a dog]] just to establish his villain cred. Some of his fellow cast were quite surprised that he was being tasked with playing a good-natured hero in their new series... and that he was [[MeanCharacterNiceActor such an amazingly sweet man in person]].

'''Jackson [=DeForest=] Kelley''', better known as [=DeForest=] or just plain De, played villains in a long string of Westerns before being cast as Dr. Leonard "Bones" [[TheMcCoy [=McCoy=]]] in ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries''. Alongside Creator/WilliamShatner and Creator/LeonardNimoy, he made up a third of the PowerTrio that headed the show's cast.

Kelley got his first cinematic starring role in ''Fear In The Night'', and soon he was playing bit parts in Westerns for Creator/{{Paramount}}. He ended up typecast as your typical Western villain, never knowing that an even bigger role was about to come his way.

Jackson [=DeForest=] Kelley, better known as [=DeForest=] or just plain De, played villains in a long string of Westerns before being cast as Dr. Leonard "Bones" [[TheMcCoy [=McCoy=]]] in ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries''. Alongside Creator/WilliamShatner and Creator/LeonardNimoy, he made up a third of the PowerTrio that headed the show's cast.

Kelley brought to the role of [=McCoy=] an earthy humor, gentle sensitivity, and caustic compassion that would make him, and the role, famous. While he never quite reached the popularity levels of the [[TheKirk dashing, golden-haired, devil-may-care Captain]] or the [[TheSpock dark, enigmatic Vulcan]], his [[BlueEyes bright blue eyes]], gorgeous smile, Southern accent and charisma earned him a sizable fanbase in his own right, aided by his constant [[DeadpanSnarker snark-fests]] with Nimoy as Spock. Although he would get little work outside the ''Franchise/StarTrek'' franchise for the remainder of his life, he never sought the limelight: De and Carolyn were very private people, and no actors ever crossed the threshold of their own private house. Ironically, at the time of production, Kelley was the best-known actor of the three -- Nimoy and Shatner had done stage work and not much else prior to being cast.

Kelley got his first cinematic starring role in ''Fear In The Night'', and soon he was playing bit parts in Westerns for Paramount. He ended up typecast as your typical Western villain, never knowing that an even bigger role was about to come his way.

Jackson [=DeForest=] Kelley, better known as [=DeForest=] or just plain De, played villains in a long string of Westerns before being cast as Dr. Leonard "Bones" [[TheMcCoy [=McCoy=]]] in ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries''. Alongside WilliamShatner and LeonardNimoy, he made up a third of the PowerTrio that headed the show's cast.

Eleven years older than the young cast (most of whom, besides JamesDoohan, were in their mid-thirties), Kelley grew up on "the sawdust trail" in rural Georgia as the son of a preacher. In his late teens he moved to Long Beach, California, to pursue his dream of becoming a performer. There he met the love of his life -- Carolyn Meagher Dowling, with whom he was co-starring at The Long Beach Playhouse. They continued their courtship throughout Kelley's service in WorldWarTwo and married in 1945. He never looked twice at anyone else.

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