Actor DeForest Kelley, STAR TREK's Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy died Friday,
June 10 after an extended illness. Kelley, born January 20, 1920, in
Atlanta, Georgia, US, played supporting roles in a number of movies,
including THE MAN IN THE GRAY FLANNEL SUIT (1956); GUNFIGHT AT THE O.K.
CORRAL (1957), RAINTREE COUNTY (1957), and APACHE UPRISING (1966). STAR
TREK creator and producer Gene Roddenberry had wanted Kelley to play the
doctor in STAR TREK from the get-go, having worked with him previously on
Roddenberry's cop series, THE LIEUTENANT. However, two STAR TREK pilots
were shot before Kelley was finally hired to play the role that brought him
out of relative obscurity and into the popular culture limelight when the
NBC series was finally greenlit. He also played in six of the films, the
last being STAR TREK VI: THE UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY in 1991. Kelley's Dr.
McCoy was one of a colorful crew of 23rd-century space travelers that
helped make the original STAR TREK television series one of the most
popular TV series, although the original program aired for only three
seasons from 1966-69 on NBC. The STAR TREK phenomenon lived on in a 1973-74
Saturday morning animated series by Filmation (with voices provided by the
original cast members, including Kelley), feature films, and in a series of
TV and movie spin-offs, including STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION. The
conflict between McCoy's down-to-Earth character and the
half-human/half-Vulcan Spock's cold logic produced many of the memorable,
humorous moments in the television series and movies. McCoy would often
exclaim a variant of, "Dammit, Jim I'm a doctor, not a ...," when called on
by his best friend and Captain, James Kirk, to cope with the other-worldly
illnesses and calamities that beset the USS Enterprise, but he would always
come through for his captain. In real life, Kelley was known for his great
sense of humor and his skill growing roses. He is survived by his wife of
nearly 55 years, Carolyn.