DeForest Kelley
Jackson DeForest Kelley (January 20, 1920 – June 11, 1999) was an American actor, screenwriter, poet and singer known for his iconic roles in Westerns and as Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy of the USS Enterprise in the television and film series Star Trek. Kelley was delivered by his uncle at his parents' home in Atlanta, the son of Clora (née Casey) and Ernest David Kelley, who was a Baptist minister of Irish and Southern ancestry. DeForest was named after the pioneering electronics engineer Lee De Forest, and later named his Star Trek character's father "David" after his own. Kelley had an older brother, Ernest Casey Kelley. As a child, he often played outside for hours at a time. Kelley was immersed in his father's mission in Conyers and promised his father failure would mean "wreck and ruin". Before the end of his first year at Conyers, Kelley was introduced into the congregation to 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, Georgia. As a result of his radio work, he won an engagement with Lew Forbes and his orchestra at the Paramount Theater. In 1934, the family left Conyers for the community of Decatur. 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, Kelley got a job as a drugstore car hop. He spent his weekends working in the local theatres. Kelley graduated in 1938. During World War II, Kelley served as an enlisted man in the United States Army Air Forces between March 10, 1943, and 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.
118 acting credits
Acting · 118
Star Trek: The Next Generation
1987
Perry Mason
1957
Bonanza
1959
Star Trek
1966
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
1993
The Fugitive
1963
Ironside
1967
The Virginian
1962
Have Gun, Will Travel
1957
The Merv Griffin Show
1962
Route 66
1960
Rawhide
1959
Lawman
1958
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
1956
Studio One
1948
Matinee Theater
1955
Wanted: Dead or Alive
1958
The Donna Reed Show
1958
Bat Masterson
1958
Gunsmoke
1955
77 Sunset Strip
1958
The Lone Ranger
1949
Room 222
1969
M Squad
1957
Laredo
1965
Richard Diamond, Private Detective
1957
Laramie
1959
Studio 57
1954
Black Saddle
1959
Trackdown
1957
The Millionaire
1955
The Silent Service
1957
Cavalcade of America
1952
Navy Log
1955
The Deputy
1959
Cain's Hundred
1961
Alcoa Theatre
1957
Riverboat
1959
Tales of Wells Fargo
1957
Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law
1971
State Trooper
1956
Stagecoach West
1960
The Adventures of Jim Bowie
1956
Public Defender
1954
The Gallant Men
1962
The Bold Ones: The New Doctors
1969
The Dakotas
1963
The Pepsi-Cola Playhouse
1953
Science Fiction Theatre
1955
26 Men
1957
Star Trek
1973
The Wonderful World of Disney
1954
You Are There
1953
Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer
1958
City Detective
1953
Coronado 9
1960
The Lone Wolf
1954
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
1982
Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
1989
Star Trek: The Motion Picture
1979
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
1986
Death Valley Days
1952
Gunfight at the O.K. Corral
1957
Johnny Midnight
1960
Virtuosity
1995
Star Trek III: The Search for Spock
1984
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
1991
The Pixar Story
2007
Warlock
1959
Waterfront
1954
Night of the Lepus
1972
Revlon Mirror Theatre
1953
Assignment: Underwater
1960
The Brave Little Toaster Goes to Mars
1998
Trekkies
1997
The Men
1950
Raintree County
1957
A Man Called Shenandoah
1965
Star Trek: Inside the Roddenberry Vault
2016
Star Trek: 30 Years and Beyond
1996
Illegal
1955
The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit
1956
The Man from Blackhawk
1959
Gunfight at Comanche Creek
1963
The Making of Star Trek Deep Space Nine Trials And Tribble-ations
1996
House of Bamboo
1955
Public Prosecutor
1947
The Law and Jake Wade
1958
Apache Uprising
1965
The Bull of the West
1972
Star Trek: 25th Anniversary Special
1991
Fear in the Night
1947
Tension at Table Rock
1956
Variety Girl
1947
Black Spurs
1965
Malaya
1949
Waco
1966
Taxi
1953
Town Tamer
1965
Marriage on the Rocks
1965
William Shatner's Star Trek Memories
1996
40 Years of Star Trek
2006
The View from Pompey's Head
1955
Star Trek: A Captain's Log
1994
The Edge of Innocence
1957
Canon City
1948
Bonanza: Ride the Wind
1966
Where Love Has Gone
1964
William Shatner: Captain's Log
1994
The Star Trek Dream
1975
Duffy of San Quentin
1954
Way of Tomorrow: The Evolution of Science Fiction Movies
2022
Beyond Our Own
1947
Time to Kill
1945
Duke of Chicago
1949
A Conversation with DeForest Kelley
1993
Ambassador for Christ
1949
Speak No Evil
1950