Trivia

He was the most well-liked of the Star Trek (1966) cast and the only one that no one had a feud with at any point.

Inspired many fans to take up medicine. He and his wife received an invitation to attend the graduation ceremony from medical school of one of them. They attended.

Was the first primary cast member from the original Star Trek (1966) series to pass away. He was also the only one to pass away in the 20th century/second millennium.

The tagline "I'm a doctor, not a..." has been quoted in almost every incarnation of Star Trek (1966) on film and television.

Was the only cast member from the original Star Trek (1966) series never to write an autobiography.

He had originally wanted to be a doctor.

He was very shy by nature and did not like appearing at conventions or doing television interviews.

He was an extremely low-key and private individual who preferred not to seek leading roles and not to be involved in the Hollywood lifestyle.

He was very happy to learn in later years that his character Dr. McCoy had inspired many young people to become physicians.

His personal favorite Star Trek (1966) episode was The Empath (1968).

When Star Trek (1966) first aired, he had--unlike most of his co-stars--already been a professional actor for more than 20 years (although he did not look it at the time, he was more than a decade older than most of the cast).

He was cremated and his ashes were scattered in the Pacific Ocean.

Had played the same character (Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy) on three different series: Star Trek (1966), Star Trek: The Animated Series (1973) and Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987).

Reportedly disliked doing Star Trek: The Animated Series (1973) because he was never recording his lines at the same time as William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy. Kelley did not like this because he never got to interact with them and develop any rapport, which made reading his lines all the more difficult.

Before landing the role of Dr. Leonard McCoy on "Star Trek" (1966), he was offered the choice to play Mr. Spock. Years later, he played both for Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984).

Was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7021 Hollywood Blvd. on December 18, 1991.

A veteran of television and film Westerns, he has portrayed two different participants in the legendary 1881 O.K. Corral gunfight between the Earps and the Clantons. In 1955 he played Ike Clanton in an episode of the series You Are There (1953), and in 1957 he played Morgan Earp in the film Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957). On Star Trek (1966) the USS Enterprise away team beam onto a planet and he again finds himself at the O.K. Corral, playing Tom McLaury. This was in the third season, in Episode 6 entitled "Spectre of the Gun".

One of 32 actors or actresses to have starred in both the original Star Trek (1966) up to and including Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991) and then in one of the spin-offs.

The Star Trek: Enterprise (2001) character, Adm. Maxwell Forrest, played by Vaughn Armstrong, is named after him, as was a character in Big Foot (1982)(#2.5), which has numerous references to Star Trek, the most well known is William Shatner.

Had a great love of poetry, both reading and writing. Later in life he used to charm "Star Trek" convention audiences with three poems about Gene Roddenberry ("The Great Bird of the Galaxy") and the Star Trek franchise. They were called "The Big Bird's Dream", "The Dream Goes On" and "The Dream Forever".

Shortly after his passing, "He's dead, Jim" was forever memorialized by being added in tribute to Dr. McCoy for two 1999 video games: StarCraft: Brood War (1998) and Shatner-oids, a spoof of the classic Atari game "Asteroids".

He had English and Scots-Irish (Northern Irish) ancestry.

Told close friends that he always felt more comfortable in Westerns than science-fiction. In Spectre of the Gun (1968)(#3.6) he got to do both.

He actually first uttered his signature catchphrase from Star Trek (1966), "I'm a doctor, not...", over a decade before taking the role of Dr. McCoy. This was spoken on The Millionaire (1955) (episode "The Iris Millar Story") when he said "I'm a doctor, not a politician!".

Had a prominent starring role as a doctor on the television series Bonanza (1959) (episode "The Decision" (1962)). In the episode, he also uttered his signature catchphrase from Star Trek (1966) when he said "Not a doctor - a condemned murderer!".

The oldest cast member of the original Star Trek (1966) series.

Shortly before his death, he won the "Golden Cowboy Boot" award, honoring his earlier work in Westerns.

Pictured as the character Dr. Leonard McCoy on one of a set of five Canadian commemorative postage stamps celebrating the 50th anniversary of the television series Star Trek (1966), issued May 5, 2016. Price on day of issue was 85¢. Other stamps in the set honored William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, James Doohan and John Colicos.

Made both his first (episode The Corbomite Maneuver (1966)) and last (Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)) "Star Trek" appearances with Nichelle Nichols.

Played a medic in The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit (1956). Foreshadowing things to come, his character says, "This man is dead, Captain".

Often mistakenly billed as Kelly de Forrest.

Born in Atlanta, Georgia he moved to California where he joined the Long Beach Theatre Group where he met Carolyn who he married.

Attended Decatur High School in Decatur, GA, graduating in 1936.

Best known by the public (and by many sci-fi fans) for his role as Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy on the original Star Trek (1966) series.

Of the four main Star Trek (1966) cast members (the others being William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy and James Doohan), he is the only one who never appeared in The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1964), The Twilight Zone (1959) or The Outer Limits (1963).

Cousin of Calvert DeForest and Bebe Daniels.

After working in film and television he moved to New York in 1947 where he appeared in plays and live television productions before returning to Hollywood a couple of years later.

Inner ear problems kept PFC Jackson DeForest Kelley from shipping out overseas with the Army Air Force in World War II. Instead, he was transferred to the First Motion Picture Unit in Culver City, California in January of 1945. ["From Sawdust to Stardust: The Biography of DeForest Kelley, Star Trek's Dr. McCoy" by Terry Lee Rioux [NY: Simon & Schuster Pocket Books, 2005] p. 58.

PFC Jackson DeForest Kelley started out as a motion picture production technician, artist's assistant, at the First Motion Picture Unit. He helped make the model of Japan's topography for the training of bomber crews. Source: "From Sawdust to Stardust: The Biography of DeForest Kelley, Star Trek's Dr. McCoy" by Terry Lee Rioux, NY: Simon & Schulster Pocket Books, 2005, pp. 60-61.

Equinox (1999) and What You Leave Behind (1999) were the final Star Trek TV episodes to air before his death, and Star Trek: Insurrection (1998) was the final film to be released.

"From Sawdust to Stardust: The Biography of DeForest Kelley, Star Trek's Dr. McCoy" by Terry Lee Rioux [New York: Simon & Schuster Pocket Books, 2005], pages 44-45: Deforest Kelly served as a control tower operator at the Roswell Air Field in New Mexico, from 1943 to 1944. He also put on revues and plays for the air crew trainees.

The American Ephemeris for the 20th Century shows that the sun did not enter the star sign Aquarius until 8:04 am Greenwich Mean Time, January 21, 1920. This would mean that a birth date of January 20, 1920, at any point in the day in Eastern Standard Time (Toccoa, Georgia, USA) would make DeForest Kelley a Capricorn, and not an Aquarius.