Top 250 MoviesMost Popular MoviesTop 250 TV ShowsMost Popular TV ShowsMost Popular Video GamesMost Popular Music VideosMost Popular Podcasts
    Release CalendarBrowse Movies by GenreTop Box OfficeShowtimes & TicketsMovie NewsIndia Movie Spotlight
    What's on TV & StreamingBrowse TV Shows by GenreTV NewsIndia TV Spotlight
    What to WatchLatest TrailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb Podcasts
    OscarsBest Picture WinnersBest Picture WinnersEmmysSTARmeter AwardsSan Diego Comic-ConNew York Comic-ConSundance Film FestivalToronto Int'l Film FestivalAwards CentralFestival CentralAll Events
    Born TodayMost Popular CelebsMost Popular CelebsCelebrity News
    Help CenterContributor ZonePolls
For Industry Professionals
  • All
  • Titles
  • TV Episodes
  • Celebs
  • Companies
  • Keywords
  • Advanced Search
Watchlist
Sign In
Sign In
New Customer? Create account
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
  • Biography
  • Awards
  • Trivia
IMDbPro

DeForest Kelley(1920-1999)

  • Actor
  • Soundtrack
IMDbProStarmeter
See rank
7438-3 DeFOREST KELLEY AT HOME IN THE SAN FERNANDO VALLEY CA. JUN 1968
Home Video Trailer from Paramount Home Entertainment
Play trailer2:14
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)
30 Videos
99+ Photos
Jackson DeForest Kelley was born on January 20, 1920 in Toccoa, Georgia, to Clora (Casey) and Ernest David Kelley.

He graduated from high school at age 16 and went on to sing at the Baptist church where his father was a minister. At age 17, he made his first trip outside the state to visit an uncle in Long Beach, California. He intended to stay for two weeks but ended up staying a year. Upon returning home, he told his parents he was moving to California to become an actor. His mother encouraged him but the idea did not go over well with his father.

In California, Kelley was spotted by a Paramount talent scout while working on a United States Navy training film. He became a reliable character actor (often in Westerns in which he often played the villain), but hit the big time when he was offered the role of the somewhat irascible Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy on the television series Star Trek (1966). He later reprised his role for a string of successful Star Trek films: Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979), Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982), Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984), Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986), Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989), and Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991).

DeForest Kelley died at age 79 of stomach cancer in his home in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles on June 11, 1999.
BornJanuary 20, 1920
DiedJune 11, 1999(79)
BornJanuary 20, 1920
DiedJune 11, 1999(79)
IMDbProStarmeter
See rank
  • Awards

Seeing Double: Celebrity Doppelgangers

Seeing Double: Celebrity Doppelgangers

Ever noticed the resemblance between Elizabeth Debicki and Caitlin FitzGerald? Take a look at some celebrity duos who could be mistaken for one another.
See the gallery
[object Object]
Photos

Photos184

James Doohan, DeForest Kelley, and Alex Henteloff in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986)
Kirk Douglas, Burt Lancaster, DeForest Kelley, and John Hudson in Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957)
DeForest Kelley in Star Trek (1966)
William Shatner, James Doohan, DeForest Kelley, and Jan Shutan in Star Trek (1966)
Majel Barrett, DeForest Kelley, and Jan Shutan in Star Trek (1966)
James Doohan, DeForest Kelley, and Jan Shutan in Star Trek (1966)
Leonard Nimoy, William Shatner, DeForest Kelley, and Stephen Collins in Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)
Leonard Nimoy, William Shatner, and DeForest Kelley in Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)
William Shatner, James Doohan, and DeForest Kelley in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984)
DeForest Kelley and Scott Forbes in The Adventures of Jim Bowie (1956)
Walter Koenig, Leonard Nimoy, William Shatner, James Doohan, DeForest Kelley, and Nichelle Nichols in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)
Leonard Nimoy, William Shatner, DeForest Kelley, and Nichelle Nichols in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)

Known for

Walter Koenig, Leonard Nimoy, William Shatner, James Doohan, DeForest Kelley, George Takei, and Nichelle Nichols in Star Trek (1966)
Star Trek
8.4
TV Series
  • Doctor Leonard 'Bones' McCoy
Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989)
Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
5.5
  • McCoy
  • 1989
Leonard Nimoy, William Shatner, and DeForest Kelley in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
7.2
  • Dr. Leonard McCoy
  • 1991
Kirstie Alley, Leonard Nimoy, William Shatner, and Ricardo Montalban in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
7.7
  • McCoy
  • 1982

Credits

Edit
IMDbPro

Actor

  • The Brave Little Toaster Goes to Mars (1998)
    The Brave Little Toaster Goes to Mars
    • (voice)
  • William Shatner, James Doohan, and Nichelle Nichols in Star Trek: Judgment Rites (1993)
    Star Trek: Judgment Rites
    • (voice)
  • Star Trek 25th Anniversary (1992)
    Star Trek 25th Anniversary
    • (voice)
  • Star Trek Adventure
  • Leonard Nimoy, William Shatner, and DeForest Kelley in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)
    Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
  • Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989)
    Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
  • Michael Dorn, Jonathan Frakes, Gates McFadden, Marina Sirtis, Brent Spiner, LeVar Burton, and Patrick Stewart in Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987)
    Star Trek: The Next Generation
  • Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986)
    Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
  • Leonard Nimoy, William Shatner, James Doohan, DeForest Kelley, Merritt Butrick, and Robin Curtis in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984)
    Star Trek III: The Search for Spock
  • Kirstie Alley, Leonard Nimoy, William Shatner, and Ricardo Montalban in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)
    Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
  • The Littlest Hobo (1979)
    The Littlest Hobo
  • Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)
    Star Trek: The Motion Picture
  • Leonard Nimoy, William Shatner, James Doohan, and DeForest Kelley in Star Trek: The Animated Series (1973)
    Star Trek: The Animated Series
    • (voice)
  • Robert Carradine, Mitch Brown, Jim Davis, Diana Douglas, Moses Gunn, Clint Howard, Sean Kelly, Kerry MacLane, A Martinez, and Clay O'Brien in The Cowboys (1974)
    The Cowboys
  • The ABC Afternoon Playbreak (1972)
    The ABC Afternoon Playbreak

Soundtrack

  • Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989)
    Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
    • (uncredited)
  • Henry Fonda, Anthony Quinn, Richard Widmark, Dorothy Malone, and Dolores Michaels in Warlock (1959)
    Warlock

Videos30

The Best of Star Trek: The Original Series
Clip 1:11
The Best of Star Trek: The Original Series
The Best of Star Trek: The Original Series
Clip 1:21
The Best of Star Trek: The Original Series
The Best of Star Trek: The Original Series
Clip 1:02
The Best of Star Trek: The Original Series
Official Trailer
Trailer 1:24
Official Trailer
Star Trek Prodigy: Supernova
Trailer 0:43
Star Trek Prodigy: Supernova
Night of the Lepus
Trailer 1:43
Night of the Lepus
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan: Celebrating 50 Years
Trailer 1:19
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan: Celebrating 50 Years
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
Trailer 2:14
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
Star Trek: The Motion Picture
Trailer 1:53
Star Trek: The Motion Picture
Star Trek: The Cloud Minders
Trailer 1:40
Star Trek: The Cloud Minders
Star Trek: Let That Be Your Last Battlefield
Trailer 0:56
Star Trek: Let That Be Your Last Battlefield
Star Trek: Whom Gods Destroy
Trailer 1:31
Star Trek: Whom Gods Destroy

Personal details

Edit
    • January 20, 1920
    • Toccoa, Georgia, USA
    • June 11, 1999
    • Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA(stomach cancer)
    • September 7, 1945 - June 11, 1999 (his death)
    • (No Children)
  • (mid-1970s) Album: Appears on Gene Roddenberry's LP "Inside Star Trek" on which he is interviewed by Roddenberry.
  • Publicity listings
    • 2 Print Biographies
    • 9 Interviews
    • 3 Articles
    • 1 Pictorial
    • 6 Magazine Cover Photos

Did you know

Edit
  • 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.
  • Quotes
    [on why he chose to play Dr. McCoy instead of Mr. Spock on Star Trek (1966)] I wouldn't have been anywhere near Leonard Nimoy. He's marvelous.
    • Catchphrase: "I'm a Doctor, not a..." said whenever McCoy was forced to do something he was unfamiliar with.

Related news

Contribute to this page

Suggest an edit or add missing content
  • Learn more about contributing
Edit page

More to explore

Recently viewed

Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
Get the IMDb App
  • Get the IMDb App
  • Help
  • Site Index
  • IMDbPro
  • Box Office Mojo
  • IMDb Developer
  • Press Room
  • Advertising
  • Jobs
  • Conditions of Use
  • Privacy Policy
  • Your Ads Privacy Choices
IMDb, an Amazon company

© 1990-2023 by IMDb.com, Inc.