“Star Trek” is both a boon and a curse for an actor. Being involved in a “Star Trek” project tends to bring eternal fame to all its actors, attracting an army of Trekkies who will always love their characters. At the same time, many “Star Trek” actors are so strongly associated with the franchise that they might have trouble finding work otherwise. Brent Spiner, who played the android Data in “Star Trek: The Next Generation”, once thought he might win an Oscar, but that Data was going to be listed first in his obituary.
This has even happened with famous, experienced actors who had long careers before “Star Trek.” Patrick Stewart, who played Captain Picard in “Star Trek,” already had dozens of credits under his belt when he began playing the role in 1987, and was a famous Shakespearean actor in his native England. In “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine,” René Auberjonois — who played the shapeshifting security guard Odo — had made a good living as a character actor for years before his days on “Trek.”
Another notable example is DeForest Kelley, who played the role of Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy in the original “Star Trek” series in 1966. After his appearance on “Star Trek,” Kelley was Dr. McCoy forever. Before that, however, he was actually a famous and widely known actor in westerns. Indeed, Kelley, born in 1920, had accumulated acting credits in film and television for more than 25 years before auditioning for “Star Trek.” Kelley did not have a regular role on any long-running Western shows, but he had guest appearances in almost all of them. There’s a reason he was cast as a “country doctor” in a sci-fi series.
DeForest Kelley guest starred on several successful Western shows of the 1950s and 1960s.
Kelley began her career as a performer in church, because his father was a Baptist minister. Kelley always wanted to become a doctor, but her family was too poor to finance medical school. Instead, Kelley sang in the choir and occasionally took singing jobs at the local radio station. This was when he was still a young boy. During high school, he worked in theaters in various capacities. Performance ran in his blood. In 1940, Kelley even appeared in his first feature film, singing in the background of the Jeanette MacDonald vehicle “New Moon.” After a stint as an enlisted man, Kelley began seeking more acting work and landed his first notable film roles in 1947. He appeared in Maxwell Shane’s film noir “Fear in the Night” and in an episode of the television series “Public Attorney.”
On the film, Kelley remained in the background, only able to get supporting roles and additional uncredited jobs. On television, however, Kelley thrived. In 1948, he played three different characters in three different episodes of “The Lone Ranger.” His career as a reliable support player has officially begun. He began appearing in numerous anthology series with titles like “Your Jeweler’s Showcase” and “The Pepsi-Cola Playhouse.” He participated in detective shows, historical reenactments and even “Science Fiction Theater”, playing three characters in three episodes.
Kelley’s career in westerns began to develop when he first appeared in “Gunsmoke” in 1956. After that, he was considered a reliable cowboy player. He appeared in “Dick Powell’s Zane Gray Theater”, “The Adventures of Jim Bowie”, “Boots and Saddles”, “Trackdown” and “The Rough Riders”.
DeForest Kelley used to play heavyweight
1959 was a huge year for Kelley, as he appeared in 17 episodes across 14 shows. By 1959, Kelley was in “The Californians,” “Rawhide,” Northwest Passage,” “State Trooper” and “Black Saddle.” If it were a ten-gallon hat, Kelley would be on set in a flash, lending his talents and receiving a paycheck. In the early ’60s, the trend only continued, with Kelley getting jobs on shows like “Bonanza”, “Lawman,” “The Representative,” “Riverboat” and a dozen other shows that maybe only your grandparents know about. There were so many westerns shown on television in the late 1950s and early 1960s that many of them were swallowed up by popular culture. Know, however, that Kelley was in almost all of them, providing a reliable backbone for beleaguered casting directors.
Throughout these westerns, Kelley tended to play heavy and bad guys. He could well frown and emit a certain degree of threat. He also appeared in the occasional detective show or series (he was on “Perry Mason”), but he always played cads and scoundrels.
In the mid-1960s, Kelley starred in an unaired pilot for a television series called “333 Montgomery” written by frequent television writer and former pilot Gene Roddenberry. Of course, Roddenberry would go on to play Kelley as Dr. McCoy on “Star Trek.” Kelley was happy to finally play a leading role and became good friends with his co-leads William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy. He came to resent always being third banana behind his co-stars, but he was also happy to play a good guy for once. He also played a doctor, fulfilling (at least fictionally) his childhood dream.
