The Fans Rememberances Of De

Memories Of De By Ian Cullen

My first memories of DeForest Kelley date back to the mid 1970's when I was introduced by my Mother and Father to a little Sci Fi Show which was simply called 'Star Trek'. Gene Roddenberry upon pitching his idea to the networks described his premise as A Wagon Train To The Stars. So who better than DeForest Kelley to ride shot gun and round up the herd of fans.

Sadly I never actually got to meet Deforest Kelley but I will always remember him for having portrayed the most human of all the original series characters. You could actually see and make out the amount of DeForest Kelleys own personality which went into the role. That natural southern drawl and the easy going smile and that all knowing twinkle in his eyes.

I will never forget DeForest Kelley, after all who would have continually baited Mr Spock if De had never risen to the challenge of portraying DR McCoy. He was the best character I remember in that show. To me Kelley and Nimoy were the two character which made that show work best. I also have a brief memory of seeing De in an old episode of Lone Ranger where he portrayed a Sheriff but like so many I loved De for his portrayal of McCoy most. McCoy was who I grew up with he taught me compassion and helped me through a difficult childhood. Thank you De and rest in peace in the safe knowledge that you will always be remembered by many.

Ian M. Cullen

 

Jim Hunter's thoughts upon hearing the news that DeForest Kelley had passed away:

I have been a Star Trek fan since the age of three. I first saw the show on an old, grainy, black-and-white television set. The year was 1970. The original series had already been cancelled, but was just starting to enjoy the huge popularity it gained in reruns. Imagine the wonder that little three year old boy felt in this series about space ships and aliens. Imagine the many hours of joy he gained from playing Star Trek with his friends. We moved from our home in Toronto, Ontario, to the newly formed City of Mississauga, which had been a Toronto suburb until 1974.

That meant leaving all the friends I had made up till that point. Upon our arrival in this new neighbourhood, I was astonished and delighted to find some new friends who all enjoyed Star Trek as well. Our new home had a huge front porch, upon which we played many hours of Star Trek. We would find anything that had push buttons to use as Bridge controls, and I had an old Hot Wheels race set that provided levers for our 'Transporter' to be energized. An old tape recorder provided our sound effects, and we all had the 'Star Trek' sets that included phasers, communicators, and a tricorder, that fit on a utility belt. Later on, we found walkie-talkies that looked like communicators, and our play would include Landing Parties in the local hydro fields that were near our homes.

We had many hours of fun, and a love of Star Trek was firmly entrenched in me from that time. I eventually grew up, and while I no longer play with toy phasers, I still enjoy Star Trek. The movies with the original cast, followed by the new series, Star Trek: The Next Generation. While at college, I wrote for a science fiction magazine, and created a cast of characters of my own, but always owing something to that original crew that had started my enjoyment of Trek. So, it was with great sadness that I heard the news about DeForest Kelley. I'd had a feeling he'd been ill for quite some time. One only had to look at him to know that he wasn't the healthiest of people anymore. For me, it was the true end of an era. Despite the fact that the TOS cast had bidden us all 'goodbye' with Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, they hadn't really left us.

With his passing, it truly felt that I'd left a part of my life behind. Now, I'll admit I'm not a total fanatic of the series. I don't go to conventions, and the only Star Trek toy I still have is an old die-cast model of the USS Enterprise, a birthday gift from 1976. But I still enjoy the shows. As I said, his passing was like the 'coming of age'. I had lost a link to a younger part of my life......when......in a simpler time......my friends and I played under the bright summer sun, running through fields, pretending to scan for 'lifeforms', and chatting away on our walkie-talkie communicators. We had all left behind a simpler time, a time when kids could play outside past dusk, and not have to fear for their lives. My feelings were that we were poorer from his passing......and for the passing of the time he represented. The age of Innocence was over. A link to a better time had finally been severed, and there was never going to be another time quite like it......ever again. Rest in peace Mr. Kelley. You will always be missed.

Jim Hunter

 

Eric Koenig Remembers DeForest Kelley

"Star Trek" began as a struggling network show battling censors, budgets and bad, BAD makeup and costumes and ended up one of the most popular phenomena on planet Earth. There was a magic to it that came from some great people with talent and vision. Gene Roddenberry, creator and executive producer. Herb Solow, executive in charge of production. Bob Justman, associate producer. Dorothy C. Fontana, writer. David Gerrold, writer. William Ware Theiss, costume designer. But what really made the show come alive for millions of viewers were the actors and actresses who breathed life into those many different roles.

How do you pick a favorite among an ensemble that had such talent? Actually, it was hard if not impossible to do so in my case. I must admit, I loved Walter Koenig as Pavel Chekov, always with the belief that everything was invented in Russia. But I had to admit, when it came to the "great trio" of Kirk, Spock and Dr. McCoy, it was Bones -- DeForest Kelley's role -- that stole my heart, and I'm glad because of it.

I forget who first pointed out that Kirk represented the ego of a person, Spock the superego and McCoy the id. Spock was always pointing out logic and reason, and he'd get Kirk's attention, particularly if they were on-duty and on the Bridge, by calling him Jim. But McCoy went straight to the emotional core of things. In that sense, he was the true soul of the show.

He was almost 79 and in frail health when he died; but the news still came as a shock to the system. A lot of my AOL Trek friends and I shared our mutual grief and remembrances together. There were people who, never having mentioned the topic of Star Trek before in my presence, would talk about it because of the passing of this one great, dignified man.

He was more than an actor, more than part of the Star Trek universe. DeForest Kelley was a true gentleman in real life. I've seen less and less people like that, and I guess that is why people like me miss him so much.

Ave atque vale, Bones ... requiscat in pace.

Eric Neil Koenig
California

 

Natasha Starnes Memories Of Deforest Kelley

Three years ago on Tuesday, we lost DeForrest Kelley. Despite his three month hospitalization, it came as a great shock to Star Trek fans. I cried when I heard the news. We had never lost one before, I guess we hoped that Trek actor would be immortal, that they'd never die, because in our hearts, they live forever.

De represented humanity in his role as Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy, and humanity loved him. We loved his wry humor, and his easy smile. I never got a chance to even see De at a con, but those who met him praise him as one of the most easy-going and lovable people they'd ever met. He loved his family, his friends, and his fans. And we love him.

Life and the screen lost one of the brightest, warmest stars when we lost De. The world is a little less, and our hearts hurt, even now, three years later, I am crying as I write this. But I dry my tears, because I know, that as long as we keep him in our hearts, DeForrest Kelley is never truly gone. May we never forget how he touched our souls with his humanity.

Natasha Starnes

 

Constance Koenig Shares here memories Of De

June 11, 1999, I was working at the department store when one of my regulars came in and said. "Did you hear?" Hear what I said? "McCoy died, I know your a trekkie." No, I knew he was ill but I didn't hear that thank you. I waited on my customer then asked to be excused from the floor for a few minutes as the tears streamed down my face. I went up to the employees ladies room and cried my heart out.

I will never forget lines like "He's dead, Jim" or "I'm a DR not a bricklayer." Star Trek has always been special to me. I learned to respect differences and not be afraid because someone looked different or came from another race or country. It taught me at an early age to look beyond what was considered normal and like everyone else. McCoy and the rest of the crew became my heroes. I looked up to them with awe. Later on in life I applied what I learned to my everyday life. Yes, "Everything I learned about life I learned from Star Trek" as the book goes. Gene Roddenberry was a visionary who made people aware of their world, to see beyond the hate and prejudices to see people as they really are inside. From McCoy I learned a sense of humor. From him I learned that the situation is never as dark as it seems. Just look at it with a sense of humor and if all else fails, sarcasm is the ticket. When he died, I felt a sense of lose, not only for myself, but for the world.

Constance Koenig

 

Pat Morris And Her Retrospective About Star Trek And DeForest Kelley

RETROSPECT:
A Look Back on a Time That United Trekkies Everywhere

Once upon a time there was a brilliant television program. This show was so IN with the times that it went right OVER the heads of a very large amount of everyday people at the time. Oh yes, ::ahem:: and the "suits" as well. Of all of the comments I have made concerning the Sci Fi Genre itself, and especially Gene Roddenberry's original dream, STAR TREK, one of the most quoted is that it honestly takes a very intelligent mind to look past bad makeup jobs, the cheapest of sets in all of Hollywood and other imperfections a television show that involves so very has no choice but to "replicate." Actually, the correct word would be IMPROVISE. While one comes to mind that did not go inexpensive, neither did it last, to the dismay of a great many fans, as in the case of BSG.

I bring up Battlestar Galactica in a Trek article for a very specific reason: One of the quotes that I had previously been credited with among my peers through the years, I read not so long ago in a segment quoted from Richard Hatch, Apollo, of BSG fame, among other great roles. In this situation we'll call it a case of Great Minds Think Alike! Richard, who truly DOES have a very intelligent mind and a passion for the Sci Fi Genre that amazed this writer, hit the nail on the head when he uttered these words that came as well from my so-so (okay)! "Great" mind! He said, and forgive me if I paraphrase here: You have to Fall in Love with THE CHARACTERS. Richard, truer words were never spoken. And so I will tell you all about a character first....and then a man, who stole my heart many, many years ago.

No. I did not have a poster of him in a bathing suit hanging on my wall. It wasn't that kind of love. I just felt so good laughing with him, crying with him, and going through the gamut of emotions he drew from his characters straight into my heart. Over the years, although the original Star Trek series ended in three seasons, the powers that be, to the absolute DELIGHT of fans everywhere, found a new place for this crew. And so it continued it's great journey onto the Big Screen. From "Star Trek: The Motion Picture", "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan", "Star Trek III: The Search For Spock", "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home", "Star Trek V: The Final Frontier", and finally, very sadly, finally, "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country", this wonderful character actor, man among men and true gentleman DeForest Kelley, AKA Doctor Leonard (Bones) McCoy, inspired love within all of us.

Even though I came into the "Trek Experience" during it's first run in syndication, (ignoring my late mom's great taste when she found Trek and tried to get me to stay home to watch it)! I sat mesmerized after finding it on my own, allowing nothing to get between me and these wonderful people brought to life as only the late, great inspired mind of Gene Roddenberry could. I had literally loved them all. And still do. Not many marriages last that long! Yet my love for Trek has. And never again have I been in love with characters, moreso, than with that first, wonderful cast. Captain Kirk, Spock, Dr. McCoy, Scotty, Uhura, Sulu, Chekov, and Nurse Chapel, who had since found a much better role as Mrs. Gene Roddenberry.

And now, in the 21st century, I still stop and sit mesmerized as I watch with the utmost gratitude and fascination, all of the ridiculous racial problems, senseless poverty and beyond any spirit of sanity war, (as in that era's Viet Nam war but not to leave out this generation's "new war") - having been eradicated in a world of make believe, that has still more grownups still wishing and hoping will one day come than any other fiction I know of!

Today, I salute the man I did not at first notice, but as time went on, came to realize that as attractive as the young Captain Kirk was, as "fascinating" as the Vulcan Mister Spock was, there would be nothing without the inclusion of Dr. McCoy and his sense of humor, of right and wrong, and the very humorous if not deeply ceded love/hate relationship between the Spock/McCoy characters. No one could have played them to such perfection other than Nimoy and my dear, wonderful De Kelley. To sum his character up, and to sum the MAN up: There has never been one so HUMAN as he. He brought a sense of the absolute deep down HUMAN soul that none other possibly could.

He was never a scene stealer. Well, not deliberately. And yet he stole every scene he was in. Without meaning to. His fans adored him, because he TOOK THE TIME to appreciate them. His life was a fairy tale, having been married to his lovely wife, Carolyn, for 55 years! That alone melts my heart! To find such a man today, well ladies, we know it's not all that easy! No, there are none to compare to this great human being, and he was exactly that! A very great, yet human being.

"He's not dead as long as we remember him."

Pat Morris

::Fade to Black::

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