DeForest Kelley Net Worth

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Jackson DeForest Kelley net worth is
$5 Million

Jackson DeForest Kelley Wiki Biography

Jackson DeForest Kelley was born on 20 January 1920, in Toccoa, Georgia USA, and was a singer, actor, poet, and screenwriter, probably best known for being part of the television and film series “Star Trek” as Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy. All of his efforts helped put his net worth to where it was prior to his passing.

How rich was DeForest Kelley? As of early-2017, sources estimate a net worth that was at $5 million, earned through a successful career in acting which spanned over 50 years, and more than 100 titles on the big screen and TV, all of which helped ensure the position of his wealth.

DeForest Kelley Net Worth $5 million

At a young age, DeForest was already developing his musical talents and it led to him appearing on the radio station WSB AM. He got regular radio work, and this would earn him an engagement with Lew Forbes. In 1934, Kelley attended Decatur Boys High School and would play with the school’s baseball team. He also played other sports, but spent his free time working. In 1943, he enlisted in the US Army Air Forces during World War II, and was assigned to the First Motion Picture Unit, which convinced him to pursue a career in acting. He was then discovered by Paramount Pictures while doing a US Navy training film.

Kelley’s first feature film would be the low budget “Fear in the Night”, but which became a hit. He started gaining popularity, and he would be cast in “Variety Girl” , so starting to increase his net worth. He got a role in “You Are There” and would then appear in an episode of “The Lone Ranger”, followed by a string of projects including “Warlock”, “Raintree County” and “The Silent Service” in which he played the lead role of a submarine captain in World War II. In 1955, he appeared in “Gunfight at the O.K. Corral” before becoming part of the film “You Are There”. Other projects he was part of include “The Fugitive”, “Route 66” and “Perry Mason”. He mostly played villains, but he showcased an extensive list of differing acting credits.

He was offered the role of Spock in “Star Trek” but refused it, opting instead to play Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy” from 1966 to 1968. He would then reprise the role in “Star Trek: The Animated Series” as well as the first six “Star Trek” films from 1979 to 1991. He also had a cameo appearance in the first episode of “Star Trek: The Next Generation”. Thanks to the popularity of the show, his net worth increased significantly, and he became one of the stars of the show.

After “Star Trek’, Kelley fell into typecasting and had very few appearances in other films and series. Despite this, he still earned a significant amount of money thanks to various “Star Trek” projects. Later in life, he also focused on writing poetry books. He started a series entitled “The Big Bird’s Dream”, but which he didn’t get to finish.

For his personal life, DeForest was married to Carolyn Dowling from 1945 until his passing in 1999 from stomach cancer. He was cremated and his ashes was spread in the Pacific Ocean. In an interview, he stated that it was good to hear that many fans were inspired to become doctors thanks to his portrayal of Dr. McCoy.


Full NameDeForest Kelley
Net Worth$5 Million
Date Of BirthJanuary 20, 1920
DiedJune 11, 1999, Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California, United States
Place Of BirthToccoa, Georgia, United States
Height1.78 m
ProfessionActor
NationalityAmerican
SpouseCarolyn Dowling
ParentsClora Kelley, Ernest David Kelley
SiblingsErnest Casey Kelley
IMDBhttp://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001420/
MoviesStar Trek: The Motion Picture, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, Fear in the Night, Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, Night of the Lepus, Warlock, The Law and Jake W...
TV ShowsStar Trek: The Animated Series, Star Trek: The Original Series
#Trademark
1Gruff voice with southern accent
2Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy on Star Trek (1966) and six of the Star Trek films
3Catchphrase: "It's worse than that, he's dead, Jim!" (When Captain Kirk inquired as to the health status of a being or patient who was in bad shape)
4Catchphrase: "I'm a Doctor, not a..." said whenever McCoy was forced to do something he was unfamiliar with.
#Quote
1[to William Shatner, on his deathbed] Let's make just one more Star Trek movie! I sure miss making those movies!
2I thoroughly enjoyed those years. I liked Westerns for two reasons: First, it took the actor outside. They were all very physical at that time and not limited to a stage. Second, they paid my rent an awful lot.
3I'm very grateful for the career that I've had. And I'm very grateful for the experiences that Star Trek has afforded me along with my past background. When I look back and think how fortunate I've been to work with some wonderful people and had some marvelous experiences, then I can look at Star Trek and think it's almost like the cream on the coffee. I don't approach it as anything but a magnificent plus.
4[on the Star Trek (1966) fans] They're the most devoted group of people and contrary to what people think, they don't have antennae coming out of their heads.
5[on his life] I'd wanted to become a doctor and couldn't - yet became the best known doctor in the galaxy.
6[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.
#Fact
1The 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 21st 1920. This would mean that a birth date of Jan. 20th, 1920 Eastern Standard Time (Toccoa, GA, USA) at any point in the day would make DeForest Kelley a Capricorn, and not an Aquarius.
2Pictured 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.
3Cousin of Calvert DeForest and Bebe Daniels.
4Best 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.
5Had 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).
6Received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7021 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on December 18, 1991.
7He was an extremely low-key and private individual who preferred not to seek leading roles and not to be involved in the Hollywood lifestyle.
8When 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 that at the time, he was more than a decade older than most of the cast).
9He was very shy by nature and did not like appearing at conventions or doing television interviews.
10He was very happy to learn in later years that his character Dr. McCoy had inspired many young people to become physicians.
11He 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.
12He had English and Scots-Irish (Northern Irish) ancestry.
13He had originally wanted to be a doctor.
14The oldest cast member of the original Star Trek (1966) series.
15Attended and graduated from Decatur High School in Decatur, Georgia (1936).
16His personal favorite Star Trek (1966) episode was Star Trek: The Empath (1968).
17Often mistakenly billed as Kelly de Forrest.
18He played a medic in the drama film The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit (1956). Foreshadowing things to come, his character says, "This man is dead, Captain".
19Inspired many fans to take up medicine. He and his wife visited one of them after graduating from medical school, after receiving an invitation.
20Had a great love of poetry, both reading and writing that. 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".
21The tagline "I'm a doctor, not a..." has been quoted in almost every incarnation of Star Trek (1966) on film and television.
22Shortly after Mr. Kelley's 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".
23A 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 television 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.
24Was the first primary cast member from the original Star Trek (1966) series to pass away.
25He told close friends that he always felt more comfortable in Westerns than science fiction.
26Reportedly 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.
27Of 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).
28The Star Trek: Enterprise (2001) character, Admiral Maxwell Forrest played by Vaughn Armstrong, is named after him.
29Was the only cast member from the original Star Trek (1966) series never to write an autobiography.
30Shortly before his death, he won the "Golden Cowboy Boot" award, honoring his earlier work in Westerns.
31Made both his first (episode Star Trek: The Corbomite Maneuver (1966)) and last (Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)) "Star Trek" appearances with Nichelle Nichols.
32He was cremated and his ashes were scattered in the Pacific Ocean.
33One 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.
34Before landing the role of Dr. Leonard McCoy, he was offered the choice to play Mr. Spock. Years later, he played both for Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984).

All pictures

Actor

TitleYearStatusCharacter
The Bold Ones: The New Doctors1970TV SeriesParrish
The Silent Force1970TV SeriesCurston
Ironside1970TV SeriesMr. Fowler
Star Trek1966-1969TV SeriesDr. McCoy
Police Story1967TV MovieLab Chief Greene
Waco1966Bill Rile
Death Valley Days1962-1966TV SeriesElliott Webster / Martin - Prisoner / Clint Rogers / ...
Laredo1966TV SeriesDr. David Ingram
A Man Called Shenandoah1966TV SeriesEgan
Bonanza1961-1966TV SeriesTully / Dr. Michael Jons / Captain Moss Johnson
Apache Uprising1965Toby Jack Saunders
The Donna Reed Show1965TV SeriesWilliams
The Fugitive1965TV SeriesCharlie
Marriage on the Rocks1965Mr. Turner
Town Tamer1965Guy Tavenner
Black Spurs1965Sheriff Dal Nemo
Slattery's People1964TV SeriesGregg Wilson
Where Love Has Gone1964Sam Corwin
The Virginian1963TV SeriesLt. Beldon / Ben Tully
Gunfight at Comanche Creek1963Amos Troop (as De Forest Kelley)
77 Sunset Strip1963TV SeriesPhil Wingate
The Dakotas1963TV SeriesMartin Volet
The Gallant Men1963TV SeriesCol. Davenport
Laramie1962-1963TV SeriesJack / Bart Collins
Have Gun - Will Travel1962TV SeriesDeakin
Route 661961-1962TV SeriesBob Harcourt Jr. / H. Norbert Willis
Perry Mason1961TV SeriesPeter Thorpe
Cain's Hundred1961TV SeriesTully
Shannon1961TV SeriesCarlyle
Stagecoach West1961TV SeriesLieutenant Clarke / Clay Henchard
Bat Masterson1961TV SeriesBrock Martin
The Deputy1961TV SeriesFarley Styles
Lawman1960-1961TV SeriesBent Carr / Sam White
Coronado 91960-1961TV SeriesShep Harlow / Frank Briggs
Assignment: Underwater1961TV SeriesBarney
Tales of Wells Fargo1961TV SeriesCaptain Cole Scoville
Riverboat1961TV SeriesAlex Jeffords
Two Faces West1960TV SeriesVern Cleary
Markham1960TV SeriesDanny Standish
Alcoa Theatre1958-1960TV SeriesJake Brittin / Marshal
Zane Grey Theater1956-1960TV SeriesSwain / Logan Wheeler / Sherm Pickard / ...
Johnny Midnight1960TV SeriesDavid Lawton
Richard Diamond, Private Detective1959TV SeriesKenneth Porter / Sheriff
Black Saddle1959TV SeriesSam King
Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color1959TV SeriesSilas Morgan
Wanted: Dead or Alive1959TV SeriesOllie Tate / Sheriff Steve Pax
Trackdown1957-1959TV SeriesTom Dooley / Ed Crow / Brock Childers / ...
21 Beacon Street1959TV SeriesGeorge Manning
The Lineup1959TV Series
State Trooper1959TV SeriesGraham Jones
Warlock1959Curley Burne (as De Forest Kelley)
Rawhide1959TV SeriesSlate Prell
Northwest Passage1959TV SeriesDavid Cooper
Special Agent 71959TV SeriesMartin
26 Men1959TV SeriesEd Lacy
Mackenzie's Raiders1959TV SeriesCharles Barron / El Halcon
Mike Hammer1959TV SeriesEddie Robbins / Philip Conroy
The Rough Riders1958TV SeriesLance
Steve Canyon1958TV SeriesRadar Major
The Law and Jake Wade1958Wexler (as De Forest Kelley)
M Squad1957-1958TV SeriesPolice Sgt. Miller / Detective
The Silent Service1957-1958TV SeriesLt. Comm. Enright / Ferrara / Commander Dempsey
Playhouse 901957-1958TV SeriesLambert
Boots and Saddles1957TV SeriesMerriweather
Raintree County1957Southern Officer
The O. Henry Playhouse1957TV Series
The Web1957TV SeriesDetective Lt. Johnny Wright
Schlitz Playhouse1957TV SeriesJordan Haig
Code 31957TV SeriesDeputy Don Reason
Gunfight at the O.K. Corral1957Morgan Earp
Navy Log1957TV SeriesCaptain Smithwick / Corporal
The Adventures of Jim Bowie1957TV SeriesDr. Robert Taber
Science Fiction Theatre1955-1956TV SeriesDr. Milo Barton / Matt Brander / Captain Hall, M.D.
Tension at Table Rock1956Jim Breck
You Are There1953-1956TV SeriesSoldier / Al Hammill / Maj. Bremen / ...
Strange Stories1956TV SeriesHarvey Harris
The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit1956Medic (uncredited)
Matinee Theatre1955-1956TV SeriesAlan Brecker
Gunsmoke1956TV SeriesWill Bailey
The View from Pompey's Head1955Jim Foster - Hotel Clerk (uncredited)
Studio 571954-1955TV SeriesAlfred / Ted Lance
The Millionaire1955TV SeriesDr. Michael Wells
Illegal1955Edward Clary (as DeForest Kelly)
House of Bamboo1955Charlie (uncredited)
Mayor of the Town1954-1955TV SeriesNash / Tracey
Cavalcade of America1954TV Series
Public Defender1954TV SeriesMr. Sanders
Your Favorite Story1953-1954TV SeriesJohn Ainslee
The Lone Wolf1954TV SeriesNick Kohler / Ted Hopkins
Duffy of San Quentin1954Eddie Lee - Police Detective
Waterfront1954TV SeriesBob Vogelin / Lloyd Allen
City Detective1953-1954TV SeriesHartfield / Benjamin
The Pepsi-Cola Playhouse1953TV SeriesJeff
The Revlon Mirror Theater1953TV SeriesBert Dexter
The Lone Ranger1949-1953TV SeriesDr. David Barnes / Sheriff / Bob Kittredge
Taxi1953Fred (uncredited)
Your Jeweler's Showcase1952TV Series
Armstrong Circle Theatre1952TV Series
Studio One in Hollywood1950TV SeriesBob Philo
The Men1950Dr. Sherman (uncredited)
Malaya1949Lt. Glenson (uncredited)
Duke of Chicago1949'Ace' Martin
Life of St. Paul Series1949Aram
Canon City1948Smalley
Gypsy Holiday1948ShortCarl Romano (as DeForrest Kelley)
Beyond Our Own1947Bob Rogers
Variety Girl1947Bob Kirby
Fear in the Night1947Vince Grayson
Public Prosecutor1947TV SeriesDanny Watson
Time to Kill1945ShortPeter
The Brave Little Toaster Goes to Mars1998VideoViking 1 (voice)
Star Trek: Judgment Rites1993Video GameDr. Leonard 'Bones' McCoy (voice)
Star Trek: 25th Anniversary Enhanced1992Video GameDr. Leonard 'Bones' McCoy (voice)
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country1991McCoy
Star Trek Adventure1991ShortDr. McCoy
Star Trek V: The Final Frontier1989McCoy
Star Trek: The Next Generation1987TV SeriesAdmiral Leonard McCoy
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home1986McCoy
Star Trek III: The Search for Spock1984McCoy
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan1982McCoy
The Littlest Hobo1981TV SeriesProf. Hal Schaffer
Star Trek: The Motion Picture1979Dr. McCoy
Star Trek: The Animated Series1973-1974TV SeriesDr. McCoy
The Cowboys1974TV SeriesJack Potter
The ABC Afternoon Playbreak1973TV SeriesDr. Goldstone
Night of the Lepus1972Elgin Clark
Room 2221971TV SeriesMatt Silverton
Owen Marshall, Counselor at Law1971TV SeriesFrank Slater

Soundtrack

TitleYearStatusCharacter
Star Trek V: The Final Frontier1989performer: "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" - uncredited

Thanks

TitleYearStatusCharacter
Mind Meld: Secrets Behind the Voyage of a Lifetime2001Video documentary in memory of - as De Kelley

Self

TitleYearStatusCharacter
Trekkies1997DocumentaryHimself
Hollywood Commandos1997TV Movie documentaryHimself
William Shatner's Star Trek Memories1995Video documentaryHimself
Star Trek: A Captain's Log1994TV Movie documentaryHimself
Star Trek 25th Anniversary Special1991TV Movie documentaryHimself
Star Trek Logs: An MTV Big Picture Special Edition1991TV Special documentaryHimself
Lost in Space 25th Anniversary Tribute1991Video documentaryHimself
Monsters, Madmen & Machines: 25 Years of Science Fiction1984TV Movie documentaryctor 'Star Trek: The Motion Picture'
Clapper Board1980TV SeriesHimself
The Star Trek Dream1975TV Movie documentaryHimself
Today1966TV SeriesHimself

Archive Footage

Won Awards

YearAwardCeremonyNominationMovie
1999In Memoriam AwardGolden Boot Awards
1991Star on the Walk of FameWalk of FameMotion PictureOn 18 December 1991. At 7021 Hollywood Blvd.

Nominated Awards

YearAwardCeremonyNominationMovie
1990Razzie AwardRazzie AwardsWorst Supporting ActorStar Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989)

Known for movies


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