Why is DeForrest Kelley/Bones the least notable of the "big three"?
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Drunkdustmonkey — 9 years ago(September 23, 2016 03:53 PM)
What exactly was the "you'd better behave or else" letter?
On August 17, 1967 Gene Roddenberry wrote a letter to several actors specifially bawling out Leonard Nimoy and William Shatner. Parts of the letter are included in the book
The Fifty-Year Mission: The First 25 Years
.
"Now, I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds." J. Robert Oppenheimer -
Drunkdustmonkey — 9 years ago(September 23, 2016 03:40 PM)
He did say that DeForrest Kelley had been showing signs of wanting to join the "Child Star Club", but he didn't single him out like Shatner and Nimoy.
"Now, I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds." J. Robert Oppenheimer -
sedativchunk — 9 years ago(September 23, 2016 11:19 PM)
I agree; we didn't have the internet, twitter, and all the social media back in 1999. There wasn't as much connectivity in the world quite yet. Had he passed today, the internet would probably explode as it did for Nimoy considering his legacy in the original Star Trek.
Really sad the man has been dead 15 years now.
I personally hold him in the same level as Shatner and Nimoy, he was one of the original three. -
lexyladyjax — 9 years ago(September 24, 2016 12:07 PM)
Perhaps it wasn't a big deal to you, but it was to all of us who loved and respected him. DeForest Kelly had a full acting career prior to ST. That you never heard of him is on you, TMC-4. He was well known and respected in the Western world, his accent and Southern gentleman demeanour fitting in perfectly in that genre.
Check Dee's IMDB page. He had a bountiful career and ST was the cherry on top of his fudge sundae. With the income he made, he didn't have to work further. He did enjoy ST and he was a very nice guy with whom everyone enjoyed working according to the stories.
Really, what exactly was your point? Somehow I always feared he would leave us first because he was the oldest member of the cast. He's certainly beloved by the fans in my home.
Bored now. -
TMC-4 — 9 years ago(September 24, 2016 06:02 PM)
What kind of stupid ass argument that I didn't know who DeForrest Kelley was (that's kind of a reason why we have an IMDb in the first place) is that!? That's an extremely patronizing statement. Maybe I was too young to really or fully appreciate his contributions on
Star Trek
and before that when he passed away in '99, but don't jump to sudden conclusions regarding the measure of his legacy. -
LarrupinLou — 9 years ago(October 25, 2016 03:21 PM)
What kind of stupid ass argument that I didn't know who DeForrest Kelley was (that's kind of a reason why we have an IMDb in the first place) is that!? That's an extremely patronizing statement. Maybe I was too young to really or fully appreciate his contributions on
Star Trek
and before that when he passed away in '99, but don't jump to sudden conclusions regarding the measure of his legacy.
Yeah, Kelley had a fine and long career, but the average person would not know his name today without
Star Trek
. That's not a knock, either - there were many, many actors from long ago who also had fine and long journeymen careers, yet nobody knows their names today. DeForest Kelley lucked out with
Star Trek
and we all lucked out in the end, too.
No blah, blah, blah! -
jxh13 — 9 years ago(October 26, 2016 03:18 AM)
Sure, I saw him in some t.v. Westerns! And a Perry Mason ep. But what else?
In the 20 years before
Star Trek
, Kelley compiled a fine career as a supporting actor, chiefly on television, but also in films (
Gunfight at the O.K. Corral
,
Warlock
.) He moved to New York briefly early in his career, and alternated TV appearances with stage work for a few years.
It would be overstating it to call him a star, but he definitely had a full career, and it could hardly be described as "quiet," with around 100 non-
Star Trek
credits. -
rmontro — 9 years ago(October 22, 2016 08:31 PM)
Bones was always the least of the Big 3. It was written that way from the very start. And it became even worse, when Spock became the fan favorite.
Yeah, McCoy plays a very important role on the show. But neither McCoy nor Kelley had the charisma of Shatner or Nimoy. DeForrest Kelley is not easily replaced though, he was an experienced actor. In the new Star Trek film series, Scotty and McCoy are the two characters where I am least happy with the recasting.