Posted in: CBS, NBC, Star Trek, TV | Tagged: Celestis, DeForest Kelley, Kris Smith, Leonard McCoy, star trek

Star Trek: DeForest Kelley's Remains Joining Memorial Space Mission

Celestis' Memorial Spaceflights has added another member of the U.S.S. Enterprise in Star Trek: The Original Series star DeForest Kelley. The actor, who died in 1999, is best remembered for versatility on film and television, especially in Westerns, before landing the iconic role of Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy on the NBC series in 1966. He would appear in all three seasons of TOS, its animated spinoff, the series premiere of Star Trek: The Next Generation, all six TOS feature films, and various video games. Writer Kris Smith was responsible that would see Kelley join the "Enterprise flight" with cast mates Nichelle Nichols (Uhura), James Doohan (Scotty), Majel Barrett Roddenberry (Chapel), creator Gene Roddenberry, and visual effects specialist Douglas Trumbull. She spoke with Bleeding Cool about how she heard about the mission and the lifelong friendship she had with Kelley.

Bleeding Cool: How did it come about getting DeForest's remains involved in the space mission?

Smith: I heard about the mission several months ago. As we got closer to the launch, I was in contact with Mark Lee, who is kind of an ambassador for Celestis. I told him I had a lock of De's hair, and I wondered if that could be processed in some way so that he could go on to the space launch. He said, "I think so. Let me check with Celestis," and the next day, they said, "Absolutely." I sent off the lock of hair to their lab, and they processed it, and that's how it happened.

Are you in close contact with DeForest's cast mates on 'The Original Series?'

I never was. I had met most of them, if not all of them, but I wasn't close to any of them.

How do you describe your bond with him?

I met him in a parade in Wenatchee, Washington, when I was a teenager and 'Star Trek' was on TV for the first time. I know that carbon dates me, but he was such a gentleman and an absolute delight, unlike a lot of actors. I wrote an article about meeting him called "The Real McCoy," and I submitted it as an English writing assignment to my teacher, and he said, "Oh my gosh, Kris! This is excellent. Why don't you send a copy to Mr. Kelley?" I said, "Oh, my gosh, not! I don't write to TV stars."

[My teacher] said, "Look, if you impress somebody is obviously, as he impressed you, wouldn't you want to know?" I went, "Yeah, but he's an actor. He probably hears it ten times a day." He pulled rank on me and said, "Send this." So I sent it figuring his secretary would see it, and that would be the end of it. Actually, his secretary was his wife, who I had also met at this parade. She said, "Do you need to look at this?" They were so impressed by it that they sent it to TV Star Parade, and they wanted to use it as a special holiday piece.

At that point, I was a fan on the outermost reaches of fandom. After that, we stayed in touch. They encouraged me to move to Hollywood to get into the entertainment industry in some form or fashion. When I moved down there, it was like they practically adopted me. It was just incredibly unbelievable to me. That's how it started, and at the end of his life, Carolyn had already fallen and broken her leg, and she was in a hospital about a year before he also ended up in the hospital. She had been his assistant all of their marriage.

When he fell ill, and he still needed help, [producer] AC Lyles got a hold of me and told me how in dire straits De was and if I could lend a hand. I went into the hospital where he was, and he gave me his keys and said, Take care of the house, take care of the turtle until whatever happens, happens. I ended up being his personal assistant at that point, probably for the last three or four months of his life.

Did you regularly keep in contact in his final years?

Right after the article was first published, I was going to write again because I love doing it. I'm a writer, and I had 25 pen pals at the time. My mom said, "Kris, the man has been very kind to you. Don't become a pest." I realized she was probably right so I kind of backed off at that point. Besides that, we were building restaurants all over the country, we had a fifth-wheel trailer, and we were living like turtles didn't have an address. At the 20th anniversary of Star Trek, he was going to be in Spokane, which was just across the state from me. I thought I owed him a long overdue thank you for launching my writing career. That's when we really connected. He said, "Where have you been? We always wondered what happened to the little girl who wrote so well, stay in touch." Carolyn gave me his home address and said, "Send us the articles you've written. Stay in touch. Don't lose touch again." At that point, it just became a friendship, and they encouraged me to move down to Hollywood. He helped me get my foot in the door in the entertainment industry, and I kept it there up until he got sick and I stepped away from there to take care of him.

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