As tributes continue to observe the approaching anniversary of Star Trek’s first broadcast on NBC 50 years ago in September, Kristine M. Smith’s contribution includes the January release of a greatly-expanded edition of her 2001 book now retitled “DeForest Kelley Up Close and Personal, A Harvest of Memories from the Fan Who Knew Him Best.”
“The enhanced version has more than 40 additional photos and 55 additional pages of anecdotes,” said Smith from her home in Tacoma, Washington.
Kelley died in 1999 and is best remembered as the sometimes crusty but always compassionate Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy on the iconic 60’s TV series and subsequent six films. As a “Star Trek” fan-turned-family friend of Kelley and his wife, Carolyn, for more than 30 years, Smith grew to know “De” well, eventually becoming his non-medical caregiver in the final year of his life.
“He was just a salt of the earth guy and incredible human being in so many ways,” Smith said.
The two first met in 1968after Smith drove two hours to Washington state’s Wenatchee Apple Blossom Festival where the actor was appearing.
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“I ended up on the sidewalk next to his convertible in the parade,” she recalled. “I hung back a little, but when I saw how he interacted with fans, I asked for an autograph. I’d met other actors who were full of themselves, but he was just so down to earth.”
Returning to school, 17-year-old Smith wrote about the experience for a creative writing class. The story impressed her teacher so much that he suggested sending it to Kelley, to which she eventually agreed.
“The Kelleys liked it so muchthey submitted it to a New York publication, 'TV Star Parade,'where it was printed in 1969 with only one line changed," Smith said."So De actually launched my writing career!”
Over the next two decades, the bond between Smith and the Kelleys strengthened as they met at fan conventions across the country, exchanged letters and gifts, and they even visited each other's homes.
“They encouraged me to move from Washington to Los Angeles in 1988 and practically adopted me when I did," noted Smith. "De and Carolyn were big animal lovers, so we also shared that interest.”
Smith arrived in California with Deaken, her knee-high African serval cat, but had to leave the animal at Tippi Hedren’s big cat reserve, Shambala, for several months.
“De and Carolyn actually went out knocking on doors trying to find a landlord who would let me keep Deaken in the back yard,” Smith said. “That tells you the type of people they were.”
Kelley revealed his thoughtful character early in life.
“He was 18 when he came out to California from Georgiaand met a girl about his own age who was dying of cancer,” Smith recounted. “This was back in the 30s when some people still believed cancer was contagious. De arranged with some friends to take over her apartment and give her the time of her life since she only had a few months to live, even though the others were hesitant because they feared catching it.”
While Kelley may have only played a doctor on “Star Trek,” Smith said, “he really did have a way of looking into a person’s soul and helping or healing (them) if needed.”
But long before he found fame as Dr. McCoy, Kelley spent two and a half decades building an acting career after moving to the west coast.
“A talent scout noticed him on the beach one day, but he had a thick southern accent, so he took voice lessons and joined a community theater group to gain acting experience,” Smith said.
Performing at the Long Beach Theater, Kelley met actress Carolyn Dowling who would become his wife of 54 years. In 1947, he starred in his first feature, the low-budget crime drama “Fear in the Night.” Kelley went on to appear in dozens of films and TV shows, often as a villain in westerns, prior to joining “Star Trek” in 1966.
“He often talked about those early westerns and loved being a badass cowboy,” Smith laughed. “But strangely enough, we didn’t talk much about ‘Star Trek,’ which is probably why he kept me around. Interestingly, at first the studio didn’t want him as McCoy because he was identified with those bad guy roles. But Gene Roddenberry was determined to get him.”
Off camera, Smith said Kelley was rather shy around people initially. “Even when he got to know you, he was reserved and soft-spoken. You had to almost lean forward to hear him speak sometimes.”
And despite his success, which included his first $1 million role in the final Star Trek movie, Kelley lived modestly.
“The Kelleys owned a simple 1960’s single story 1,300-square-foothouse,” Smith recalled. “You would never believe a movie star lived there. But it was comfortable, and I felt right at home when I visited. It was not a gated community, so anybody could walk up to the house, and they did. There was a time when kids from a nearby Catholic school would knock on the door to see ‘Dr. McCoy.’ When people recognized him he took it as a high compliment.”
Smith also remembers Kelley’s encouraging sense of humor which was never caustic or mean-spirited.
“If he ever corrected you, you felt blessed rather than criticized,” she said. “At a ‘Star Trek’ convention once, someone asked if William Shatner was hard to get along with. De said he absolutely loved Bill, but had to straighten his ass out a time or two!”
After a diagnosis of stomach cancer in the mid-1990s, Kelley never lost his endearing qualities, which included sparing others from the severity of his illness.
“My own mother was dying from brain cancer so he didn’t reveal how sick he was to spare me the additional worry," said Smith. "He only told me it was terminal after he ended up in intensive care in March 1999. Unfortunately, Carolyn fell and broke her leg a year before that and it never did heal. They had no children and most of their friends were their age, so they asked me to help out. I watered their roses and lawn, picked up their mail, got voicemail messages to him, fed their octogenarian desert tortoise and generally helped with the house and personal business.”
Although Kelley’s closest friends and fans were aware of his illness, Smith says the public was generally not.
“He knew they would flood him with cards and letters, and he always answered personally when anyone wrote to him, but knew he wouldn’t be able to respond to them all. He was still receiving a lot of mailso I suggested sending out a form letter, but he said ‘absolutely not’ and continued to sign photos as long as he could. He never had an assistant because Carolyn always helped him.”
Smith also remembers visitors during Kelley’s final months.
“Bill Shatner came several times and visited Carolyn after his passing, and Nichelle Nichols came too," Smith said."The rest of the cast sent flowers and notes frequently, although De told me none of them wanted to talk about dying, which obviously scares a lot of people. We could sometimes talk about it pretty dry-eyed and rather technically. But on other days (we) were just overwhelmed, held hands and cried. He was so worried about leaving Carolyn because he was her whole world.”
Smith said she admired Kelley not only for the way he lived, but also for the courage he displayed during his illness and approaching death.
“I thought of that young dying girl he met at the beginning of his career and how he helped her get through it," Smith said. "That’s what I tried to do for him. I was at his bedside on June 11, his last day. I told him I was going out to mail something for him and he nodded to me. When I came back he was in a coma and died later that morning.”
Smith spoke briefly at Kelley's memorial service which was attended by most of the “Star Trek” cast.
“De was cremated because he always said he didn’t want someone writing on his tombstone ‘He’s dead, Jim!’” Smith said. “He did have a wonderful sense of humor.”
Today, 17 years after Kelley’s passing, Smith is still amazed by the close relationship she forged with a legendary actor.
“You just don’t go from being a fan to being at the bedside of a star when he dies – it just doesn’t happen,” she said. “But it did for me, and that’s what my story is all about.”
Smith’s book is available in print athireme.wordwhisperer.net/books.
Nick Thomas teaches at Auburn University at Montgomery, Ala., and has written features, columns, and interviews for more than600 magazines and newspapers.
