About this Filmography:

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Contact:klhalliday@yahoo.com        
If you have any comments, corrections, or tidbits of information to add -- such as having spotted Kelley in another old program, or finding an episode list for a show on the "unverified" list -- please let me know.    

Last Updated:
8/28/06 added several annotations from information contributed by Rina at Classic TV Archive as she is going through TV Guides to update their site: Waterfront (2 episodes); The Web; Special Agent 7; Shannon; City Detective (2 episodes)
6/23/04 added annotation for The Bold Ones: "Giants Never Kneel"
             updated annotation for second version of 333 Montgomery
3/29/04 (added annotation for Beyond Our Own, 1947)
2/27/04 (added episode summary for Ironside: "Warrior's Return")
1/25/04 (added episode summary for The Cowboys: "David Done It")
1/07/04 (added convention photographs to Chronology, corrected note on Kelley's Star Trek episodes)

 

Contents of the Filmography

I've compiled all performances I've found credited to Mr. Kelley in a wide set of sources and tried to verify them, either by viewing the episode or film, or by finding the data in more than one reliable source.

I have given no details on Trek items, because that is readily available elsewhere.

Plot summaries, as well as any opinions, are my own and based upon viewing the episode, unless otherwise noted. Plot summaries are detailed, describing Kelley's part, and therefore include spoilers. They seldom do justice to the entertainment value of seeing Trek's "Good Doctor" in these other roles!

Dates: If unable to determine the year a performance was aired, I've arbitrarily listed it in the Chronology with the last year the program ran.

Role Codes:
*** major: lead or major supporting role, with lots of screen time
** significant: a strong supporting role with at least a few significant scenes
* minor: a small role, with just a scene or two
x invisible: Mr. Kelley is credited, but his scenes were cut

Information Sources

Standard Reference Works:
** NOTE: even in these relatively reliable sources, there are errors and conflicting data on roles, episode numbers, airdates, etc. If unable to resolve these by viewing the performance (airdates may vary by region; episode numbers by whether counting by production order or airdate), I've left a note or question mark in the annotation.

Brooks, Tim and Earle Marsh. The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946-present. 6th ed. New York: Ballantine, 1995.

Contemporary Theatre, Film and Television. Detroit: Gale; v.8 (1990) and v.32 (2000).

Gianakos, Larry James. Television Drama Series Programming: a Comprehensive Chronicle, 1947-1959. Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, 1980.

Gianakos, Larry James. Television Drama Series Programming: a Comprehensive Chronicle, 1959-1975. Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, 1978.

Inman, David M. Performers' Television Credits, 1948-2000. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co., 2001.

Lentz, Harris M. Western and Frontier Film and Television Credits, 1903-1995. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co., 1996.

Lentz, Harris M. Television Westerns Episode Guide: All United States Series, 1949-1996. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co., 1997.

Maltin, Leonard (ed.). Movie & Video Guide. Penguin, 1998.

Martindale, David. Television Detective Shows of the 1970s: Credits, Storyline and Episode Guide for 109 Series. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co., 1991.

Parish, James Robert and Vincent Terrace. The Complete Actors' Television Credits, 1948-1988. 2nd Ed. Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, 1989.

Terrace, Vincent. The Complete Encyclopedia of Television: Series, Pilots and Specials, 1937-1973. New York: Zoetrope, 1986.

Weaver, John T. Forty Years of Screen Credits, 1929-1969. Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, 1970.
 
Other Books:
Asherman, Allan. 1988. The Star Trek Interview Book. NY: Pocket. [Interview with DeForest Kelley was from 1982.]

Barabas, SuzAnne & Gabor Barabas. 1990. Gunsmoke : a complete history and analysis of the legendary broadcast series with a comprehensive episode-by-episode guide to both the radio and television programs, Jefferson, N.C. : McFarland, 836 p.

Polonsky, Abraham. You Are There Teleplays: the Critical Edition. Northridge, CA: Center for Telecommunication Studies, California State University, 1997.

Shatner, William and Chris Kreski. 1993. Star Trek Memories. New York: Harper Collins.

Van Hise, James. 1992. The Man Who Created Star Trek: Gene Roddenberry. Las Vegas, NV: Pioneer.
 
Media Magazines
TV Guide 8/24/68
 
Fanzines
Berman, Ruth. 197?-1973. T-Negative. #4, #19
Guyer, Laura. 1991. The DeForest Kelley Compendium.
Guyer, Laura. 1992. The DeForest Kelley Compendium, First Supplement.
Guyer, Laura.1993. The DeForest Kelley Compendium, Second Supplement.
 
Film/television websites with credit information:
IMDB: Internet Movie Database: www.imdb.com
E!-Online Movie Facts: www.eonline.com
Rotten Tomatoes:www.rottentomatoes.com
 
Websites with Filmographies of DeForest Kelley:
Jensen, Mary. DeForest Kelley Tribute Page
Official Star Trek website: www.startrek.com
 
Television Episode guides on the Web:
Classic TV Archive (Des Martin); www.geocities.com/TelevisionCity/Stage/2950/epg/
Includes episode guides with titles, airdates, sometimes guest actors and plot blurbs for the following shows in Kelley's filmography:
77 Sunset Strip
Arrest and Trial
Bob Hope Chrysler Theater
Coronado 9
The Donna Reed Show 		        Johnny Midnight
        The Line-up
        Lone Wolf
        M Squad
        Markham 		        Mike Hammer
        Slattery's People
        State Trooper
        Tallahassee 7000
        The Virginian

EPGuides: epguides.com/menu/
The Bold Ones: The New Doctors
The Deputy
The FBI
The Fugitive 		        The Gallant Men
        Ironside
        Mike Hammer
        Owen Mashall 		        Richard Diamond
        Route 66
        Science Fiction Theatre
        Wanted: Dead or Alive

TV-to-Me: www.tvtome.com

Websites with series information (but not episode guides)
Magic Dragon Ultimate TV Mystery website:           http://www.magicdragon.com//UltimateMystery/tv.html
The Fifties Web: TV Westerns           http://www.fiftiesweb.com/western.htm

Images

This site is strictly an amateur, fan undertaking and not intended to infringe on anyone's copyright. Images, unless otherwise noted, were photographed from my tv; they are low-resolution and often photographed from a multi-generation tape, good enough for web viewing but not much else.

Finding Videos
The easy ones - Commercial Recordings:
If I know of a commercial recording, I've listed it in the show's annotation.
In-print: Amazon.com and many other vendors will sell you one.
Out-of-print: Most things turn up now and again on eBay or other auction sites.
 
Trading with Other TV Fans:
There are many avid TV fans out there taping shows for their private collections and eager to trade. Some will help you find episodes you want even if you have none to trade. Terms and quality are highly variable. Here are some sites where I found episodes I was seeking and helpful folks to work with.
About the Compiler: I can be contacted at: klhalliday@yahoo.com
I have no connection to the late Mr. Kelley other than being a long-time fan.
I have no connection with any media entity, and not much interest in television other than Star Trek (Enterprise NCC-1701, "no bloody A, B, C or D" as Scotty so aptly put it).
If you want to know more about my other obsessions, (including a list of my own Star Trek fanfic), visit www.klhalliday.com -

Why did I do this?
      Well, it all started with reading and writing fan fiction with a focus on the McCoy character. I started watching for tidbits about Kelley himself the first time I came across his comment (speaking of his wife of many years), "I make the living, and she makes the living worth while." They don't make 'em like they used to, folks...
     So, I gathered the information on this site in bits and pieces over a considerable time out of a mild interest which slowly snowballed into... well, this. Having never paid much attention to television before, I found it surprisingly "fascinating" to follow the career of a single character actor through the history of television. I'm posting it here because I thought there might be other mildly to severely obsessed folks out there who would enjoy it.
     It is unfortunate, though not surprising, that Mr. Kelley never did get around to digging into the garage and writing up his projected autobiography From Sawdust to Stardust. (A title he said was suggested to him by Leonard Nimoy.) He described himself as "lazy" and others described him as "private." Either way, Kelley seems to have maintained a remarkably sane approach to life for an actor caught up in the wild ride that Star Trek became. But those qualities deprived us of ever hearing his own telling of what had to be a fascinating life story, what with leaving the home of his fundamentalist preacher father at 17 to move in with a gambler uncle on the other end of the country, and his long and varied movie/tv career. This set of credits and anecdotes gives a small window to the man even Harlan Ellison described as the nicest person involved in Star Trek.
If you've got data or tidbits to add here, please do!

My Top Choices:
Here are the ones I would try hardest to replace if I lost my collection...
  • Bonanza: "The Decision" - a role made to order
  • The Virginian: "Man of Violence" - interesting dramatic role
  • Death Valley Days: "Lady of the Plains" - because he finally gets the girl
  • Apache Uprising - his most over-the-top bad-ass outlaw performance
  • You Are There: "Gunfight at the OK Corral" - the one that launched him into years of "bad-ass cowboy" roles
  • Warlock - not a big role, but scenes Kelley used to talk about
  • Silent Service: "The Spearfish Delivers" - because he spends most of it half-naked
  • Trackdown: "The Jailbreak" - one of his best outlaw roles
  • Public Prosecutor: "Case of the Man Who Wasn't There" - for the turban get-up
  • Mike Hammer: "Bride and Doom" - for the wheelchair scene

Acknowledgements - thanks to...

Kris Smith, for sharing stacks of information and serving as tour guide.
Alan Manning, for alerting me to a missing convention.
Pat Neal, for contributing her convention photographs.
Laurence Zacher, for catching that Kelley did appear in ST: "Whom the Gods Destroy" and did not appear in "Errand of Mercy."
Rina Fox, of the Classic TV Archive website (see above) for finding TV Guide blurbs on some of these obscure old shows.