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DeForest Kelley On...

Star Trek: The Next Generation

Playing old Admiral McCoy
Opinions on TNG

Playing old Admiral McCoy

Someone told me, they said, “Tell me, why in the hell did you do that 137-year-old man on the Next Generation? On the new Generation?” I did it for one reason: now, then, when I walk down the street, they say, "Gee, he looks a lot younger in person."
[...] Anyhow, that was a well-kept secret. When I was in New York, it was an odd thing, the people from Long Island had seen it when I appeared there on Saturday, and the people in New York City hadn’t seen it, and would not have seen it until the next Monday night. So, one gal stood up and said, “Mr. Kelley, how long did it take to put that makeup on for you?” I said, “That was supposed to be a secret, till you opened your big mouth.” But it was amazing how, what a well-kept secret it was, I thought at the time -- that’s what we intended to do.
My main reason for doing that, I was in Richard Arnold’s office one day, and Dorothy Fontana was there and she came in and she said, “De, I would like to have you read this part of the Admiral.” I said, “For what? I’m not gonna be in this picture.” She said, “Well, just read it.” So I read this little moment and I said, “Gee, it’s a beautiful moment, Dorothy.” And Dorothy has a talent -- whether she or Gene -- they both have a talent, whoever wrote it, each one of them, I know, have a facility for making some moments even better than long scenes.
So, I left the office without any kind of commitment at all, thinking no more about it. Then Gene called me, asked me to come over and have lunch and we sat down and talked about it and I began to think and reflect about how much Gene Roddenberry has meant to my career over the years. I’ve had a very long relationship with him beginning in 1960, and I thought, Gee, it would be a nice thing to do it for Gene, and perhaps it would be some little way of maybe giving back to him what he had given me over those many years. So that’s the reason I decided to do it. And I enjoyed doing it and had a lot of fun doing it. And I’m very glad we were able to keep the secret as well as we did.
[Convention: Los Angeles, 10/24/87]

She wants to know how Doctor McCoy managed to exist so long. I beg your pardon? It’s that good Saurian Brandy. No, I eplained yesterday that I was in Richard Arnold’s office some time ago, quite a while ago, and while I was talking to Richard, Dorothy Fontana came in and handed me the script and asked me to read this little moment then, and I did, and I told here I didn’t think that I would do it, I didn’t... You know, its very strange... I didn’t feel that any one of us should be a part of the New Generation. I felt it was kinda their thing, and there should not be an intrusion. But my relationship going back so many years with Gene Roddenberry, from 1960 on, and the many experiences we’ve had together in this business, and the many... and the great influence that Gene has had on my career. I felt it would be a nice thing to do to make an appearance and maybe it would be some way of saying “thank you” to Gene, and maybe passing the torch somewhat. So, I had lunch with him and agreed to do it. We tried to keep it a secret. And I’m very surprised that we were able to keep it the secret that we did. We did very well with it. And I’m pleased that you liked it; I’m very pleased.
I told somebody yesterday, there’s one thing about it, now – of course, I’m getting mail now that Bill Shatner must be dead. I mean, Lloyd’s alive, and he said, you know, that we’d never have peace with the Klingons until Kirk was dead, so... No. No, I was just kidding.
[Convention: Los Angeles, 10/25/87]

No, I have no plans to be in the new Generation at all. [Crowd goes, “Awww”] No. No. I don’t... I did... As I said, I wanted to do that thing for Gene because I felt that it was a wonderful moment and I... it was kind of like, “thank you for a great relationship and what you’ve done for me,” but there’s been no discussion about us being worked into it at all. It’ll be refreshing, you’ll have a whole new show, there, to... and all the young ones will be able to grow up with that, too.

[Convention: Los Angeles, 10/24/87]

Opinions on TNG

I realize that Paramount has a very viable, very commercial property here that they would like to extend and carry on and that’s perfectly understandable. I’m sure that if I were in an executive position at Paramount, it would be very confusing to know what to do. I don’t know, I just think sometimes something comes along once in a while in a number of years that happened like our show did. To recapture that feeling with another group of people, in my opinion, would have to be a masterful stroke of luck and -- I don’t know, genius – to put a chemistry together that falls together, that fans just love and identify with and want to be a part of. I wish them great success
[Convention: Dearborn, 7/19/87]

Oh, did they consult me on the new series? About what? About the character that I played on it? Oh. No, no. None of us were consulted at all on it. No. No. They got a girl doctor. [grin]

[Convention: Los Angeles, 10/24/87]

How do we feel about the New Generation? The original cast, how does the original cast feel about it? Well, it’s kind of a... It’s something that had to be. I can see, I know what the studio is doing. They would like to sustain that viable product Star Trek. They of course figure that we could not continue to do it, they felt they needed a new, young, fresh group. But as far as feelings go... I hope to God it’s successful and that they will enjoy the success and happiness that we have experienced with all of you because they are in for a phenomenal experience if they are going to be as fortunate as we have been to have you as our fans. But it’s a strange kind of a feeling, looking at it, it’s almost like... I can’t believe, you know, that there’s another Star Trek. It’s like, you feel like... Gee, that’s something we did, you know. It’s just a weird feeling, but I have every hope in my heart for success for each and every one of them, that they will be as happy as we have been.

[Convention: Los Angeles, 10/25/87]

My opinion? Unfortunately, I have only seen one episode. That was the one I was in. I lost the story on that one. I was trying to explain it to Carolyn, and I got lost. But I don’t know, from what I saw of it, they put a lot of production value in it, and I don’t know, no one can say what is going to happen to a series. I think that most of you are probably so starved for some regular science fiction that it has a chance of being quite a success. In my opinion, if the chemistry of the people work together well, it will have a great deal to do with the success of that show. That is something that happens almost accidentally, when people fall together personality-wise that can work together on the screen and if that kind of relationship can... you’ll find yourself warming to your heart, why, then it has a chance. You can have a hell of a story and if people don’t blend properly together, there’s something missing. It seems to be on it’s way to doing very well.

[Convention: Vulkon, Ft. Lauderdale, FL 1/17/88]