star trek bones actor 2016

Flip through today’s papers

AMNY Newsletter

Tackle the city, with our help..

Manage your settings.

Karl Urban in ‘Star Trek Beyond’: Becoming the real McCoy

Stepping into an iconic role is never an easy task, and the re-cast crew of the “Star Trek” franchise get to do it for a third time.

Karl Urban, a New Zealand actor famous for playing Eomer in the last two “Lord of Rings” movies, took over the role of belovedly grumpy Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy from DeForest Kelley, who originated the character in the original “Star Trek” television series.

“Star Trek Beyond,” in theaters July 22, marks Urban’s third turn in the role, and the actor says he believes that it’s “probably the most well-defined version of the character that I’ve had the pleasure of playing.”

In this film, we get to see his true friendship with [Captain James T.] Kirk; you get to see him be a consigliere and adviser. … And through the course of the movie, I spend an amazing amount of time with Zach Quinto’s Spock, and that’s a real opportunity to explore the relationship between those two characters, for both of those characters to come to an understanding on a deeper level what the other represents and where the other’s coming from. For Bones, there were just a lot of wonderful shades of the character that I was able to bring forward, whether it was his compassion and understanding emotionally for where Spock was at, or his bravery and courage in looking after Spock and not abandoning him, his fear of the situation they were in and his use of humor to keep the morale of the both of them up. And his willingness to live and survive — there’s a lot of wonderful shades.

I think my favorite aspect of his relationship with Kirk is represented in the bar scene between the two of them, where you see two good friends sharing a drink and Kirk being able to sort of express his existential dilemma and Bones being able to listen and offer a sound piece of advice. And as far as Bones’ relationship with Spock, I enjoy any time that they get to argue, or the two of them get to have that great banter, it’s always a lot of fun. I particularly like the scene in the transporter where Bones discovers Spock has sold him down the river and requested that Bones accompany him on a dangerous mission. And Bones’ response to that is typically Bones.

I can. The character of McCoy is somebody who has experienced his share of pain and loss through life. And I feel like there is somewhat of an irascible shell that he wears to protect himself, but the great thing about the character in this movie is you really get to see what’s beneath that. You get to see a softer side of the character. He lets his guard down in this film, and I think for me, probably, it was part of the process of making the character my own. It was important for me to still imbue the character with those familiar elements of DeForest, it was also an opportunity to take the character in a new direction.

That’s the great thing about McCoy, he’s really a bit of a jack of all trades. You can throw him into any situation. He might grumble about it, but he’ll thrive. In this one, I get to fly an alien spaceship and do heroic things, and that’s kind of a part of the fun.

It was an enjoyable experience. Justin came in and was very sensitive to respecting the core of this cast and he brought in a real passion for “Star Trek” — he was a fan of it growing up as a kid. He was able to take that knowledge and infuse it with this wonderful visual action style that he’s synonymous for and deliver an action-packed fun ride full of special effects and thrills and also some poignant emotional moments, and I think he’s done a fantastic job.

Yeah, I think that the challenge was to not only honor the 50 years that had come before, but to also explore new territory, and “Star Trek” has always been a cult of personality. It’s about the characters, and I think Justin did a great job of infusing the story with an energy and a dynamism, and I think he was successfully able to build upon what J.J. established in ’09. … It’s about this eclectic group of diverse characters who work together, and that’s the essential message of this film — we are stronger together than we are apart.

Simon emailed us an early draft and he said, “Look, if there’s anything you’d like to see in this that’s not in there, please let me know and we’ll work together.” That was really the basis of the working relationship for having one of our own who was there for us and accessible and a great conduit for us to really be able to express these characters on a deeper level. There are many beats, and in some cases scenes, that came from that that are in the film and it was a wonderful collaborative experience. It’s just a shame that Simon gets the credit for it. [Laughs]

Well I think the most profound change, and the thing that I value the most, is the friends that I’ve made. This cast is unlike anything I’ve worked with in the past, apart from “Lord of the Rings,” which was a very similar experience. But we’re a tight group, and there’s a real bond between us. We really are a family and we’ve now experienced coming up on 10 years of this phenomenon and there’s been highs and lows. Some of us have families now, some of us were married and are no longer married and of course we’ve recently lost, a devastating loss, of losing Anton [Yelchin]. We’ve been through a lot together.

It’s absolutely devastating. There’s nothing that can prepare you for the loss of a family member and certainly we all continue to mourn him and grieve him and it hits you in the most unexpected ways and most unexpected times.

I’m about to go down to Australia for “Thor: Ragnarok” with Chris Hemsworth and directed by Taika Waititi, and I’m really looking forward to that. A lot of my stuff is with Cate Blanchett, and even though we were in “Lord of the Rings” together, I never shared any scenes with her and I have such a huge respect for her and her work and I’m really excited for that and I look forward to that.

About the Author

Things to do in nyc.

Post an Event

Sail Away by Treehouse Shakers Ailey Citigroup Theater

Sesame Street Live! Say Hello Kings Theatre

Call The Babysitter It’s Time For Parent’s Night Out at The Island’s First Porterhouse Party and Casino Night! No Kids Allowed! Mount Loretto

New Dorp Christian Summer Camp New Dorp Christian Academy

The Carousel For All Children Grand Opening 2024 Willowbrook Park

Bluey’s Big Play Kings Theatre

View All Events…

Jobs in New York

Add your job.

• A&J Fire Extinguisher Fire Safety Technician
• The 13th Child Behavior Analyst, P.C. ABA Therapist
• NY ELITE CANNABIS- NYS LEGAL ADULT USE DISPENSARY Sales Personnel/ BAYSIDE

View all jobs…

Related Articles

More from around NYC

Week in Rewind: Heat act could save Bronxites money, Bronx Zoo marks 125th anniversary, real estate sales drop and more

Victoria’s Secrets: A weekend’s wonderful playtime

Bagels in beer? Talea Beer teams up with Black Seed Bagels on waste-reducing collab

Answers sought in murder of Black trans man in Florida

Movie Reviews

Tv/streaming, collections, great movies, chaz's journal, contributors, star trek beyond.

Now streaming on:

"There's no relative direction in the vastness of space," a Starfleet high mucky-muck tells  Enterprise  Captain James T. Kirk ( Chris Pine ) in "Star Trek Beyond." "There's only you." She's asking him whether he wants to give up his captain's seat for a chance at a powerful desk job on the eve of his thirtieth birthday, a year younger than his father was when he died. Her language is meant to spur Kirk to look inward, and for a moment we might hope that he will, and that the film will look inward with him. 

There's a precedent for this sort of thing. Where all of the TV incarnations of " Star Trek " were mainly about morality and philosophy, with characterization serving as a means of examining those dramatic values, most of the big-screen film versions, including the '80s and '90s versions of the flagship TV show, were mainly concerned with the heroes' personalities. The screenplays gave us detailed examinations of, say, the relationship between Kirk and his half-Vulcan first officer Mr. Spock, between Kirk and the United Federation of Planets, between Kirk and the Klingons who tormented his civilization and killed his only son, and between all the characters (Kirk especially) and the prospect of aging and death. It was more soap opera than space opera at times, but always fun to watch, sometimes moving. 

What undermines "Star Trek Beyond" is that it's ultimately not interested in taking a long look at the "you" of Kirk, Spock ( Zachary Quinto ), ship's doctor "Bones" McCoy ( Karl Urban ), communications officer Uhura ( Zoe Saldana ), and the rest of the NCC-1701 crew. Sure, it nods in that direction. Even the worst "Star Trek" stories do. But in the end it's mostly a good big-budget sci-fi action movie that's been marinated in "Star Trek" flavor packets—and thus not terribly different from the 2009 "Star Trek" reboot or its sequel, " Star Trek Into Darkness ."

"Star Trek Beyond" pits the crew of the  Enterprise  against another bellowing megalomaniac ( Idris Elba ) who wants to punish the United Federation of Planets for its perceived sins. It's the best of the new "Trek" films, but it's still an unsatisfying effort if you want "Star Trek" to be something more than a military-minded outer space action flick, with familiar, beloved characters shoehorned into a standard mix of martial arts slugfests, close-quarters firefights, and scenes of starships and cities being shredded and burned. Advance publicity hyped "Star Trek Beyond" as a return to the original series' roots as a showcase for a bunch of eccentric personalities traveling the galaxy, ingeniously solving problems, and indulging in populist philosophizing about civilization and the frontier as they went along. But that's not what we get here—not really. 

Yes, there's a promising setup (the  Enterprise  crew is held hostage by a vicious bad guy who rules a backwater planet a la Kurtz in "Heart of Darkness"). And there are suggestions of classic "Star Trek" style action-plus-characterization-plus-cleverness, and pleasing performances by a cast that has settled into each others' rhythms, as a real-world naval crew would after years of sailing together. 

But the movie never delivers on its considerable promise because it's always in such a hurry to get to the next action scene. And aside from three magnificent setpieces—the first, crippling sneak attack by a fleet of tiny ships that swarm the  Enterprise  like explosive bees, and two vertigo-inducing chase-and-fight scenes in which geography goes all M.C. Escher on us—the action is not good enough to be the film's main course. Lin, who proved in the "Fast and Furious" series that he could do great or near-great action, here substitutes wobbly camerawork, chop-chop editing and rumbling sound effects for suspense and a sense of spatial design. It's a step up from the action in J.J. Abrams' "Star Trek" movies, but that's not the sort of thing one should brag about. A climactic reprise of a certain overused Beastie Boys song might be the franchise's low point, rivaled only by the laughable credits sequence of "Star Trek V," which cut from a helicopter shot of a lean young stuntman scaling a craggy peak in the Pyrenees to a close-up of the 57-year-old star/director Shatner's meaty hand in a studio, gripping a fiberglas "rock."

Simon Pegg and Doug Jung's screenplay provides the right amount of homage (as when Kirk grumbles after an opening action scene that he ripped his shirt again), plus Spock/McCoy odd-couple banter and some marvelous, character-based laugh lines (Scotty demands that Kirk give an opinion on one of his engineering improvisations, because "if I mess it up, I don't want it to be just my fault"). There's psychological nuance, irony, even a political subtext (Elba's character, Krall, a reptilian Che Guevara-type who wants the galaxy's "frontier" to "push back" against the Federation's expansionism). Too bad none of these aspects are filled out with the detail they deserve. Krail's fire-and-brimstone sermonizing is turned to nonsense by a pointless and self-defeating third act "twist"—like we need another one of those after the boneheaded fan service of "Darkness"!—and there are points late in the film where "Star Trek Beyond" seems jolted by the sudden remembrance of things that it told us it was going to deal with but didn't. 

Uhura spends most of the movie in a prison camp. Kirk, Spock and even McCoy have human moments, but they spend too much of their screen time sprinting through hallways, firing phaser pistols, and piloting spaceships while yelling and grimacing in tight closeup, like the heroes of every other science fiction-flavored action movie projected in theaters recently. Krall and other characters allude to the Federation's fake-benevolent brand of imperialism, but unless you're familiar with examples from elsewhere in the "Star Trek" universe or got briefed by a super-fan before buying a ticket, you'll leave with no sense of whether the villains' grievances are legitimate, much less if you're supposed to feel mixed emotions at Kirk's inevitable triumph.  

Spock, whose home planet was destroyed by a renegade Romulan warlord in the first movie, suffers most from the filmmakers' preoccupation with  pew-pew-pew! a ction-adventure. For three movies now, Spock's been carrying a crushing load of survivor's guilt. The character's barely disguised Jewishness, brilliantly articulated by the late Leonard Nimoy in the original TV and movie series, is more pronounced in the new franchise: he's been turned into a holocaust survivor, part of a fragile Vulcan diaspora haunted by genocide. But the scripts seem scared of treating Spock's predicament with the seriousness it deserves, much less daring to put it at the center of a film. Here it's treated mainly as an explanation for why Spock can't seem to keep a relationship going with Uhura. The death of Leonard Nimoy is integrated into the story by having Vulcan diplomats inform Spock of the death of Ambassador Spock, an alternate-universe incarnation of the character who dispensed advice and plot points to new Spock whenever the screenwriters painted themselves into a corner. The film's method of mourning Nimoy's Spock makes the Spockus ex machina  thing worse. New Spock mourns classic Spock as if the two were dear friends who had dinner every Monday at the same Chinese restaurant.

The missteps of writing and direction are more depressing when you consider the excellence of the core cast. Quinto and Saldana give the Spock-Uhura relationship and their own spotlight moments a lot more than the film gives them. Pegg is a hoot as Scotty, colorful but never hammy, though we may justifiably raise a Spock-like eyebrow at all the times that the actor-screenwriter lets his character save the day. Pine's Kirk seems to be morphing seamlessly into Shatner's, complete with surprising pauses and intonations, but he's more credible as a strong, respected leader; watch how the actor grows more calm and friendly whenever Kirk's bridge crew is becoming more agitated. Elba is such a strong presence throughout, even near the end, that it's a shame Krall is never granted the depth and complexity that his character keeps threatening to disclose. 

At this point it's worth asking what, if anything, this franchise is good for besides generating cash for Paramount and its above-the-line talent. Everything that made the original TV series and its follow-ups, small- and big-screen, seem so open-hearted, intelligent and playful is marginalized to make room for hyperactively edited action scenes and displays of hardware and production design. These are technically state-of-the-art but ultimately not all that different from what you see in most other CGI-driven action pictures, superhero as well as sci-fi—long, loud spectacles that are filled with people fighting, blowing up cities and planets, and crashing things into other things, instead of finding some other, more surprising way to move the plot along. What's the point of giving up pleasures that the "Star Trek" franchise is good at providing, to make more room for pleasures that most big-budget science fiction and fantasy already give us, month after month and year after year? Why boldly go where everyone else is already going? 

Matt Zoller Seitz

Matt Zoller Seitz is the Editor at Large of RogerEbert.com, TV critic for New York Magazine and Vulture.com, and a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in criticism.

Now playing

Kaiya Shunyata

Sheila O'Malley

State of Consciousness

Simon abrams.

Brian Tallerico

Monica Castillo

Film Credits

Star Trek Beyond (2016)

Rated PG-13 for sequences of sci-fi action and violence.

120 minutes

Chris Pine as Kirk

Zachary Quinto as Spock

Karl Urban as Bones

Zoe Saldana as Uhura

Simon Pegg as Scotty

John Cho as Sulu

Anton Yelchin as Chekov

Idris Elba as Krall

Sofia Boutella as Jaylah

Deep Roy as Keenser

Alice Eve as Dr. Carol Marcus

Writer (television series "Star Trek")

• Gene Roddenberry

Writer (uncredited)

• Roberto Orci
• Patrick McKay
• John D. Payne

Cinematographer

• Stephen F. Windon
• Greg D'Auria
• Dylan Highsmith
• Kelly Matsumoto
• Steven Sprung
• Michael Giacchino

Latest blog posts

Ebertfest Film Festival Over the Years

The 2024 Chicago Palestine Film Festival Highlights

Man on the Moon Is Still the Cure for the Biopic Blues

Part of the Solution: Matthew Modine on Acting, Empathy, and Hard Miles

Leonard McCoy

Fictional character from star trek / from wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, dear wikiwand ai, let's keep it short by simply answering these key questions:.

Can you list the top facts and stats about Leonard McCoy?

Summarize this article for a 10 year old

Dr. Leonard H. McCoy , known as " Bones ", is a character in the American science-fiction franchise Star Trek . [1] McCoy was played by actor DeForest Kelley in the original Star Trek series from 1966 to 1969, and he also appears in the animated Star Trek series , in six Star Trek films , in the pilot episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation , and in numerous books, comics, and video games. [2] A decade after Kelley's death, Karl Urban assumed the role of McCoy in the Star Trek reboot film in 2009. [3]

• The Inventory

Leonard 'Bones' McCoy Was the True Heart of Star Trek

When most people think of Star Trek , they of course think of Kirk and Spock . This isn’t surprising, as they were the star and the break-out character of the series, but it’s easy to forget that they were two members of a triumvirate that made up the essence of the show. Ship’s doctor Leonard “Bones” McCoy was the third, and just as integral in making Star Trek a joy to watch.

Related Content

While Spock was all cold logic and Kirk was fiery passion, Bones was the heart of the Enterprise crew. He was the one who made the plea to do the right thing, who reminded the others of the potential cost of obeying logic or the Prime Directive. McCoy also was the true audience surrogate of the show, saying the things we yelled at the TV. The crew of the Enterprise did run into some completely ridiculous phenomena, and none of it would have worked if McCoy wasn’t there to say “Of course you save their lives, you idiots!” and “How in the universe is this happening to us?”

What makes Bones so fascinating is that he clearly didn’t want to be there. He wasn’t a full believer in the Starfleet mission. He hated space and ships and Starfleet, but he went out there and did his job every single time, no matter what insanity he encountered. Remember “The Devil in the Dark?” Can you imagine starting out life as a doctor in your home state and then finding yourself being asked to treat this?

McCoy complained, but he did it. Because he was a doctor and that was his job. And Kirk ordered him to. McCoy’s history isn’t epic and tragic like Kirk’s or unique like Spock’s. Which is why he, despite being an actual genius, insisted over and over that he was just a country doctor.

And when I say McCoy complained, I mean he complained all the time. About everything, but mostly Spock. Just think about how much life Star Trek would have lost without Bones for Kirk to talk to or for Spock to spar with:

Spock: I’m happy the affair is over. A most annoying emotional episode. McCoy: Smack right in the old heart. Oh, I’m sorry. [pointing to his side] In your case, it would be about here. Spock: The fact that my internal arrangement differs from yours, Doctor, pleases me no end.

(I would literally watch Spock and McCoy trade barbs over any other duo in all of Star Trek ’s 50 years.)

In between insults, grumpiness, and straight-up bitching, McCoy was also responsible for delivering messages about the human condition more than anyone else on the show. Kirk had the mission, Spock his logic, but what McCoy cared about was his patients—and that made him closer to people than he was to anything else.

One of Star Tre k’s primary messages is about the importance of the balance within ourselves. (It’s why several episodes revolve around characters splitting into two halves.) McCoy was an integral part of that equation for TOS, just like DeForest Kelley was integral is making Bones the perfect mix of grumpy and compassionate, prickly but still so essentially humane.

Kelley may not have received the same level of fame as William Shatner or Leonard Nimoy, and Bones might not have gotten the flashiest scenes. But Dr. McCoy was still the heart of the whole show, and it would have never taken off without him. Bones may not have wanted to be in space at all, but thank goodness he was.

Advertisement

• International edition
• Australia edition
• Europe edition

Star Trek Beyond review – a watchable adventure still heavy on the bromance

Zachary Quinto’s Spock remains the real star of the latest instalment, even if Idris Elba’s Krall could have been given more to do

H ere is the latest of the rebooted Star Trek franchise with Justin Lin (of the Fast And Furious movies) taking over direction – and the first in which Britain’s own Simon Pegg assumes co-scripting responsibilities, with TV writer Doug Jung. Pegg injects plenty of fun and wit and certainly doesn’t hesitate to give his own acting role, chief engineer Montgomery “Scotty” Scott, a touch more dramatic significance than might otherwise have been the case. However, he naturally also adheres to the tradition of responding to Captain Kirk’s requests for emergency improvised measures with frantic sentences beginning “I cannae...!” and “We cannae....!” – before naturally delivering the goods.

This movie is, poignantly, the final outing for the late Anton Yelchin in the role of Russian officer Chekov, a part which he made his own with boyish eagerness. It’s also notable for including a unambiguous gay relationship: for Sulu, played by John Cho, who is revealed to have a male partner, a civilian from outside Star Fleet, and crucially they also have a child. George Takei, the actor who originally played the role, caused some consternation when he announced he would rather an entirely new gay role was created. Perhaps Takei was uncomfortable with the idea that “his” Sulu has therefore been somehow timidly in the closet all this time. Sulu’s gay identity here is not much emphasised, but unlike the coy and evasive hints in the recent Independence Day movie, the statement is clear enough.

The real star, as ever, is Zachary Quinto’s imperturbable First Officer Spock, who conveys logical calm, droll humour, and a kind of martyred romanticism. He rules the movie with a single raised eyebrow. Without Spock, this might be a bit ordinary.

Star Trek Beyond doesn’t go that far beyond what we might expect: a very decent, watchable franchise episode which is marooned for quite a long time on a distant rocky planet. There is a potent new force for evil in the form of anti-Star Fleet insurgent Krall, played by Idris Elba, although his full personality and motivation take a fair bit of time to flower.

We find ourselves three years in to the Enterprise’s legendary five-year mission, and officers Kirk and Spock are approaching a kind of quarterlife crisis, both in terms of career and their relationship with each other – and it is not entirely facetious to say that their top-level bromance is still far more important, in this heteronormative world, than any actual gay couple. Kirk is brooding about his personal and professional destiny in the vast reaches of space and Spock also has issues: his relationship with Uhuru (Zoe Saldana) is in deep trouble and he receives a sombre communication concerning the great elder, Ambassador Spock. (The grave features of Leonard Nimoy are glimpsed.)

But a phoney and duplicitous distress call plunges the crew into peril, connected with a powerful, Maguffin-y weapon, the Abroneth, yearned for by Krall. Kirk finds himself confronted with the terrible choice of having to abandon ship, and the crew are marooned in alien territory: a happy reminder of the visual language of the 60s Roddenberry TV show. Here, they encounter a fiercely independent kickboxing survivor called Jaylah (reportedly Pegg was inspired by Jennifer Lawrence in Winter’s Bone – hence J-Law or Jaylah). It’s a strong performance from Sofia Boutella: her character Is not a million miles away from Daisy Ridley in The Force Awakens, but a bit tougher.

The dilithium crystals powering the new Star Trek film are in pretty good shape: it motors along and Chris Pine shows himself again to be a very good actor with easy charm and authority. The bantering relationship between Karl Urban (as Dr “Bones” McCoy) and Quinto is, as ever, very enjoyable. At one stage, McCoy dismisses something Spock says as “horseshit”. Quinto demonstrates great comic timing in the pause he deploys before his dignified reply: “I fail to see how excrement of any kind plays a part.” Maybe this is the real bromance, actually.

This new movie could arguably have given Elba more to do, earlier in the picture, but it is the inter-relationship of the Enterprise’s crew which is the real source of drama. An entertaining adventure.

• Star Trek Beyond
• Science fiction and fantasy films
• Zachary Quinto
• US television

Leonard McCoy

• View history

Admiral Leonard H. McCoy , MD was a male Human Starfleet officer of the 23rd and 24th centuries . He was an accomplished surgeon , physician , psychologist , and exobiologist , and was also considered an expert in space psychology . As chief medical officer , he served aboard the USS Enterprise and USS Enterprise -A for a combined twenty-seven years. ( Star Trek: The Original Series ; Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan ; Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country ; TNG : " Encounter at Farpoint "; VOY : " Lifesigns ", " Message in a Bottle ")

• 1 Early life
• 2.1 The five-year mission
• 2.2 As an "old country doctor" in the 23rd century
• 2.3 Return to Starfleet
• 2.4 Training cruise aboard the Enterprise
• 2.5 Hosting Spock's "soul"
• 2.6 Saving Earth
• 2.7 Chief medical officer of the USS Enterprise -A
• 2.8 Later career
• 2.9 Fictional or exaggerated stories about McCoy
• 4.1 Friendship
• 5.1 About McCoy
• 5.2 By McCoy
• 5.3 See also
• 6 Chronology
• 7.1 Appearances
• 7.2 Background information
• 7.3 Apocrypha
• 7.4 External links

Early life [ ]

Dr. Leonard McCoy was born in Georgia , USA , Earth , in 2227 . He was the son of David McCoy . ( Star Trek III: The Search for Spock ; TAS : " Once Upon a Planet "; TOS : " This Side of Paradise "; TNG : " Encounter at Farpoint "; Star Trek V: The Final Frontier )

McCoy was attending the University of Mississippi during the mid- 2240s when he met the joined Trill Emony Dax , who was visiting Earth to judge a gymnastics competition. According to Jadzia Dax , " he had the hands of a surgeon ". ( DS9 : " Trials and Tribble-ations ")

McCoy began studying medicine in or before 2245 . ( TAS : " The Pirates of Orion ") While in medical school, McCoy and his friends used to play practical jokes on each other all the time. For example, they would substitute real drinking glasses with trick drinking glasses, causing the target drinker to spill on their shirt. ( TAS : " The Practical Joker ")

Starfleet career [ ]

In 2251 , McCoy led a massive inoculation program on planet Dramia II , where he saved a Dramen colonist , named Kol-Tai , from a strain of the Saurian virus . Shortly after McCoy departed, a plague struck Dramia II, killing most of the colonists. ( TAS : " Albatross ")

In 2253 , McCoy developed a surgical procedure for the humanoid brain; grafting neural tissue to the cerebral cortex, followed by the creation of an axonal pathway between the tissue graft and the basal ganglia. ( VOY : " Lifesigns ")

First visit to Capella IV

In 2266 , Lieutenant Commander McCoy was a sciences division officer . He was stationed on Capella IV where Capellan lack of interest in medical aid or hospitals ensured a short visit, lasting only a few months, before eventually joining the USS Enterprise 's five-year mission . The knowledge of Capellan customs he acquired on this mission would prove valuable in a later mission to the planet. ( TOS : " Friday's Child "; Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country )

The five-year mission [ ]

In 2266, McCoy was the Life Sciences department head and the chief medical officer of the Enterprise . His assigned quarters were "3F 127" on Deck 9 , section 2. His predecessor was Dr. Mark Piper . ( TOS : " Where No Man Has Gone Before ", " The Corbomite Maneuver ", " The Man Trap ")

Kirk liberally used the nickname " Bones " for his doctor from this point on. ( TOS : " The Man Trap ") During a 2267 away mission on Pyris VII , Kirk made a special point to avoid calling McCoy "Bones", instead using the nickname "Doc", after finding themselves in shackles hanging alongside a skeleton . ( TOS : " Catspaw ")

Kirk's evil persona threatening McCoy

McCoy provided Kirk with advice when the Enterprise 's transporter duplicated him in 2266. Kirk was split into two people – one good and one bad. Kirk needed his evil side to live as well as to command the Enterprise . McCoy told his captain that all Humans have their darker side; it is literally half of what they are and they need it to live. Later, Kirk had the choice of going through the transporter again to reintegrate into one being. The procedure was dangerous and McCoy told him, " Jim, you can't risk your life on a theory! " However, McCoy decided that the decision was Kirk's alone after he refused to relinquish command. Later, Kirk was successfully reintegrated as one being. ( TOS : " The Enemy Within ")

Three friends in 2267

On stardate 1513.1, while conducting a routine medical examination of outpost personnel at the archaeological dig on planet M-113 , McCoy became reacquainted with an old flame, Nancy Crater . Unbeknownst to McCoy, what became known as the " M-113 creature " had murdered and replaced Nancy years before.

The last survivor of M-113's long-dead civilization was a telepathic shapeshifter who digested the salt content from its prey. Drawing from a potential food source's mental imagery, it appeared as sympathetic or attractive, and further hypnotized its victim before feeding; hence McCoy saw a vision of Nancy exactly as he had known her years earlier.

McCoy curing Kirk of polywater intoxication on the bridge of the Enterprise

When the creature began taking the lives of Enterprise crew members on the surface and aboard the ship itself, McCoy's past feelings for Nancy tainted his judgment. It was only when Spock was assaulted and Captain Kirk's life was in imminent jeopardy that Dr. McCoy saw past the illusion of Nancy, forcing him to fire a phaser at a sentient being, the last of its kind. Just before firing, he said quietly, " Lord forgive me. " ( TOS : " The Man Trap ")

McCoy with Tonia Barrows in 2267

In early 2267 the Enterprise visited the Shore Leave Planet located in the Omicron Delta region . During the initial survey, McCoy reported seeing a giant white rabbit followed by a little girl .

Further investigation revealed that a vast underground factory recorded their thoughts and brought them to life. While walking through the glade with Yeoman Tonia Barrows , they discovered the dress of a princess, conceived from the thoughts of Barrows.

McCoy encouraged Barrows to try on the dress, and afterward begin to romance the yeoman, later stating that she should not be afraid "with a brave knight to protect her". Moments later a Black Knight appeared on horseback, bearing a lance.

The apparent death of McCoy

Convinced it was illusion and could not harm him, McCoy stood his ground against a charge – impaled in the chest, he died instantly. McCoy was brought underground, healed , and returned to the surface with two cabaret chorus girls he had once met on Rigel II . Barrow's obvious jealousy prompted McCoy to extricate himself from his fantasy girls, taking the yeoman's arm instead. ( TOS : " Shore Leave ")

On stardate 2713.5, the Enterprise discovered an Earth-like planet inhabited only by children. They soon discovered that all of the adults had died from a virus that caused the victim to age rapidly. The landing party contracted the disease and only had one week to live. McCoy and Spock developed a cure, but were unable to verify the formula with the Enterprise 's computers, because the children had stolen their communicators. Desperate, McCoy decided to test the serum on himself when Spock stepped out. Spock and Kirk returned to find an unconscious McCoy, but also that the serum worked. ( TOS : " Miri ")

Khan choking McCoy from his biobed in sickbay

On stardate 3141, McCoy accompanied Captain Kirk, Scott , and historian Marla McGivers to the SS Botany Bay , where the landing party encountered Khan Noonien Singh in stasis . McCoy had Khan removed from his enclosure when it began to malfunction while waking him and caused Khan to have a heart flutter . McCoy later stabilized Khan and brought him back to health aboard the Enterprise . Khan awoke shortly thereafter in sickbay and threatened McCoy with a scalpel when the doctor came to check up on him. Khan removed the scalpel from McCoy's neck when the doctor told him to cut his carotid artery , remarking, " I like a brave man. " Later on, Khan commandeered the Enterprise and forced McCoy and several other Enterprise crewmembers to watch as Kirk was put into a decompression chamber to die slowly. Khan asked the crew to join him and his brethren but McCoy and the crew refused and were later knocked out by anesthesia gas sent out by Kirk and Spock, intending to knock out Khan and his followers. After the defeat of Khan and his augments, McCoy, in dress uniform , attended Khan and McGivers' sentencing. McCoy expressed incredulity when Kirk announced that he was dropping all charges in exchange for marooning Khan, his followers, and McGivers on Ceti Alpha V . ( TOS : " Space Seed ")

On stardate 3417, McCoy's tonsils , which had been removed some years earlier, regrew when he was briefly under the influence of the Omicron spores . He mentioned that he had broken three ribs once. Although he took part in the subsequent mutiny, he returned with the rest of the crew after the spore's influence was eradicated. ( TOS : " This Side of Paradise ")

During an investigation of temporal disturbances over an ancient planet, McCoy accidentally injected himself with an overdose of cordrazine , resulting in psychosis and paranoid delusions, and he escaped to the planet's surface. Kirk, Spock, and a landing party followed him into the ruins of an ancient civilization, where they discovered the Guardian of Forever , an ancient time portal device.

Still psychotic, McCoy entered the device, transporting himself into Earth's past, and somehow created a history without a Federation or the Enterprise . Kirk and Spock, stranded and alone on the planet's surface, had no choice but to follow McCoy into the portal to try to undo whatever he had done to change the course of history.

They found themselves back in 1930 New York , where they met social worker Edith Keeler but had trouble locating McCoy. Using an improvised tricorder device, Spock determined that Keeler's death was the focal point of the altered timeline – she died in the original history, but somehow McCoy's going back in time prevented this from happening. Eventually, Kirk and Spock spotted McCoy walking down a city sidewalk. McCoy was happy to see them, but then he noticed that Keeler was crossing the street nearby in front of a speeding car. McCoy tried to rush forward to save her life, but Kirk, realizing that this was the critical moment, tearfully grabbed his friend and prevented him from intervening, allowing Keeler to die and restoring their own historical timeline. ( TOS : " The City on the Edge of Forever ")

After the first discovery of a silicon-based lifeform on Janus VI , the Horta matriarch, McCoy was the first exobiologist to actually treat one of the creatures, healing the wounded mother with a bandage of thermal concrete . Considering he successfully medically treated a type of lifeform that he previously did not even believe could exist, McCoy could not help but comment, " By golly, Jim, I'm beginning to think I can cure a rainy day! " ( TOS : " The Devil in the Dark ")

He was also the first to describe the deadly habits and help find the cure for the flying parasites , a plague of one-celled flying creatures linked in a collective mind that had been sweeping across whole star systems and destroying all humanoid life. ( TOS : " Operation -- Annihilate! ")

McCoy examining an in shock Matt Decker on the USS Constellation

On a return to Capella IV, McCoy helped lead Kirk through tentative negotiations over dilithium mining rights with the Capellan Teer , talks which fell apart due to Klingon interference.

After the death of the Teer, the Enterprise landing party fled with the Teer's pregnant wife, Eleen . McCoy's truculent patient required an atypical bedside manner (i.e. "a right cross"), but he delivered the newborn High Teer, the rightful leader of the Capellan tribes .

Eleen, having grown fond of McCoy, named the child Leonard James Akaar , much to the annoyance of Spock, who commented that the name would cause Kirk and McCoy to become insufferably pleased with themselves for at least a month. ( TOS : " Friday's Child ")

McCoy happy at finally getting the last word

Although possessing limited surgical experience in Vulcan anatomy and physiology , McCoy successfully operated on Spock's father, Ambassador Sarek of Vulcan , when Sarek suffered from a faulty heart valve and subsequently near-fatal heart attacks. With blood donations from Spock, McCoy performed open heart surgery on Sarek while the Enterprise shuddered under the attack of hostile Orions .

Despite the distractions of his captain being knifed in the back, phaser attacks on the ship, and his blood donor attempting to get up and report to duty during the procedure, McCoy successfully completed the operation and Sarek fully recovered. ( TOS : " Journey to Babel ")

While mapping near the Sigma Draconis system , the Enterprise encountered an Eymorg starship , whose occupant, Kara rendered the crew unconscious. Upon waking, they discovered that Spock's brain had been stolen.

It fell to McCoy to find a way to keep Spock's body alive; McCoy not only managed this, but also fitted him with a control system to move Spock's body remotely. When Spock's brain was located on Sigma Draconis VI , wired to the planet's environmental control system to care for its inhabitants, it fell to McCoy to use an advanced Great Teacher machine to learn how to place the brain back within his body.

The effects of the teaching machine quickly wore off, but not before McCoy had reconnected Spock's autonomic and speech centers, enough for the Vulcan to verbally assist the doctor with the rest of the procedure and reconnect the rest of his voluntary functions. ( TOS : " Spock's Brain ")

McCoy near death on Minara II

On stardate 5121.5, while investigating the disappearance of a science team sent to study an impending nova, the Enterprise encountered a mute alien with empathic abilities on Minara II . McCoy named her " Gem ." They discovered that the Vians were holding her captive. McCoy nearly died after volunteering himself to satisfy the Vians' demands for an experimental subject to teach Gem the value of self-sacrifice. ( TOS : " The Empath ")

McCoy with Sulu on the Kalandan outpost in 2268

In 2268, the Enterprise found the USS Defiant floating in and out of interphase space, its crew having apparently killed each other from space madness. When the Enterprise crew soon exhibited the same symptoms, McCoy discovered that prolonged exposure to the effects of interphase were causing the episodes. The symptoms were alleviated after McCoy created and administered a radical derivative of theragen (a Klingon nerve gas) mixed with drinking alcohol. ( TOS : " The Tholian Web ")

The joining of McCoy and Natira

In 2268 , McCoy was diagnosed with a terminal disease known as xenopolycythemia ; he was given one year to live. Shortly thereafter, the Enterprise encountered the Fabrini asteroid -ship Yonada where he met their high priestess, Natira .

McCoy joined Natira and the Fabrini by having an instrument of obedience subdermally implanted into his body. He later changed his mind about staying with the Fabrini, choosing instead to search the galaxy to discover a cure for his disease.

Kirk and Spock discovered that the Fabrini, in fact, had the cure for xenopolycythemia in their databanks, curing McCoy and allowing him to continue his life aboard the Enterprise . ( TOS : " For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky ")

In 2269 , McCoy was promoted; from that point on, he wore the insignia of a commander on his uniform. He held this rank for over 25 years. ( TAS : " Beyond the Farthest Star ")

Around stardate 5371.3, Captain Kirk consulted McCoy to get his expert psychological opinion on whether the inhabitants of the planet Mantilles should be warned of the impending danger of an unidentified cosmic cloud that was approaching and preparing to consume the planet.

McCoy figured that with only four hours and ten minutes until the cloud reached the planet, there would be planet-wide panic, which Kirk clarified as "blind panic." Spock, however, recommended otherwise and noted that if they told the inhabitants of the situation, they might be able to save a small fraction of the population. McCoy then agreed with Spock, after learning that Bob Wesley was governor of the planet, and urged Kirk to contact the governor. ( TAS : " One of Our Planets Is Missing ")

McCoy rapidly aged on the planet

Later that year, McCoy was among the landing party that beamed down to inspect the second planet of the Taurean system . He was among those affected by the glandular secretion of the planet's female inhabitants , known for controlling the male mind.

This caused McCoy to be drained of his "life force", making him age at a rate of ten years per day. Unable to counteract the effects of rapid aging, McCoy employed a hypospray of cortropine on himself and the landing party to help alleviate their conditions. An all female Enterprise security detachment led by Uhura eventually recovered McCoy and the landing party. Using their molecular pattern stored in the transporter system, they were returned to their previous ages. ( TAS : " The Lorelei Signal ")

In 2270 , following a delivery of medical supplies to Dramia , McCoy was arrested for the wanton mass murder of the colonists of Dramia II some nineteen years earlier. McCoy feared that he might have accidentally been responsible for the plague that killed the Dramens and that he might be found guilty.

Meanwhile, the Enterprise visited Dramia II and discovered a survivor named Kol-Tai, who wished to help acquit McCoy of the charges. On the journey back to Dramia they passed through an aurora , which was later discovered to be the source of the plague.

Spock helped McCoy break out of the Dramian prison in order for the doctor to help find the cure for the plague that was now unleashed aboard the Enterprise . McCoy discovered the cure in Saurian virus antibodies and was able to save the crew. Later, in a series of ceremonies, the Dramians honored McCoy for his significant achievements in the field of interstellar medicine. ( TAS : " Albatross ")

On stardate 5499.9, while exploring the ocean planet Argo to study the regular seismic disturbances there, Kirk and Spock were separated from the rest of the landing party during an attack by an aquatic predator.

They were found later adapted for water-breathing, even possessing gills and webbed hands. Dr. McCoy was able to stabilize their condition aboard the Enterprise , but could not find a reversal for their condition. He endorsed their going back to Argo to investigate the mystery.

Kirk and Spock were able to locate the underwater city of the Aquans , and discovered a medical treatment within the city's records which could reverse their condition (utilizing the venom of another dangerous predator, the sur-snake ). After obtaining a sample of venom, McCoy was able to synthesize a vaccine. The vaccine was nearly fatal for Kirk, but the treatment was successful, and Kirk and Spock were fully cured of their condition. ( TAS : " The Ambergris Element ")

On stardate 5591.2, McCoy returned with the others to the Shore Leave Planet for shore leave once again. They soon discovered, however, that the Keeper had died and the planet's central computer was rebelling against its programming, assaulting the landing party with dangerous manifestations.

McCoy tricked the planet into taking Spock beneath the surface by injecting him with melenex , an anesthetic which induced unconsciousness and odd skin discoloration in the Vulcan. McCoy and Sulu were later in danger of being incinerated by another of the planet's manifestations, a fire-breathing dragon, but were rescued when Uhura and the others were able to "talk down" the planet's computer. ( TAS : " Once Upon a Planet ")

As an "old country doctor" in the 23rd century [ ]

McCoy frequently displayed a love/hate attitude towards technology. Although he was a great believer in the body's own natural ability to heal and felt that a little suffering was good for the soul, he also held 23rd century medicine in high esteem and frequently lamented how barbarous medicine used to be in the past – when on Earth in 1986 , he angrily dismissed the medical technology of San Francisco 's Mercy Hospital , state-of-the-art for the time, as "medieval" compared to what he knew. ( TOS : " The Corbomite Maneuver ", " The City on the Edge of Forever "; Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home )

He also distrusted other highly technological devices, especially the transporter . ( TOS : " Space Seed ", " Obsession ", " Spectre of the Gun "; Star Trek: The Motion Picture ; TNG : " Encounter at Farpoint ")

While technically only lieutenant commander in rank, McCoy was still the only person on the Enterprise besides Spock who could talk back to the captain and get away with it. Although not without apology when wrong, he displayed a unique individuality and plain-spoken character which certainly clashed with the service, considering himself a doctor first and an officer second. This pugnacious attitude surfaced on a number of missions. Despite his sardonic wit and curmudgeonly personality, McCoy was very compassionate and cared deeply about all living things.

While on Miri 's planet, McCoy discovered a vaccine for the deadly life prolongation project virus which had killed all the adults on the planet and left the children with impossibly long life spans. Although completely unsure of the dose, McCoy "shot from the hip," as it were, injecting himself with the vaccine and successfully providing the landing party with a cure. ( TOS : " Miri ")

McCoy and the beard he grew during his off time

Upon the conclusion of the historic five-year mission in 2270, then-Commander McCoy, always modestly proclaiming himself to be "just a good ol' country doctor," retired his commission and proceeded to grow a beard . He was heard saying he would never return to Starfleet. ( Star Trek: The Motion Picture )

Return to Starfleet [ ]

" Damn it, Bones. I need you. Badly!"

In the mid- 2270s , Fleet Admiral Nogura , using a "little-known, seldom-used, reserve activation clause " at the request of now Admiral James T. Kirk, reactivated McCoy's commission. True to form, he refused to use the transporter until the other five crewmembers passed through safely. Though initially indignant about his re-activation, McCoy calmed down and served as chief medical officer during the V'ger encounter, and afterward continued to serve with his shipmates in this capacity aboard the newly-refitted Enterprise . ( Star Trek: The Motion Picture )

Training cruise aboard the Enterprise [ ]

In March 2285 , McCoy was a participant in Saavik 's Kobayashi Maru scenario at Starfleet Training Command . After the scenario, he served aboard the Enterprise under the command of Captain Spock. He was the ship's chief medical officer for a three week training cruise. Upon receiving a call for help from Regula I , Starfleet Command ordered the Enterprise to investigate. With Rear Admiral Kirk assuming command, the cruise was cut short. The Enterprise became involved with Project Genesis and Khan Noonien Singh's attempt to steal the Genesis Device . McCoy accompanied Kirk in a landing party to rescue the surviving scientists of Project Genesis , and was able to witness the results of Carol Marcus ' work on the project beneath the Regula planetoid. Back aboard Enterprise , he continued to treat casualties during the Battle of the Mutara Nebula . He was present in main engineering when Captain Spock arrived with the intention of entering the highly radioactive dilithium chamber to reactivate the ship's warp drive , so that Enterprise could escape Khan's suicidal ploy to kill them all with the Genesis Device . McCoy objected, but Spock felled him with a Vulcan nerve pinch and (almost as an afterthought) deposited his katra within McCoy's mind. Following their escape and Spock's death, McCoy grieved with Kirk and the rest of the crew as Spock was laid to rest on the newly formed Genesis Planet . ( Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan )

Hosting Spock's "soul" [ ]

On their return to Earth, as the rest of the crew found that Enterprise was to be decommissioned, McCoy began to suffer increasingly erratic behavior, making odd requests of Kirk to return to Vulcan, and even sounding like Spock at times. Although at first it was thought he was only under too much stress, McCoy soon found himself placed under protective custody after making several inquiries into securing transportation to the newly restricted Genesis Planet. Spock's father Sarek explained the significance of the Vulcan katra to Kirk. With their careers at stake, Kirk and his crew took it upon themselves to rescue McCoy, steal the Enterprise and take both to Genesis to recover Spock's body for return to Mount Seleya on Vulcan.

A melancholy McCoy looks down at an unconscious Spock, while carrying his katra

Although Enterprise was disabled then later destroyed, and rogue Klingons had killed Kirk's son, the crew managed to commandeer the attacking Klingon vessel and take McCoy and the rejuvenated Spock to Mount Seleya on Vulcan. En route to Vulcan, in the Klingon ship's infirmary, a melancholy McCoy admitted to his old rival, the unconscious Spock, that he missed him, and couldn't stand the thought of losing Spock again.

Spock's katra was restored via the fal-tor-pan , an ancient, legendary Vulcan technique. Although it was not generally known whether another species could serve as a "keeper of the Vulcan katra ", McCoy appeared to suffer no lasting ill effects from the incident. ( Star Trek III: The Search for Spock )

Saving Earth [ ]

While returning to Earth with his shipmates to stand trial for the many violations in Starfleet regulations committed in saving Spock, McCoy discovered with the others that an unknown probe was intent on sterilizing the planet after replies to its broadcasts went unanswered. Spock deduced that the intended recipients of the probe's transmissions were extinct Humpback whales , and McCoy soon found himself a somewhat reluctant participant in Kirk's plan to time travel back to 20th century San Francisco to recover a pair of whales and save their future. McCoy was included in Sulu 's and Captain Scott 's team to recover supplies for the construction of a whale tank aboard their ship.

McCoy finds himself in the "Dark Ages"

He later led a rescue team into a San Francisco hospital to save the critically-injured Chekov , pausing just enough to also provide an elderly lady suffering from kidney failure with some 23rd century medicine, and berate several 20th century physicians on their methods of practice. Accompanying his shipmates and the whales back through time to successfully save Earth from the Whale Probe , McCoy was acquitted with the rest of the crew for their offenses, and returned to duty aboard the newly commissioned USS Enterprise -A . ( Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home )

Chief medical officer of the USS Enterprise -A [ ]

Afterward, while enjoying a well-deserved leave with his close friends Kirk and Spock, McCoy also berated both the others (Kirk for taking unnecessary risks, Spock for apparently not completely becoming his old self after the re-fusion with his katra ). Underneath, McCoy's real lament was for lacking a true family, and always being "stuck", as it were, with the crew of the Enterprise . During the rescue mission that immediately followed to save the ambassadors of Nimbus III , the renegade Vulcan Sybok hijacked the Enterprise. Sybok later forced McCoy to reveal his secret pain, the loss of his father, to Kirk and Spock (see " Family and relationships " below). In the events that followed and their return to Earth, McCoy finally came to terms with his loss and accepted the love and camaraderie of his two friends, who remain his enduring family, as they began singing songs around a campfire. ( Star Trek V: The Final Frontier )

McCoy in 2293, after failing to save Gorkon's life

Shortly after stardate 9522 in 2293 , the Enterprise was sent on a diplomatic mission to escort a Klingon envoy to Federation space for peace talks. When the Enterprise mysteriously appeared to fire on the ship of Klingon Chancellor Gorkon , Dr. McCoy beamed aboard with Captain Kirk to assist with casualties. McCoy attempted to save the life of the critically wounded Gorkon, the victim of an assassin's phaser. McCoy's limited knowledge of Klingon anatomy and physiology hindered his efforts and the chancellor died. The Klingons arrested McCoy and Kirk and charged them with his assassination.

The Klingon Empire put Kirk and McCoy through a show trial, and although McCoy was able to draw a laugh from the assembled Klingons with an off-the-cuff quip, neither had much of a chance of defending their case. Handed a life sentence of hard labor they were then taken to the penal asteroid Rura Penthe to live it out. Luckily Spock rescued McCoy and Kirk in time to discover the roots of the Khitomer conspiracy and disrupt a second assassination attempt at the peace talks at Khitomer . It was McCoy who assisted Spock in modifying a photon torpedo with a plasma sensor, so that it would home in on Klingon General Chang 's attacking cloaked ship. McCoy then helped prevent the assassination of the Federation president, safeguarding a conference that fostered in an eighty-year era of peace between the Federation and the Klingon Empire . ( Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country )

Later career [ ]

Admiral McCoy touring the USS Enterprise -D with Data in 2364

On stardate 41153.7 , 71 years after the decommissioning of the Enterprise -A, the 137-year old Admiral Leonard McCoy inspected the medical layout of the USS Enterprise -D during its first mission; still refusing to use the transporter, he was ferried to the ship by shuttlecraft before he was escorted to the USS Hood by Lieutenant Commander Data . He commented on the great significance of the ship's name to Data, telling him, " You treat her like a lady... and she'll always bring you home. " ( TNG : " Encounter at Farpoint ")

Fictional or exaggerated stories about McCoy [ ]

McCoy's big open-mouth grin

While in an argument with Montgomery Scott , Arex and M'Ress about the holodeck , D'Vana Tendi told Scotty that the rec room was a far cry from the holodeck . She references back to the time that McCoy, Sulu and Uhura were in the rec room experiencing a "boring snowstorm ," as she called it. ( VST : " Walk, Don't Run ")

During a song that was sung by a Post Mainframe Acid-Cardassian Ten Forwardcore band on the bridge of the USS Enterprise , Leonard McCoy could be seen in a variety of clips on the main viewer that were played .

The first clip showed Doctor McCoy beaming with a landing party consisting of himself, James T. Kirk , Montgomery Scott and Spock . They were all shown wearing life support belts , as they apparently beamed down to a location where it was impossible for them to breathe . The next clip shows McCoy with a big open- mouth grin on his face . ( VST : " Walk, Don't Run ")

• Commendations: Legion of Honor
• Awards of Valor: Decorated by Starfleet Surgeons
• Comparative Alien Physiology by Dr. McCoy was required reading at Starfleet Medical Academy through the 2370s
• Capellan Teer Leonard James Akaar was named after McCoy (and his captain), after McCoy delivered him in 2267
• Admiral McCoy was invited to tour the USS Enterprise -D , during her maiden voyage in 2364
• Holographic Doctors , under development in the late 24th century , included McCoy in their templates

Family and relationships [ ]

David McCoy

An early ancestor of McCoy's, his great-great-grandfather , was a noted gardener , having had one of the finest gardens in the South. He also was noted for having developed his own recipe for weed spray . ( TAS : " The Infinite Vulcan ")

A famous McCoy family recipe for Southern baked beans dated back several generations. McCoy prepared a batch for Kirk and Spock during their camping trip in 2287. ( Star Trek V: The Final Frontier )

McCoy suffered many family hardships early on in life, which helped mold him into the prominent individual he eventually became. It began when McCoy was forced to face the harsh reality of his father's bout with a painful, incurable disease.

His father pleaded with McCoy to release him from the pain, but McCoy could not, as he was adamant he could find a cure. Seeing his father suffer so painfully, however, moved McCoy to soon acquiesce and take his father off life support.

Only weeks later, a cure was discovered, and McCoy subsequently lived many years in regret for causing his father's apparently needless death. However, Spock's estranged half-brother Sybok was able to relieve McCoy of this regret by helping him realize that it wasn't his fault. ( Star Trek V: The Final Frontier )

McCoy eventually married and had a daughter named Joanna . Sadly, McCoy's marriage ended in a bitter divorce, separating him from his daughter and deepening his hardships. ( citation needed • edit ) His daughter eventually moved to the planet Cerberus to attend school, where she nearly died, in 2259 , when the planet experienced a crop failure. Fortunately, the kind actions of Carter Winston saved Cerberus. McCoy was grateful for this deed and expressed his most sincere thanks to Winston ten years later, when the Enterprise rescued him. ( TAS : " The Survivor ")

Natira McCoy

In 2254 , McCoy became romantically involved with the future Nancy Crater . Nancy nicknamed her beloved boyfriend " Plum ". They walked out of each other's lives in 2256 , and did not see each other again, although in 2266 , McCoy met a creature who mimicked Nancy. ( TOS : " The Man Trap ")

In 2268 (during his stay on the Yonada ), McCoy fell in love with and married Natira . Although the removal of his instrument of obedience technically annulled their marriage, McCoy and Natira still felt strongly for each other and he asked her to come with him when he left. She declined, indicating that her place was with her people.

The two planned to be reunited just over a year later, when Yonada reached the star system that was to be the new home for its people. ( TOS : " For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky ")

Friendship [ ]

Sharing a drink in 2266

McCoy was not above kicking back with a good drink with the captain now and again, regularly keeping stashes of vintage saurian brandy and other libations with the controlled substances in sickbay. He was the only Enterprise crewmember who routinely addressed Kirk by his first name, (though Spock did occasionally as well). ( TOS : " The Corbomite Maneuver ", " The Enemy Within ")

McCoy displayed a fondness for alcoholic beverages of his region of Earth, such as Kentucky bourbon and Tennessee whiskey , his favorite drink was believed to be the mint julep . ( TOS : " This Side of Paradise ") He also made a Finagle's Folly "known from here to Orion ." ( TOS : " The Ultimate Computer ") He was even known to put whiskey in baked beans. ( Star Trek V: The Final Frontier ) He also used his connections to procure quantities of prohibited alien drinks such as Romulan ale, which he says was used only for "medicinal purposes." ( Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan )

His closest friends aboard the Enterprise included Captain Kirk and, begrudgingly, Spock. McCoy's friendship with Kirk dated back well before Kirk took command of the Enterprise , and he often served as a sounding board and voice of conscience for the young captain.

His legendary feud with the half-Vulcan science officer (borne more from dispute over the merits of emotion versus logic rather than true prejudice) camouflaged the genuine mutual respect and friendship the two had. Over time, the three appeared to form nearly a single personality, with McCoy ever emotional and passionate, Spock ever objective and logical, and Kirk intuitive; the focus, direction and driving force combining the best of the other two.

While he and Kirk were observing Spock's marriage rites on Vulcan, McCoy suddenly found himself watching his two best friends in a fight to the death over the entranced Spock's betrothed. In a covert, underhandedly sneaky Human move, he tipped the scales of the fight and saved Kirk's life when he ostensibly injected Kirk with a tri-ox compound respiratory aid when he was actually injecting him with a neural paralyzer . When Kirk appeared dead, Spock snapped out of his trance and ended the marriage, only to gleefully find Kirk alive back on the Enterprise a short time later. ( TOS : " Amok Time ")

On Minara II, the Vians kidnapped Kirk, Spock, and McCoy and forced them to choose which one would die in their experiments. Sacrificing himself for the others against their will, McCoy submitted to a level of torture which nearly killed him. The empathic Gem, another of the Vian's prisoners, healed McCoy's injuries.

It was all a test, to determine if Gem's people were worthy of the Vian's salvation from Minara's own supernova. ( TOS : " The Empath ")

Memorable quotes [ ]

About mccoy [ ].

• "...the Admiral's a rather remarkable man." - Worf ( TNG : " Encounter at Farpoint ")

By McCoy [ ]

• " I'm a doctor, not a... " (various episodes)
• " He/she's dead, Jim. " (various episodes)
• " My god, man! " (various episodes)
• " I never say that. " ( TOS : " The Corbomite Maneuver ")
• " What's the matter, Jim, don't you trust yourself? " ( TOS : " The Corbomite Maneuver ")
• " I signed aboard this ship to practice medicine, not to have my atoms scattered back and forth across space by this gadget. " ( TOS : " Space Seed ")
• " Shut up, Spock, we're rescuing you! " ( TOS : " The Immunity Syndrome ")
• " Hey, Jim-boy, y'all ever have a real cold, Georgia-style mint julep, huh? " ( TOS : " This Side of Paradise ")
• " Do you want to see just how fast I can put you in a hospital? " ( TOS : " This Side of Paradise ")
• " By golly, Jim – I'm beginning to think I can cure a rainy day! " ( TOS : " The Devil in the Dark ")
• " I'm trying to thank you, you pointed-eared hobgoblin! " ( TOS : " Bread and Circuses ")
• " A child could do it... a child could do it... " ( TOS : " Spock's Brain ")
• " Because I'm a doctor, that's how I know! " ( TOS : " Friday's Child ")
• " Spock, I've found that evil usually triumphs - unless good is very, very careful. " ( TOS : " The Omega Glory ")
• " Just a moment, Captain, Sir, I'll explain what happened. Your revered Admiral Nogura invoked a little-known, seldom-used reserve activation clause. In simpler language, Captain, they drafted me! " ( Star Trek: The Motion Picture )
• " Well, Jim, I hear Chapel's an MD now. Well, I'm gonna need a top nurse, not a doctor who'll argue every little diagnosis with me. And they probably redesigned the whole sickbay too! I know engineers, they love to change things! " ( Star Trek: The Motion Picture )
• " Jim, I'm your doctor and I'm your friend. Get back your command. Get it back before you turn into part of this collection. Before you really do grow old. " ( Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan )
• (Upon learning he was the recipient of Spock's katra via a mind-meld) " That green-blooded son-of-a-bitch. It's his revenge for all those arguments he lost. " ( Star Trek III: The Search for Spock )
• (As Kirk watches the hulk of the Enterprise burn up and asks McCoy: " My God Bones what have I done "?) " What you had to do, what you always do; turn death into a fighting chance to live. " ( Star Trek III: The Search for Spock )
• " Sounds like a Goddamn SPANISH INQUISITION to me! " ( Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home )
• (Arguing with a 20th century surgeon over treatment of Pavel Chekov) " My God man! Drilling holes in his head is not the answer! The artery must be repaired! Now put away your butcher knives and let me SAVE this patient! " ( Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home )
• " My God, Jim, where are we? " ( Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home )
• " The bureaucratic mentality is the only constant in the universe . We'll get a freighter . " ( Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home )
• " You really piss me off, Jim. " ( Star Trek V: The Final Frontier )
• " Jim, you don't ask the Almighty for His ID! " ( Star Trek V: The Final Frontier )
• " What's so damn troublesome about not having died?! " ( TNG : " Encounter at Farpoint ")
• " You treat her like a lady... and she'll always bring you home. " ( TNG : " Encounter at Farpoint ")

See also [ ]

• " I'm a doctor, not a... "
• " He's dead, Jim "

Chronology [ ]

• 2227 : Born on Earth .
• 2245 : Medical practice begins on or before this date
• 2249 : Daughter, Joanna , is born
• 2251 : Heads a massive inoculation program on Dramia II
• 2253 : Develops revolutionary surgical procedure, a cerebral-cortex/brain-tissue graft
• 2254 : Becomes romantically involved with Nancy Crater
• 2256 : Ends relationship with Nancy
• 2260s : As a lieutenant commander , visits Capella IV briefly before joining the Enterprise
• 2268 : Contracts xenopolycythemia ; briefly wed to Fabrini high priestess Natira
• 2269 : Promoted to commander
• 2270 : Retires from Starfleet at conclusion of Kirk 's five year mission
• 2270s : His commission is re-activated at Kirk's insistence, during V'ger crisis
• 2285 : On Enterprise , chief medical officer on a training cruise. Is a repository of Spock's katra.
• 2286 : Chief medical officer of the USS Enterprise -A
• 2293 : Imprisoned on Rura Penthe and subsequent escape helps to uncover the Khitomer conspiracy
• 2364 : Tours newly commissioned USS Enterprise -D

Appendices [ ]

Appearances [ ].

• " The Corbomite Maneuver "
• " Mudd's Women "
• " The Enemy Within "
• " The Man Trap "
• " The Naked Time "
• " Charlie X "
• " Balance of Terror "
• " Dagger of the Mind "
• " The Conscience of the King "
• " The Galileo Seven "
• " Court Martial "
• " The Menagerie, Part I "
• " Shore Leave "
• " The Squire of Gothos "
• " The Alternative Factor "
• " Tomorrow is Yesterday "
• " The Return of the Archons "
• " A Taste of Armageddon "
• " Space Seed "
• " This Side of Paradise "
• " The Devil in the Dark "
• " The City on the Edge of Forever "
• " Operation -- Annihilate! "
• " Catspaw "
• " Metamorphosis "
• " Friday's Child "
• " Who Mourns for Adonais? "
• " Amok Time "
• " The Doomsday Machine "
• " Wolf in the Fold "
• " The Changeling "
• " The Apple "
• " Mirror, Mirror "
• " The Deadly Years "
• " I, Mudd "
• " The Trouble with Tribbles "
• " Bread and Circuses "
• " Journey to Babel "
• " A Private Little War "
• " The Gamesters of Triskelion "
• " Obsession "
• " The Immunity Syndrome "
• " A Piece of the Action "
• " By Any Other Name "
• " Return to Tomorrow "
• " Patterns of Force "
• " The Ultimate Computer "
• " The Omega Glory "
• " Assignment: Earth "
• " Spectre of the Gun "
• " Elaan of Troyius "
• " The Paradise Syndrome "
• " The Enterprise Incident "
• " And the Children Shall Lead "
• " Spock's Brain "
• " Is There in Truth No Beauty? "
• " The Empath "
• " The Tholian Web "
• " For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky "
• " Day of the Dove "
• " Plato's Stepchildren "
• " Wink of an Eye "
• " That Which Survives "
• " Let That Be Your Last Battlefield "
• " Whom Gods Destroy "
• " The Mark of Gideon "
• " The Lights of Zetar "
• " The Cloud Minders "
• " The Way to Eden "
• " Requiem for Methuselah "
• " The Savage Curtain "
• " All Our Yesterdays "
• " Turnabout Intruder "
• " Beyond the Farthest Star "
• " Yesteryear "
• " One of Our Planets Is Missing "
• " The Lorelei Signal "
• " More Tribbles, More Troubles "
• " The Survivor "
• " The Infinite Vulcan "
• " The Magicks of Megas-Tu "
• " Once Upon a Planet "
• " Mudd's Passion "
• " The Terratin Incident "
• " The Time Trap "
• " The Ambergris Element "
• " The Eye of the Beholder "
• " The Pirates of Orion "
• " The Practical Joker "
• " Albatross "
• " How Sharper Than a Serpent's Tooth "
• " The Counter-Clock Incident "
• Star Trek: The Motion Picture
• Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
• Star Trek III: The Search for Spock
• Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
• Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
• Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
• Star Trek Beyond (photograph only)
• TNG : " Encounter at Farpoint "
• DS9 : " Trials and Tribble-ations " (archive footage)
• ST : " Ephraim and Dot "
• VST : " Walk, Don't Run " (archive footage)

Background information [ ]

Kelley in a screen test for his appearance in " Encounter at Farpoint "

Leonard McCoy was played by actor DeForest Kelley . In Star Trek III: The Search for Spock , a couple of lines spoken by McCoy while he was possessed by and in possession of Spock's katra were voiced by Leonard Nimoy .

An ultimately unused stage direction from the final revised draft script of TOS : " The Conscience of the King " described McCoy thus; " McCoy is tart in manner and somewhat privileged in behavior. "

Although McCoy doesn't appear in " The Menagerie, Part II ", he did feature in the script for that episode. Initially, there were a couple of incidences where he was mentioned, without having any lines of dialogue, entering the Enterprise 's hearing room , such as at the end of the episode's teaser , when he accompanied Scott into the room, eager to help Captain Kirk but unable to. When Christopher Pike needed rest later in the script, McCoy alone arrived to maneuver him, in his wheelchair , out of the room. McCoy also appeared in a deleted scene from "The Menagerie, Part II". In it, after again accompanying Scott into the hearing room, he was credited, by Scott, as having thought of a way to determine which of the Enterprise 's computer tapes Spock had jammed in order to lock the ship on a course to Talos IV . The solution McCoy had devised involved using a spectrograph beam to detect traces of copper salt from Vulcan sweat on the tapes Spock had touched. However, McCoy wished he'd thought of the method earlier than he had, as he considered it "elementary body chemistry." [1]

The Star Trek Concordance established that his daughter Joanna was born around 2249 , and was in training to become a nurse. It also established that although they wrote each other often, Dr. McCoy's duties aboard the USS Enterprise kept the two apart. The Star Trek Chronology provided additional background information on his divorce and his daughter. This scenario established that as a result of the divorce McCoy left the private practice (which he apparently rejoined in 2270 ) to join Starfleet. " The Way to Eden " was originally written for and titled "Joanna", but was however rewritten and Joanna became Irina Galliulin .

The Star Trek Encyclopedia speculated that Emony Dax and McCoy met around 2245 , this based on the fact that McCoy appeared to have not yet entered (or at least not yet completed) medical school when they knew each other. Jadzia Dax strongly implied that Bones and Emony were physically intimate, if only for a short time.

The animation for Star Trek: The Animated Series depicted McCoy as a full commander in both promotional artwork and in episode photography, although more than a few erroneous sequences of him with lieutenant commander insignia cropped up during the course of the series.

He was one of at least five Starfleet officers (along with Spock, Scott, Sulu, and Uhura) who had at some point served under James T. Kirk to have attained a rank of captain or above, as he was a retired admiral during the events of " Encounter at Farpoint ".

Apocrypha [ ]

The novels Provenance of Shadows and The Assassination Game have identified McCoy's middle name as "Horatio", but this was never established on screen. The novels The Romulan Way and Spock's World claim that his middle name is "Edward".

In David Gerrold 's Encounter at Farpoint novelization, McCoy served on three vessels named Enterprise before being promoted to admiral and head of Starfleet Medical . He finally retired from this position in 2354 and moved to a farm in present-day Georgia to live his old days peacefully. By 2364 , he had at least one great-great-grandchild from his daughter, Joanna.

According to Star Trek II: Biographies , McCoy was born in 24 October 2119 in Atlanta, Georgia to parents Robert Edward Lee McCoy and Maureen Abney. He has two brothers named Henry Clay McCoy and Landor Abney McCoy, and two sisters named Melissa Jane McCoy and Elizabeth Ashley McCoy. His ex-wife was named Elinor Lee.

Other novels and comics have given different names for McCoy's parents: David Andrew McCoy ( Star Trek V: The Final Frontier novelization) and Eleanora McCoy ( Star Trek III: The Search for Spock novelization). McCoy's ex-wife has variously been called Gillian ( Who's Who in Star Trek 1 ), Joann Zauber ( The Real McCoy ), Jocelyn Treadway ( Shadows on the Sun ) and Pamela Branch ( Bones ).

In the novel Crisis on Centaurus , McCoy has a sister named Donna Withers.

Michael Jan Friedman 's novel Shadows on the Sun elaborated on much of McCoy's backstory, particularly his marriage to Joanna's mother, Jocelyn Treadway ( β ).

The novel Shadows on the Sun had, as one of its subplots, the story of his marriage and divorce, when his ex-wife arrived on the Enterprise -A to help them deal with a crisis on a world that McCoy visited fresh out of medical school, only to die in the course of the mission – killed, ironically, by someone whose life McCoy saved on his first visit.

According to the video game Star Trek: Starship Creator , McCoy's mother is named Louise and his ex-wife is named Miriam.

In David R. George III 's novel, Provenance of Shadows , McCoy was portrayed as passing away peacefully in 2366 , at home on Earth in present-day Georgia. In this story, he was married to Tonia Barrows , who was also still alive at advanced age during the story. Although they had been married for decades, when they married isn't exactly known.

In William Shatner 's novels, McCoy was alive and well in 2379 thanks to the use of artificial body parts, many of which he developed (he claims to be on his third heart, has a new set of lungs grown each month, and had around ten meters of cloned intestines inside him). He helped Julian Bashir remove a Borg implant from Kirk's brain, advising the young physician as to what to do due to his elderly condition, and was subsequently the first person Kirk saw upon regaining consciousness.

Leonard McCoy in the 2380s

In the IDW Publishing comic Star Trek Special: Flesh and Stone , McCoy is still alive in the 2380s , living at the Viirre-5 Agricultural Cultivation Facility, and using a wheelchair similar to that of Christopher Pike .

In Star Trek Cats , McCoy is depicted as a gray-and-white longhair cat .

External links [ ]

• Leonard McCoy at StarTrek.com
• Leonard McCoy at Wikipedia
• Leonard McCoy at Memory Beta , the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
• Leonard McCoy at the Star Trek Online Wiki
• 1 Abdullah bin al-Hussein

DeForest Kelley, 'Dr. McCoy,' remembered 20 years after his death

It’s been 20 years since we lost Dr. McCoy.

DeForest Kelley , best remembered as “Star Trek’s” Leonard “Bones” McCoy, died from stomach cancer on June 11, 1999, at the Motion Pictures and Television Fund Hospital in Los Angeles. He was 79.

Before “Star Trek,” Kelley was known for his roles in westerns.

Kelley portrayed the Starship Enterprise’s chief medical officer in the original series, voiced the character in “Star Trek: The Animated Series,” and again played the character in the franchise’s first six motion pictures.

Kelley also appeared in the first episode of “Star Trek: The Next Generation” in 1987, as 137-year-old Admiral McCoy, in a scene with Brent Spiner as Data marking a hand-off of sorts from one generation to another.

While describing himself as just an “old country doctor” with a fear of using the ship’s transporter, Kelley’s McCoy is also remembered for saying the many things he wasn’t.

And his delivery of, “He’s dead, Jim,” has passed into common usage, even among non-Trek fans, almost as much as “Beam me up, Scotty.”

Of the seven members of the main original “Star Trek” cast, four are still with us — William Shatner (Kirk); Nichelle Nicohols (Uhura); George Takei (Sulu); and Walter Koenig (Chekov).

Takei is scheduled to appear at the next Steel City Con , which is being held at the Monroeville Convention Center from Aug. 9 to 11; Takei will be there that Saturday and Sunday only.

James Doohan , who was Chief Engineer Montgomery “Scotty” Scott, died July 20, 2005 at the age of 85; Spock actor Leonard Nimoy died on Feb. 27, 2015 at the age of 83.

Kelley received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1991.

Brian C. Rittmeyer is a TribLive reporter covering news in New Kensington, Arnold and Plum. A Pittsburgh native and graduate of Penn State University's Schreyer Honors College, Brian has been with the Trib since December 2000. He can be reached at [email protected] .

Remove the ads from your TribLIVE reading experience but still support the journalists who create the content with TribLIVE Ad-Free.

Get Ad-Free >

TribLIVE's Daily and Weekly email newsletters deliver the news you want and information you need, right to your inbox.

News Spotlight

• Capturing Spirituality on Screen: 3 Paths to Engagement and Preservation Through Video Agape Lane Ministry Partner News
• 4 Ways Professional Tree Services Can Enhance Your Property's Value BeaverJack Tree Service, LLC Partner News
• How to Improve Focus and Confidence Through Martial Arts Norwin Ninjas Partner News
• NFL Draft preview: In lean year for inside linebackers, Steelers can ride with veteran starters TribLive
• Candidate for Allegheny County's top elected office calls for stricter campaign finance laws TribLive
• Love it or hate it, feelings run high over candy corn come Halloween TribLive
• Watching the Solar Eclipse at Foggy Mountain Lodge: What You Need to Know Foggy Mountain Lodge Partner News
• Sewickley Academy track team collecting medals , Trib HSSN TribHSSN
• Rory McIlroy, Brian Harman share BMW Championship lead on a soft Olympia Fields TribLive
• What is the Role of Museums in Preserving History? Bradford House Historical Association Partner News

TV Talk: W.Pa.’s Sprankle family competes on ‘Family Feud’

• More to Explore
• Series & Movies

Published Apr 15, 2024

Michael Ansara Broke Barriers in Hollywood and Star Trek

For Arab-American History Month and Ansara's birthday, we're looking back at the life of the Commander Kang actor and those who followed in the Star Trek universe.

StarTrek.com

A series as representative of the present as it is of the future, Star Trek has been a trailblazer in showcasing the diversity in our own world without capitalizing on its stereotypes.

Actors such as Nichelle Nichols and George Takei, to Sonequa Martin-Green and Shazad Latif, have proven that Star Trek started and will always include multiracial communities while giving them their own distinct narratives. As we celebrate Arab-American Heritage Month, I am able to reflect on my own background as a Lebanese-American woman and recognize representation from this exact community within Star Trek . With a history of promoting diversity, it is no surprise that a significant Klingon Commander — in three separate series no less — is a notable member of the Arab-American community.

Michael Ansara, a voice and screen actor from the mid '40s to the late '90s, played the Klingon Commander Kang in The Original Series , Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , and Star Trek: Voyager . He can be seen in full Klingon garb in The Original Series' " Day of the Dove ," DS9's " Blood Oath ," and finally Voyager ’s " Flashback ."

"Day of the Dove"

The Lebanese and Syrian Ansara is originally from a small village within the French Mandate for Syria and Lebanon, and eventually immigrated with his family to America to pursue a new life. His father George Ansara was born in the states while his mother Cyria Sarah was born in Syria.

In America, Michael began to pursue an acting career that would lead to many pivotal roles in film and television. He's largely known for playing some of our favorite villains, stepping out of Klingon prosthetics to play roles like Killer Kane in Buck Rogers in the 25th Century and Mr. Freeze in Batman: The Animated Series . Eventually, he earned himself a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, paving a new road for this community of actors and their ability to book roles beyond aggressive and politically-charged stereotypes.

Although Ansara's success and popularity within both the Hollywood and Star Trek communities brought notoriety to Arabs (though not all American) in a creative space, there are several other instances throughout the Star Trek franchises that also lend a hand.

"Dr. Bashir, I Presume"

In Deep Space Nine , actor Alexander Siddig plays Dr. Julian Bashir, the Chief Medical Officer of space station Deep Space 9 and the U.S.S. Defiant .

Alexander Siddig, whose original stage name was Siddig El Fadil — a shortened version of his birth given name — was born in Sudan. Siddig spent most of his life in England and made his first television debut in A Dangerous Man: Lawrence After Arabia . It was from there that he was cast onto Deep Space Nine, and through that role, joined Ansara on the list of Arab actors from Trek who broke out of racial type-casting.

"Investigations"

In a less focal but equally interesting role played by an Arab, Star Trek: Voyager cast the actual King of Jordan, King Abdullah II, as a science officer in the episode " Investigations ."

While the role was uncredited, it can be seen listed in King Abdullah II’s IMDB page. While a seemingly random casting, it is common knowledge that King Abdullah II is a well known fan of the franchise. So much so that since 2011, he has been the primary investor in a Star Trek theme park that is to be built along the Gulf of Aqaba in Jordan. While the project is currently on hold, they have not announced official plans for a cancellation.

Star Trek Shows Muslim Fans an Inclusive Future

Star Trek has also, on multiple occasions, given an in-universe nod to the Arab culture and community through both filming locale and starship epithet.

In 2016's Star Trek Beyond , the massive, spherical "snowglobe" of Yorktown, as Bones called it, was filmed in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. Filming in Dubai allowed this beautiful sequence to be canonically characterized with images from a modern Arab society, normalizing the culture and environment rather than encouraging a stereotypical portrayal of its land.

In another modern example of influence from Arabian culture, Star Trek: Picard 's Cristóbal Rios, a former Starfleet officer, is mentioned to have served on a starship called the U.S.S. Ibn Majid . While easy to overlook, Ibn Majid is a reference to the name of a historically significant Arab navigator and cartographer. He was often titled the "Lion of the Sea," and some scholars claim that he is the navigator who aided in the journey of Vasco da Gama — the first European to sail to India.

Star Trek exists in a world where the Federation is a collaboration of all races, species and walks of life. It's significant to recognize that their namesake ships hail not after just Westernized fleets, but of important figures from around the world. U.S.S. Ibn Majid ’s existence amongst the Federation's history brings light to the accomplishments of Arab culture.

While, of course, there is a long road to traverse to achieve complete representation without misrepresentation when regarding both Arab-Americans and Arabs portrayed in American society, Star Trek has undeniably laid their own stone in that path. As the franchises continue, so will the notion that in Star Trek , the future looks like us.

Get Updates By Email

This article was originally published on April 21, 2020.

Alexa Carlucci (she/her) is the daughter of a Trekkie, an assistant at CBS, and is in no way connected to Amazon.

13 Times Star Trek: Voyager's EMH Said Bones McCoy's "I'm A Doctor, Not A ..."

• The Doctor, portrayed by Robert Picardo in Star Trek: Voyager, humorously uses Dr. McCoy's catchphrase, "I'm a doctor, not a...", and establishes franchise continuity.
• The Doctor showcases ethical integrity and progression, facing various challenges while maintaining a professional and exploratory purpose.
• Each instance of The Doctor saying McCoy's line highlights character development, relationships, and technology in intricate storylines.

Star Trek: Voyager 's Emergency Medical Hologram (EMH), AKA The Doctor (Robert Picardo), frequently repeated the iconic catchphrase of Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy (DeForest Kelley) from Star Trek: The Original Series. Somewhat temperamental and impatient, The Doctor was the Chief Medical Officer of the USS Voyager in the (initial) absence of other medical staff. Evolving considerably over Voyager 's seven seasons, Picardo's Doctor is an essential character who showcases not only creative talents and ability but also ethical and moralistic integrity with a professional and exploratory sense of purpose.

Joining Captain Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) and the cast of Star Trek: Voyager on their travels through the Delta Quadrant, Picardo's Doctor is progressive yet demonstrates several qualities that reflect traits or viewpoints from the franchise's past. One such facet is the use of the catchphrase, " I'm a doctor, not a ..." initially made famous by Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy in Star Trek: The Original Series . It's a nice nod to continuity, allowing Picardo's technologically unusual character a grounded sense of familiarity and purpose. Here's a look at every time Voyager 's Doctor said Bones McCoy's most famous line.

How To Watch All Star Trek TV Shows In Timeline Order

"i'm a doctor, mr. neelix, not a decorator.", star trek: voyager season 1, episode 5 - "phage".

Star Trek: Voyager season 1, episode 5, "Phage," marks the first instance of The Doctor using Dr. McCoy's famous TOS catchphrase. In an amusing scene between an increasingly frustrated Doctor and an ailing Neelix (Ethan Phillips) , Picardo's determined Doctor administers vital medical treatment following the unexpected removal of Neelix's lungs. Despite his condition, Neelix maintains a healthy spirit and even makes a lengthy list of requests for improved comfort and aesthetic enjoyment, suggesting the addition of " a nice tapestry or a painting " and commenting on the ugly sickbay ceiling. The Doctor remarks that he is " a doctor, Mr. Neelix, not a decorator ," and delegates the requested tasks.

This Star Trek: Voyager season 1 scene showcases the resilience of both characters - each discomforted by their unexpected circumstances and ongoing events yet masking concerns with surface-level frustration and ambivalence. Despite the Doctor's electronic and emotional nature, Picardo's character demonstrates real patience and an appropriately gentle countenance designed to comfort and care for patients.

"I'm a doctor, not a performer."

Star trek: voyager season 2, episode 20 - "investigations".

Appointed as the USS Voyager's official morale officer, Neelix designs an " uplifting and optimistic " daily news program to be broadcast to the ship and attempts to enlist other officers for different segments. The Doctor initially dismisses Neelix's request, saying, " I'm a doctor, not a performer. I don't have time for such nonsense ." Neelix perseveres, suggesting a segment on " healthful living " and suggesting that such a feature might considerably propel the Doctor's celebrity and influence within the crew.

The Doctor later reconsiders and demands two segments from a distracted Neelix the following day: how to keep your nostrils happy and the hidden mysteries of the adrenal gland. Star Trek: Voyager , season 2, episode 20 offers a sentimental insight into the Doctor's slightly nerdy personality and multi-character perspectives on life on board a starship, countering the soft glimpses with an overall plot around espionage and deception.

"I'm a doctor, not a bartender."

Star trek: voyager season 2, episode 6 - "twisted".

An unexpected spatial anomaly interrupts Kes' (Jennifer Lien) surprise birthday party in the ship's holodeck and envelops the USS Voyager with an energy field. The Doctor, attending as the simulated scenario's bartender, clarifies that his presence is primarily in an official capacity and lists several unpleasant potential medical conditions that could arise. As Voyager's communications and technological systems malfunction, the Doctor's attempts to return to sickbay and leave the holodeck are unsuccessful. Having drawn the attention of the overly-affectionate simulated bar's owner, Sandrine (Judy Geeson), Picardo's exasperated Doctor exclaims, " How many times do I have to tell you, Madam, I am a doctor, not a bartender."

It deftly weaves intimate character narratives with grand and perplexing confrontations with the unknown.

The multilayered Star Trek: Voyager season 2, episode 6 is a testament to the show's intricate storytelling. It deftly interweaves intimate character narratives with grand and perplexing confrontations with the unknown. The Voyager crew's collective response to the spatial anomaly, juxtaposed with the holographic Doctor's struggle to return to sickbay and his inadvertent antagonizing of several other holographic characters, adds layers of complexity, amusement, and endearment.

"I'm a doctor, not a voyeur."

Star trek: voyager season 2, episode 7 - "parturition".

The USS Voyager sets course to a planet rich in protein and amino acid readings, dubbed "Planet Hell," to alleviate the ship's growing food issues . Star Trek: Voyager season 2, episode 7 sees essential progression in the characterization of several crucial Voyager crew members and their respective relationships, balancing the more weighty developments with less profound interactions among the ship-board crew.

As Voyager approaches the planet, the Doctor contacts the bridge. Having eavesdropped on a conversation between Captain Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) and Commander Chakotay (Robert Beltran) , the Doctor informs them of a skin irritation issue from the planet's trigemic vapors and suggests that automatic EMH inclusion in such discussions would prevent the need for routine eavesdropping to " monitor issues involving the health of the crew." As Janeway questions the frequency of this habit, the Doctor says, " I'm a doctor, not a voyeur. I am programmed to be discreet."

Star Trek: Voyager Series Ending Explained - How The Crew Gets Home

"i'm a doctor, not a counter-insurgent.", star trek: voyager season 3, episode 1 - "basics, part ii".

Star Trek: Voyager 's gripping season 3 premiere episode continues the Voyager season 2 finale as the back half of a major Star Trek: Voyager two-parter . With the bulk of the USS Voyager crew stranded and struggling for survival on a desolate and hostile planet, only a few officers remain on board the starship with 89 villainous Kazon.

The Doctor is not just a hologram - he is a Starfleet hologram.

Following examining a young child - the first Cardassian-Kazon hybrid - the Doctor ponders aloud about the futility of the ship's current situation and the limitations of his holographic presence. Asking, " What am I supposed to do? Lead a revolt with a gang from Sandrine's? Conjure up holograms of Nathan Hale and Che Guevara? I'm a doctor, not a counter-insurgent . " The characteristically dramatic statement and subsequent theorizing about a self-taught program on guerrilla warfare adds mounting tension to the unfolding events, culminating in a realization that the Doctor is not just a hologram - he is a Starfleet hologram.

"I'm a doctor, not a database."

Star trek: voyager season 3, episode 9 - "future's end, part ii".

In this second part of another Star Trek: Voyager two-parter , Captain Kathryn Janeway and the USS Voyager attempt to preserve the security of the past after the ship is heavily damaged by Henry Starling's (Ed Begley Jr.) attack in the previous episode. Starling, having downloaded a proportion of Voyager's databanks - including the Emergency Medical Hologram program - equips The Doctor with a mobile holo-emitter and later schemes to travel into the future to steal more advanced technology

Star Trek: Voyager season 3, episode 9 introduces a significant character development for the Doctor, with the implementation of a major hardware upgrade.

When Starling demands Captain Kathryn Janeway 's psychological profile from The Doctor, the defiant EMH responds, "I'm a doctor, not a database," Starling comments, "I'd say you're a little bit of both," referring to the hologram's technological makeup. Star Trek: Voyager season 3, episode 9 introduces significant character development for the Doctor, with the implementation of a major hardware upgrade.

"I'm a doctor, not a peeping Tom."

Star trek: voyager season 5, episode 2 - "drone".

The Doctor's mobile holo emitter is damaged during a survey mission when the shuttlecraft encounters spatial turbulence. Back on the USS Voyager, Lt. B'Elanna Torres (Roxann Dawson) informs the Doctor that some circuits in the mobile emitter were fused during transport back to the ship. The following morning, oblivious to social cues and normalcy, The Doctor calls for an update at an inopportune moment , leading to an amusingly awkward situation.

As Lt. Torres prepares to enter a sonic shower, The Doctor tells her, " I'm a doctor, not a peeping Tom. There's nothing I haven't seen before. " Frustrated, Torres throws her towel over the communications display screen. Despite the Doctor's general demonstration of respect, consideration, and patient confidentiality, moments such as this underscore the character's lack of social sensitivity and an accompanying sense of empathy and humility, resulting in an odd blend of personality traits for a character whose entire existence is designed for healthy interactions with others.

"I'm a doctor, not a battery."

Star trek: voyager season 5, episode 13 - "gravity".

The Doctor, Tuvok (Tim Russ) , and Lt. Tom Paris (Robert Duncan McNeill) are stranded on a desert planet when their shuttle crash lands in a temporally distorted area of space. Following the repair of the Doctor's damaged mobile emitter, Tuvok suggests that the EMH program should stay offline as much as possible, given the limited resources to preserve the option of the emitter as a power source. Affronted, the Doctor exclaims, "I'm a doctor, not a battery , " drily adding that Paris' sub-par hunting skills should perhaps necessitate a similar status.

The Doctor's limited scope in "Gravity" highlights an adaptability and innate frustration at technological limitations.

Star Trek: Voyager season 5, episode 13 is bittersweet, told in a series of flashbacks, with Tuvok exploring the lessons of his past to make sense of his present. The curious exploration of race, technology, and natural phenomena is rich and considered, with the characters' sentiments and outlooks working to complement and disrupt. Despite the enhanced potential of Picardo's character, the Doctor's limited scope in "Gravity" highlights an adaptability and innate frustration at technological limitations.

1 Star Trek Actor Starred Alongside 5 Classic Captains

"i'm a doctor, not a dragon slayer.", star trek: voyager season 5, episode 14 - "bliss".

Star Trek: Voyager, season 5, episode 14, "Bliss," offers an interesting premise involving The Doctor. The Voyager crew is affected by a giant " beast " capable of neurogenic telepathy and manipulation. Amid several other unaffected crew members, Picardo's Doctor identifies peculiarities in the crew's dopamine levels and becomes suspicious. Although The Doctor is promptly deactivated to prevent interference in the creature's scheme, the EMH is later reactivated and ultimately instrumental in saving the ship.

Following the creature's defeat, The Doctor is offered a place to work alongside Qatai (W. Morgan Shepard). The Doctor responds, " I'm a doctor, not a dragon slayer. My program requires that I do no harm ." Interestingly, the Doctor uses a similar phrase upon reactivation in Voyager's sickbay when Qatai requests access to the ship's weapons manifest, stating, " This is a sickbay, not an arsenal ." "Bliss" showcases the Doctor's proclivities towards peace and well-being against a backdrop of disruption and telepathic and biological manipulation.

"I'm a doctor, not a zoo keeper."

Star trek: voyager season 6, episode 24 - "life line".

Voyager's Doctor temporarily transfers to the Alpha Quadrant's Jupiter Station to treat the creator of the Emergency Medical Hologram, Lewis Zimmerman (Robert Picardo), who is dying of a fatal condition. Believing he can adapt a Borg regeneration technique, The Doctor's files are condensed for efficient transport. However, it soon becomes clear that Zimmerman is not particularly interested in the Doctor's aid.

In Star Trek: Voyager , season 6, episode 24, "Life Line," Robert Picardo plays two visually similar characters - one human, one electronic. With the aid of Counsellor Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis) , the Doctor ultimately achieves a successful medical outcome despite Zimmerman's attitude. When the Doctor deactivates Dr. Zimmerman's talking holographic iguana Leonard with an explanatory " I'm a doctor, not a zoo keeper, " Zimmerman electronically transfers the EMH to another room. It's a whimsical and frustrating study of family, stubbornness, and fear, with the characters' similarities and differences working well to heighten the drama, tension, and chaos.

"I'm a doctor, not an engineer."

Star trek: voyager season 7, episode 9 - "flesh and blood".

Star Trek: Voyager season 2, episode 9, "Flesh and Blood," is the first installment of a two-part story in which the USS Voyager crew encounters the Hirogen, a race of hunters, and a ship of holograms. When The Doctor's program is stolen by a fleeing vessel, the EMH appears on a ship of holograms needing his medical expertise. The Doctor protests that he is " a doctor, not an engineer ."As Picardo's The Doctor argues that the technological nature of the damaged holograms requires repair from an engineer, not healing from a doctor, the officer in charge, Iden (Jeff Yagher), convinces the reluctant EMH to offer assistance. The Doctor's connection to both crews provides an exciting, deep insight into Picardo's evolving and complex EMH character. Part of and loyal to the Voyager crew, the Doctor shares significant overlap in physical presence with the holograms.

"I'm a doctor, not a commando."

Star trek: voyager season 4 episode 14 - "message in a bottle".

Robert Picardo's Doctor risks uncertain transportation to the USS Prometheus in the far-away Alpha Quadrant in Star Trek: Voyager , season 4, episode 14, "Message in a Bottle." Teaming up with the initially-hesitant medical hologram EMH-2 (Andy Dick), the Doctor must figure out how to reclaim the ship from Romulans to complete his mission and contact Starfleet. Intelligently exploring the technological capacity and ingenuity of the Doctor's holographical nature and abilities through character interaction and upgrade, "Message in a Bottle" uses the Doctor as a beacon of hope and accessibility.

The evolving interaction between Picardo's Doctor and the EMH-2 is an amusing and fascinating display of sophisticated Starfleet programming.

The evolving interaction between Picardo's Doctor and the EMH-2 is an amusing and fascinating display of sophisticated Starfleet programming. Quickly identifying the Doctor as an " inferior " design, the EMH-2 comments on the " beady eyes" and " inferior bedside manner " and deactivates its program to await rescue. When Voyager's Doctor reactivates the program and insists they work together to retake the ship, the EMH-2 claims, " I'm a doctor, not a commando ."

"I'm a doctor, not a door stop."

Star trek: first contact.

Robert Picardo plays the EMH Mark I Doctor on the USS Enterprise-E in Star Trek: First Contact . Faced with invasion by the Borg and imminent assimilation on the Enterprise, Dr. Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden) activates the Emergency Medical Hologram and orders a diversion to allow the crew to flee to safety. The Doctor responds, " This isn't part of my program. I'm a doctor, not a doorstop. " Ultimately, the Doctor offers the attacking drones an analgesic cream for theoretical skin irritation caused by Borg implants.

While the EMH in Star Trek: First Contact isn't the same Doctor as on Star Trek: Voyager , it's a crowd-pleasing movie cameo for Robert Picardo.

The Doctor is a fascinating character in Star Trek: Voyager and the overall franchise, offering a slow yet complex look at evolving technology and its relationship with individualism. Ironically, then, The Doctor's regular use of Dr. Leonard McCoy's catchphrase is not indicative of this quality but instead offers an upbeat and nostalgic nod to franchise continuity, simultaneously developing a sense of affection and warmth to Picardo's iconic and creatively ambitious character.

Star Trek: Voyager and Star Trek: The Original Series are available to stream on Paramount+.

Star Trek: Voyager

Release Date May 23, 1995

Network UPN

Star Trek: The Original Series

Release Date September 8, 1966

Network NBC

DeForest Kelley (1920-1999)

IMDbPro Starmeter See rank

• 3 wins & 1 nomination

• 1966–1969 • 76 eps

• Viking 1 (voice)

• Dr. McCoy (voice)

• Dr. Leonard McCoy (voice)

• Adm. Leonard McCoy

• Prof. Hal Schaffer

• 22 episodes

• Jack Potter

• Dr. Goldstone
• performer: "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" (uncredited)

• performer: "Cindy"

Personal details

• De Forest Kelley
• 5′ 10½″ (1.79 m)
• January 20 , 1920
• Toccoa, Georgia, USA
• June 11 , 1999
• Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA (stomach cancer)
• Carolyn Dowling September 7, 1945 - June 11, 1999 (his death)
• No Children
• Parents Ernest David Kelley
• Relatives Calvert DeForest (Cousin)
• Other works (mid-1970s) Album: Appears on Gene Roddenberry 's LP "Inside Star Trek" on which he is interviewed by Roddenberry.
• 2 Print Biographies
• 9 Interviews
• 1 Pictorial
• 6 Magazine Cover Photos

Did you know

• Trivia He was the most well-liked of the Star Trek (1966) cast and the only one that no one had a feud with at any point.
• Quotes [on why he chose to play Dr. McCoy instead of Mr. Spock on Star Trek (1966) ] I wouldn't have been anywhere near Leonard Nimoy . He's marvelous.
• Trademarks Catchphrase: "I'm a Doctor, not a..." said whenever McCoy was forced to do something he was unfamiliar with.
• Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country ( 1991 ) $1,000,000
• When did DeForest Kelley die?
• How did DeForest Kelley die?
• How old was DeForest Kelley when he died?

Related news

Contribute to this page.

• Learn more about contributing

More to explore

Add demo reel with IMDbPro

How much have you seen?

Recently viewed

Screen Rant

Star trek 4 has to happen in 2026.

Star Trek 4 is still in development, but J.J. Abrams' sequel needs to make a 2026 release date to celebrate a huge Star Trek milestone.

• Star Trek 4 is crucial for the 60th anniversary celebration in 2026 to honor the franchise's legacy with a big-screen mainstream blockbuster.
• Star Trek 4 is in development with new screenwriter Steve Yockey.
• Star Trek: Strange New Worlds offers an opportunity to honor the 60-year milestone with Kirk and Spock on the USS Enterprise.

Star Trek 4 needs to be released in 2026 to properly celebrate Star Trek 's momentous 60th anniversary. Star Trek: The Original Series premiered on September 8, 1966, and the franchise is going stong going into its sixth decade. The J.J. Abrams-produced Star Trek 4 is currently in active development with new writer Steve Yockey tackling script duties. Star Trek 4 has the opportunity to honor Star Trek 's 60th-anniversary milestone and continue the adventures of Captain James T. Kirk (Chris Pine), Spock (Zachary Quinto), and the beloved USS Enterprise crew in Star Trek 's alternate Kelvin Timeline.

In 1996, Star Trek celebrated its 30th anniversary with crossover episodes in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Voyager . DS9 's “Trials and Tribble-ations” sent Captain Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks) and his crew back to the 23rd century to save Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) and the USS Enterprise. Voyager 's "Flashback" featured Captain Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) interacting with Captain Sulu (George Takei) and Commander Janice Rand (Grace Lee Whitney). However, Star Trek ’s 40th anniversary passed without much fanfare, although Star Trek Beyond was released in 2016 to mark Star Trek' s 50th anniversary. Star Trek 4 must now seize the opportunity to release in 2026 to honor Star Trek 's 60th anniversary .

Every Star Trek Movie Ranked (From Worst To Best)

Star trek 4 has to release in 2026 for star trek’s 60th anniversary, star trek beyond, the franchise's latest movie, was released in 2016.

The 60th anniversary of Star Trek in 2026 presents a perfect opportunity for the release of Star Trek 4 in tandem with wider franchise celebrations. Despite persistent interest from fans and cast members, a movie continuation of the alternate Kelvin Timeline has been in development hell for almost a decade. Star Trek 4 offers a return of the Chris Pine-led USS Enterprise cast for what has been dubbed its “ final chapter .” While details remain unknown, the timing for Star Trek 4 is crucial. Ten years after the release of Star Trek Beyond , Star Trek 4 must embrace the 60th anniversary deadline to avoid missing a huge opportunity.

Star Trek evolved from a groundbreaking science fiction show into a cult phenomenon.

A 2026 movie release would make Star Trek 4 the centerpiece of Star Trek' s 60th anniversary celebrations . Aligning with other franchise festivities to blend innovation, continuity, and tradition would appeal to longtime fans and modern audiences and offer a unique chance to celebrate everything and everyone great about Star Trek . Celebrating 60 years since Star Trek began and evolved from a groundbreaking science fiction show into a pop culture phenomenon and multi-decade global movement, Star Trek 4 could unify the franchise's legacy with a modern generation and pave the way for a new era of Star Trek .

Star Trek On Paramount Plus Can Also Mark Star Trek’s 60th Anniversary

But a new star trek movie in theaters is a bigger draw for star trek's 60th anniversary.

Paramount+ positions itself as " the home of Star Trek ," but uncertainties loom over the future of Star Trek content on the platform, with shows like Star Trek: Discovery and Star Trek: Lower Decks coming to an end. Multiple Star Trek series cancelations diminish Paramount+’s potential to celebrate Star Trek's 60th anniversary with a wide range of legacy characters through animation, archive footage, or live-action. In 2026, only two Star Trek shows are expected to be streaming on Paramount+: Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and Star Trek: Starfleet Academy.

Director Toby Haynes's Untitled Star Trek Origin Movie has been announced for a 2025 release.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is Paramount+'s best bet to honor Star Trek's 60th anniversary. Strange New Worlds is renewed for season 4 , which could potentially be released in 2026 following season 3's expected 2025 premiere. Since it also has Lt. Spock (Ethan Peck) and Lt. James T. Kirk (Paul Wesley) aboard the Starship Enterprise, Strange New Worlds is Paramount+'s best opportunity to honor Star Trek's 60 years . However, the return of Captain Kirk, Spock, and the USS Enterprise to movie screens in a multiplex blockbuster like Star Trek 4 would be an even bigger event to capture mainstream audiences in 2026 and give Star Trek 's 60th anniversary the prestige it deserves.

All Star Trek series (except Prodigy), and J.J. Abrams' Star Trek movies are available to stream on Paramount+.

Star Trek: Prodigy is available to stream on Netflix.

Star Trek movies I-X are available to stream on Max.

Star Trek 4