in the first Star Trek: The Next Generation episode, "Encounter at Farpoint", in which he portrayed a 137-year-old Dr. McCoy. For his final film, Kelley provided the voice of Viking 1 in The Brave Little Toaster Goes to Mars. Later in life, Kelley developed an interest in poetry, eventually publishing the first of two books in an unfinished series, The Big Bird's Dream and The Dream Goes On. In a TLC interview done in the late 1990s, Kelley joked that one of his biggest fears was that the words etched on his gravestone would be "He's dead, Jim". Kelley's obituary in Newsweek'' began: "We're not even going to try to resist: He's dead, Jim". He stated the year before his death that his legacy would be the many people McCoy had inspired to become doctors; "That's something that very few people can say they've done. I'm proud to say that I have". In 1991, Kelley received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 1999, shortly before he died, he was awarded a Golden Boot award for his contribution to the genre of Western television and movies. Health and death Kelley was diagnosed with stomach cancer in 1997, from which he died on June 11, 1999, aged 79, at the Motion Picture and Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles. His remains were cremated and the ashes were spread over the Pacific Ocean. Filmography Film Television Video games References Further reading External links DeForest Kelley (1920-1999) New Georgia Encyclopedia Amctv.com Article about Kelley's Western Career Interview with Kris Smith who looked after Kelley in his final year – The Spectrum, February 2016. Interview with DeForest Kelley from KVUE at Texas Archive of the Moving Image 1920 births 1999 deaths Male actors from Georgia (U.S. state) American male film actors American male television actors Baptists from Georgia (U.S. state) Deaths from cancer in California Deaths from stomach cancer First Motion Picture Unit personnel Male actors from Atlanta People from Toccoa, Georgia United States Army Air Forces soldiers 20th-century American male actors Western (genre) television actors Male Western (genre) film actors 20th-century Baptists