Redshirt Deaths in TOS

In The Original Series under Captain Kirk's command, Enterprise crew members of "minor importance" were frequently killed by hostile aliens or in freak accidents, in landing parties as well as aboard the ship. Purportedly most of them wore the red uniform shirt of the engineering/security department, which earned the stock character of an expendable crewman the name "Redshirt" in popular culture. The following is a complete list of all casualties during the original Enterprise's five-year mission, with some interesting statistics.

List of Casualties

We could witness the deaths of the following crew members on screen, or they were reported to have died. The casualties are listed in chronological order (by production numbers).

Season 1 excl. "The Cage"
Color	Rank	Name	Position	Sex	Image	Cause of death	Place	Annotations	Episode
	9 unspecified crew members					Died as the chip crossed the Galactic Barrier	Enterprise	These deaths all happen off screen.	"Where No Man Has Gone Before"
	Lieutenant	Lee Kelso	Navigator	Male		Strangled by Gary Mitchell	Delta Vega	These three deaths are the only ones of "notable" crew members in TOS, owing to the episode's nature as a pilot episode.
	Lieutenant Commander	Gary Mitchell	Helmsman	Male		Killed by Kirk with the help of ESP forces of Elizabeth Dehner, officially killed in action
	Lieutenant	Dr. Elizabeth Dehner	Psychiatrist	Female		Killed by ESP forces of Gary Mitchell, officially killed in action
	Crewman	Darnell	Medical assistant	Male		Killed by the M-113 creature through sodium chloride extraction	M-113		"The Man Trap"
	Crewman	Sturgeon	Uncertain	Male				Sturgeon and Green both seem to perform the duties of security officers, although their shirt colors don't indicate that. Green's death is discovered too late. The creature takes on his shape for a while and is beamed up in his guise.
	Crewman	Green	Uncertain	Male
	Crewman	Barnhart	Engineer (presumably)	Male			Enterprise
	Lieutenant Junior Grade	Joe Tormolen	Science officer	Male		Died of a minor injury inflicted on himself following a polywater intoxication	Enterprise, infection on Psi 2000		"The Naked Time"
	Lieutenant	Robert Tomlinson	Phaser control specialist	Male		Died of exposure to phaser coolant during Romulan attack	Enterprise	Tomlinson is one of only two "minor" crew members to be commemorated in some fashion at the end of the episode when Kirk speaks to his widow.	"Balance of Terror"
	Crewman	Mathews	Security officer	Male		Pushed down a cliff by Ruk	Exo III	The first two killed redshirts.	"What are Little Girls Made of?"
	Crewman	Rayburn	Security officer	Male		Suffocated by Ruk	Exo III	The first two killed redshirts.	"What are Little Girls Made of?"
	Lieutenant	Latimer	Shuttle pilot	Male		Killed by inhabitants of Taurus II after crash of shuttlecraft Galileo	Taurus II		"The Galileo Seven"
	Lieutenant	Gaetano	Uncertain	Male
	Unknown	O'Neill	Uncertain	Unknown		Killed by inhabitants of Taurus II on the search for shuttlecraft Galileo		O'Neill's death happens off screen and is reported by Kelowitz.
	Ensign	O'Herlihy	Security officer	Male		Vaporized by Gorn weapon	Cestus III		"Arena"
	Lieutenant Commander	Lang	Security officer	Male		Killed in Gorn attack	Cestus III	Lang is wearing a yellow shirt, unlike his supposed position as a tactical officer would lead us to expect. He is killed off screen, as Kelowitz reports (once again).	"Arena"
	Crewman	Unknown	Security officer	Male		Killed by the Horta	Janus VI	This crewman is the only Enterprise crew member killed in this episode. All other casualties are miners from Janus VI.	"The Devil in the Dark"
Season 1 summary									Total: 26
Red: 4	Officers: 9			Male: 15		Killing: 16	Enterprise: 12
Blue: 4	Crewmen: 7			Female: 1		Accident: 9	Enterprise: 12
Yellow: 7	Unknown: 10			Unknown: 10		Disease: 1	Planet: 14
Unknown: 11	Unknown: 10			Unknown: 10		Disease: 1	Planet: 14

Season 2
Color	Rank	Name	Position	Sex	Image	Cause of death	Place	Annotations	Episode
	Lieutenant	Jackson	Uncertain	Male		Killed by Sylvia with "voodoo" magic	Pyris VII	Kirk refers to Jackson as "crewman", but he is wearing the stripes of a lieutenant. It is noteworthy that Kirk mentions Jackson's death in the end.	"Catspaw"
	Lieutenant	Grant	Security officer	Male		Killed by Capellans with a kligat after reaching for his phaser at the sight of a Klingon	Capella IV		"Friday's Child"
	Lieutenant	Karen Tracy	Medical technician	Female		Killed by the entity known as "Redjac" during a psychotricorder recording of Montgomery Scott	Argelius II	She is the first woman to die in the regular series.	"Wolf in the Fold"
	Lieutenant	2 security officers		Male		Vaporized by Nomad when trying to prevent the probe from leaving confinement	Enterprise		"The Changeling"
	Lieutenant	Carlisle	Security officer	Male		Vaporized by Nomad when trying to prevent the probe from taking a wrong turn		Kirk orders two guards to accompany Nomad. When we see Nomad with two officers in the turbolift a bit later, Carlisle has replaced one of them. Carlisle's voice could be identified earlier in the episode.
	Lieutenant	Unknown	Security officer	Male				This is the other officer who was originally with Nomad when Kirk ordered the probe to follow them.
	Crewman	Hendorff	Security officer	Male		Killed by thorns of a poisonous plant	Gamma Trianguli VI	It remains to be said that Spock survives the poisonous plant, as well as the lightning.	"The Apple"
	Lieutenant	Kaplan	Security officer	Male		Struck by lightning
	Lieutenant	Mallory	Security officer	Male		Killed by explosive rock
	Lieutenant	Marple	Security officer	Male		Hit with a stick by Akuta		The fact that McCoy just kneels beside the motionless Marple and Spock's line "They [the People of Vaal] have learned to kill" are strong evidence that Marple was indeed killed, although Akuta didn't hit him too hard.
	Lieutenant	Arlene Galway	Uncertain	Female		Died of old age after undergoing a rapid aging process	Enterprise, infection on Gamma Hydra IV		"The Deadly Years"
	Crewman	Unknown	Security officer	Male		Killed by dikironium cloud through extraction of erythrocytes	Argus X	This crewman belongs to the first group attacked and killed by the cloud creature, right at the beginning. The two other officers in this group are Rizzo and Leslie. The same actor previously appeared in "The Changeling" as one of the two guards in the turbolift with Nomad and was killed too.	"Obsession"
	Lieutenant	Leslie	Security officer	Male			Argus X	Quite a few of the actors playing security officers returned from the dead. The particular dilemma with Leslie is that after his definite death in "Obsession" he can be seen prominently and frequently, and his name is called out a couple of times. It is very unlikely that Kirk could have declared Leslie dead prematurely. His pale face insinuates that he is missing far too many erythrocytes to be still alive (unlike Rizzo whose face still looks healthy and who dies nonetheless). Also, Kirk later confirms that two crewman have died. Since Rizzo is still alive at the time, he must refer to the unnamed security officer and Leslie. There may be indeed two characters (twins?). This would also alleviate the other huge problem, that in the course of TOS Leslie occupies so many different positions as if he could run the ship all alone, as a navigator, a science officer, a medical officer and, of course, as a security officer. Curiously, we can see Leslie with a red engineering suit and, in a different shot, with a yellow shirt during Kirk's announcement in "Assignment: Earth". This clearly indicates that these two are different people. Yet, this observation doesn't really help, since "Assignment: Earth" takes place after "Obsession".
	Ensign	Rizzo	Security officer	Male			Enterprise, after an attack on Argus X	Rizzo dies some time after the attack on his team. His death is mentioned in dialogue. Rizzo is played by Jerry Ayres, who previously portrayed the equally unlucky O'Herlihy in "Arena" (there with dark hair).
	Crewman	Unknown	Security officer	Male			Argus X	When Kirk beams down again for the "monster hunt", this crewman is in Garrovick's team when the cloud strikes. Garrovick remains unharmed, a third redshirt barely survives.
	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Male (probably)			Enterprise	Two crewmen are attacked when the cloud enters the ship. One dies, the other one has a chance of survival, according to Dr. McCoy.
	Crewman	Leslie Thompson	Yeoman	Female		Turned into a mineral cube by Rojan and crushed	Unnamed planet	She is the only female redshirt to be killed.	"By Any Other Name"
	Crewman	Harper	Engineer	Male		Vaporized by plasma flow activated by computer M-5 to restore its power supply	Enterprise		"The Ultimate Computer"
	Lieutenant	Galloway	Security officer	Male		Vaporized with a phaser by Captain Ronald Tracey	Omega IV	Galloway's death in "The Omega Glory" is absolutely certain. Yet, in "Turnabout Intruder" actor David L. Ross appears once again as a lieutenant of the ship's security. Here his character is credited as "Galoway" (with only one "l"), insinuating that someone who didn't pay attention indeed intended this officer to be the same Galloway, but the name is not mentioned in the episode. We should assume that the man from "Turnabout Intruder" is another person who just happens to resemble the late Galloway.	"The Omega Glory"
Season 2 summary									Total: 20
Red: 16	Officers: 14			Male: 17		Killing: 16	Enterprise: 8
Blue: 2	Crewmen: 5			Female: 3		Accident: 3	Enterprise: 8
Yellow: 1	Unknown: 1			Unknown: 0		Disease: 1	Planet: 12
Unknown: 1	Unknown: 1			Unknown: 0		Disease: 1	Planet: 12

Season 3
Color	Rank	Name	Position	Sex	Image	Cause of death	Place	Annotations	Episode
	Crewman	Watson	Engineer	Male		Killed by Kryton after discovering sabotage of the warp core	Enterprise		"Elaan of Troyius"
	Crewman	2 security officers		Male		Beamed into open space under the induced illusion that the ship was still in orbit	Enterprise		"And the Children Shall Lead"
	Crewman	Compton	Uncertain	Male		Died of rapid cellular decay after a small injury he suffered in hyperaccelerated state	Enterprise		"Wink of an Eye"
	Ensign	Wyatt	Transporter chief	Male		Killed by Losira's touch	Enterprise		"That Which Survives"
	Lieutenant	D'Amato	Geologist	Male			Kalandan outpost planet
	Crewman	John B. Watkins	Engineer grade 4	Male			Enterprise	Watkins's red overall is clearly equivalent to a red shirt.
	3 unspecified crew members					Died of Rigelian fever	Enterprise		"Requiem for Methuselah"
Season 3 summary									Total: 10
Red: 6	Officers: 2			Male: 7		Killing: 6	Enterprise: 9
Blue: 1	Crewmen: 5			Female: 0		Accident: 0	Enterprise: 9
Yellow: 0	Unknown: 3			Unknown: 3		Disease: 4	Planet: 1
Unknown: 3	Unknown: 3			Unknown: 3		Disease: 4	Planet: 1

TOS summary									Total: 56
Red: 26	Officers: 25			Male: 39		Killing: 38	Enterprise: 29	Average casualties per episode: 0.7
Blue: 7	Crewmen: 17			Female: 4		Accident: 12	Enterprise: 29	Episodes with casualties: 23
Yellow: 8	Unknown: 14			Unknown: 13		Disease: 6	Planet: 27	Most casualties: "Where No Man Has Gone Before" (9)
Unknown: 15	Unknown: 14			Unknown: 13		Disease: 6	Planet: 27	Most on-screen casualties: "The Man Trap", "The Changeling", "The Apple", "Obsession" (4)

Uncertain casualties These crew members were killed, but were likely revived in some fashion.
Color	Rank	Name	Position	Sex	Image	Cause of death	Place	Annotations	Episode
	Unknown	Sam	Unknown	Male		Spirited away by Charlie Evans, very likely restored off screen	Enterprise	Sam is wearing red clothing like everyone else in the gym, so there is not hint about his department. In the end the Thasian voice says "Everything is as it was", which insinuates that Sam is restored too (although my impression is that they can't bring back the destroyed Antares).	"Charlie X"
	Crewman	2 technicians		Male		Killed by Nomad in engineering, possibly only unconscious	Enterprise	When Kirk follows Nomad to engineering, he finds two motionless technicians. The only thing he does is that he quickly feels the pulse of one crewman, but we can't really tell what has happened from his reaction. The four people that arrive a few moments later don't try to help them either, and no one calls sickbay. So either they are all aware that the two are only unconscious, or they are clearly dead. Considering that Nomad kills by vaporizing his victims, the two may be still alive.	"The Changeling"

Addendum

"Resurrection"

The following crew member was dead by 23rd century medical standards but was brought back to life.

Montgomery Scott was killed and later revived by Nomad in "The Changeling".

Illusory deaths

The deaths of the following crew members turned out to be just illusions. Unsurprisingly no member of the principal recurring cast of TOS ever remained dead.

Angela Martine and Leonard McCoy appeared to have been killed in "Shore Leave".
Pavel Chekov's death turned out an illusion in "Spectre of the Gun".

TAS

No one of the Enterprise crew died in The Animated Series.

Summary

56 crew members can be confirmed to have died on the original Enterprise's five-year mission (or, to be precise, during the about three years shown in TOS). This gives us 0.7 casualties per episode, or roughly one casualty every three weeks. 26 of those 55 killed men or women were wearing a red shirt or an equivalent red engineering/security uniform. Considering that the shirt color of 15 deceased crew members remains unknown (because they were killed off screen or were not wearing a standard uniform), redshirts easily make up more than 50% of all casualties. The myth that redshirts are more likely killed than other colors can be confirmed. Some of the redshirts were engineers but most performed the duty of a security officer, which may be rated as intrinsically more dangerous and more likely lethal.

Looking at the subtotals we can notice that in season 1 only 4 crew members with red shirts were killed, 4 wearing blue shirts and as many as 7 with yellow shirts. Considering that a couple of the two latter groups effectively acted as security officers, especially in "The Man Trap", it is possible that the red color for this department was not yet set in stone at the time. Season 2 had by far the most redshirt deaths of the series, 16 altogether. 12 of those 16 were killed in just three episodes, "The Changeling", "The Apple" and "Obsession".

Only 4 women were killed under Kirk's command, as opposed to 39 men. This is significantly less than the ratio of female to male Enterprise crew members. Considering that in the 1960s women were obviously not deemed fit for a position in the security department with its high casualty rate, the low number of female deaths appears plausible though.

The clearly most common cause of death among Kirk's crew was an attack or sabotage by aliens (38 casualties). 12 crew members died in accidents, but if we take into account that as many as 9 perished when the ship crossed the Galactic Barrier in "Where No Man Has Gone Before", accidents were otherwise not that common at all. 6 of the crew died of diseases. Regarding the places in which crew members were killed, the Enterprise proved to be just as unsafe (29 casualties) as the surface of an unexplored planet (27).

Credits

Some facts are from Memory Alpha, the HD screen caps are taken from TrekCore. Thanks to Frank Bitterhof for the hint about the technicians in "The Changeling" and the suggestion to declare Leslie's death in "Obsession".

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