The Star Trek family has sadly lost another one of its original founding fathers. Actor Walter Koenig, who played the Russian Enterprise crewman Pavel Andreievich Chekov, has sadly passed away at age 90. The news was confirmed via The Hollywood Reporter. He passed away peacefully from natural causes at his North Hollywood home, according to his family. Aside from appearing in two seasons of the original series, he also appeared in seven Star Trek feature films. He also had a recurring role in the ’90s sci-fi series Babylon Five. He also wrote many episodes of iconic TV series, including Land of the Lost and The Incredible Hulk.
Born in 1936 to Lithuanian immigrants, Koenig became an actor in the late ’50s. He attended classes at the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York, where he studied alongside James Caan and Christopher Lloyd. After several minor TV roles, he landed the role of Ensign Chekov in the second season of Star Trek in 1967. Creator Gene Roddenberry wanted a Russian character on the bridge to show that in the future, the Cold War would be long behind us, and Russians would be working with other nations. Also, they wanted someone who could get teenage girls to watch. The Monkees were massively popular at the time, and Koenig resembled frontman Davy Jones. The producers even gave him a wig to look more like Jones. Ironically, Koenig was 31 when he landed the role, only five years younger than Shatner and Nimoy.
When Star Trek ended in 1969, he continued to act on TV. He was devastated to learn his character would not appear in the Star Trek animated series because of budget limitations. But the producers allowed him to write a screenplay for the show, titled “The Infinite Vulcan.” When Star Trek finally returned to live-action in 1979 with Star Trek: The Motion Picture, he returned as Chekov. He then appeared in a subsequent six films, ending with Star Trek: Generations in 1994. He then played Psi Corps cop Alfred Bester in 12 episodes of Babylon Five, from 1994-1998.
Although he didn’t get much to do on the original Star Trek series, in the films, the producers beefed up his part. Koenig earned a substantial role in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, where Chekov received a promotion to first officer of the Reliant. A funny story he’d often repeat at conventions is that when he received the Wrath of Khan script, he realized he had a substantial scene where Ricardo Montalban’s character recognizes him. Koenig remembered that he was not in the episode of TOS where Khan appeared, as he had not yet joined the show. But he kept that continuity knowledge to himself, so that they wouldn’t change the script.
Koenig’s last Star Trek role was a voice-over in Star Trek: Picard season three. He played the President of the Federation, Anton Chekov, the son of his character, Pavel Chekov. The writers used the name as a tribute to the late Anton Yelchin, who inherited the Chekov role from Koenig for the J.J. Abrams films, and died an untimely death in 2016. With Walter Koenig’s passing, there are only two living cast members from TOS, George Takei and William Shatner. Takei wrote a lovely tribute to his friend via Instagram. We send our condolences to the Koenig family and to Star Trek fans everywhere.
The post STAR TREK’s Chekov, Walter Koenig, Passes Away at Age 90 appeared first on Nerdist.
This articles is written by : Nermeen Nabil Khear Abdelmalak
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