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Walter Koenig, Ensign Chekov on the original 'Star Trek' series, dies at 90 · Best of: Features

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  Walter Koenig, Ensign Chekov, on the original Star Trek series dies at
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  ninety. Written by Jonathan Landrum Jr. This article is being read by
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  an automated voice generated by Everlet. Los Angeles, the AP, actor Walter
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  Koenig, who played Ensign Pavel Chekov, the youthful Russian navigator on the
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  Star Trek television series and several movies, has died. He was ninety.
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  Koenig died Monday at his home in the North Hollywood neighborhood of
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  Los Angeles, talent agent Zachary McGuinness said in a statement. In Star
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  Trek, Enzin Chekhov was the sole Communist Bloc member of the Spaceship
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  Enterprise Bridge staff. His friendly, supportive presence showed how the rival nations
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  in the far off future in which the show was set, were
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  capable of working together. Speaking Russian accented English, Chekhov embodied stereotypical Russian
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  personality traits, including fierce pride, love of poetry, and blind loyalty. Star
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  Trek ran on NBC from nineteen sixty six to nineteen sixty nine,
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  and has had an almost unprecedented afterlife as fans, or trekkies, kept
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  interest in the show alive. Koenig was born september fourteenth, nineteen thirty
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  six, in Chicago, the son of a businessman. He graduated from the
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  University of California, Los Angeles in nineteen fifty eight, the studied acting
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  at New York's The Neighborhood Playhouse for two years. He began getting
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  television roles in the early nineteen sixties, appearing on mister Novak and
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  Ben Casey. My heart is heavy, Koenig's George Taki, who played Hikaru
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  Sulu, said in a post on the social platform X. Walter was
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  more than Chekhov. He was a writer, a teacher, a thoughtful man,
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  and a loyal friend. Koenig was the best man at Takay's two
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  thousand eight wedding to Brad Altman, his partner of more than two
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  oo decades. Walter's legacy extends far beyond the screen. Through countless convention
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  appearances and interactions with fans, he shared his kindness, wit, and appreciation
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  with everyone fortunate enough to meet him. He understood what Star
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  Trek meant to people and embraced the community that grew around it,
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  McGuinness said. Thank you, Walter, for the memories, The inspiration, and for
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  boldly going where few have gone before. McGinnis said Koenig died surrounded
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  by his daughter and niece. Koenig's son Andrew was also an actor
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  best known for playing boner on the sitcom Growing Pains. Andrew Koenig
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  died in twenty ten at forty one. Walter Koenig said his son
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  had taken his own life. Koenig played Chekhov in seven Star Trek
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  movies starting in nineteen seventy nine, as well as innumerable other spin-offs,
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  including writing a Star Trek book, Chekhov's Enterprise, in nineteen eighty. The
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  TV show has also inspired two spin-off TV series with new casts
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  and conventions that draw thousands of fans. After Star Trek ended, Koenig
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  continued acting and wrote scripts for Family, The Incredible Hulk, and other
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  shows. He also taught part time at UCLA and other schools. Koenig
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  also worked in the burgeoning field of computer games, including some with
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  a Star Trek theme. In nineteen ninety five he took a role
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  in the C D ROM game Maximum Surge. I'm at a point
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  where I could opt in my life for complacency and a bit
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  of predictability, or I could have one last holler one last try
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  for adventure, Kennig told the Associated Press in nineteen ninety five. I'm
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  of the opinion that adventure is still a very enticing and exciting
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  option. He returned to the science fiction genre with occasional appearances in
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  the syndicated nineteen nineties T V series Babylon V. Koenig's death leaves
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  William Shatner, who played Captain James T. Kirk, and Take as the
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  only surviving members of the original series main cast. Leonard Nimoy, Nichelle
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  Nichols, James Doohun, and DeForest Kelly, who played Spock, Uhura, Scotty, and
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  Dr. Leonard Bones McCoy, have died.