Walter Koenig, Star Trek’s Russian Crewman Chekov, Dies at 90 After Sci-Fi Career

Chekov’s Star Trek years

Koenig joined Gene Roddenberry’s Star Trek at the start of its second season. He appeared in 36 of the 50 episodes broadcast across the 1967-68 and 1968-69 seasons.

He later played Pavel Andreievich Chekov in the first seven Paramount movies based on the NBC series, released between 1979 and 1991. The role made him a lasting figure in Star Trek lore.

A second science-fiction role

Koenig also played Alfred Bester, a scoundrel, on Babylon 5. The Warner Bros. Television science-fiction series gave him another prominent role in the genre. Before Star Trek, he portrayed a Russian student who had defected to the United States on a 1963 episode of Mr. Novak. The following year, he appeared on The Lieutenant as a young sergeant whose promotion hopes were complicated by his mother’s communism.

From Chicago to acting

Born Marvin Walter Koenig in Chicago on Sept. 14, 1936, he was raised in Manhattan, the son of Lithuanian immigrants. His father worked as a translator for RCA Victor before becoming an entrepreneur.

Koenig studied pre-med at Grinnell College and later transferred to UCLA, where he pursued psychology. An acting teacher’s recommendation helped him enter New York’s Neighborhood Playhouse in 1958, where he studied alongside James Caan, Christopher Lloyd and Dabney Coleman.

How he learned he was cast

After auditioning for Chekov, Koenig waited in an outer office before being taken to the wardrobe room for a costume measurement. He recalled that the experience was how he learned he had joined the show.

In a 2013 interview, Koenig said he had not watched Star Trek before joining. He recalled seeing what he thought were obviously fake rocks while channel surfing and dismissing the series.