Walter Koenig, North Hollywood, California: Chekov Actor Dies at 90 With His Daughter and Niece at His Side💔

Walter Koenig spent his last night at home. His daughter, Danielle, and his niece were with him when he died in North Hollywood, a neighborhood of Los Angeles. He was 90 years old.

His representative, Zachery McGinnis, announced the news on Monday. He said Koenig died of old age. Koenig had turned 90 only last month, on Sept. 14.

Most people knew him as Ensign Pavel Chekov, the young Russian navigator on the Starship Enterprise. He played the part on the original “Star Trek” series, which ran on NBC from 1966 to 1969. He joined the cast in the second season, in 1967. Chekov was proud, loyal and eager, and he spoke with a heavy Russian accent.

The timing of the character mattered. This was the Cold War, and here was a Russian officer sitting on the bridge next to Americans. The show used him to say that old rivals could work together. Koenig carried that idea for more than five decades.

Koenig was born in Chicago in 1936. His parents had come to America from Lithuania. He graduated from UCLA in 1958 and then studied acting for two years at the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York. In the early 1960s he picked up TV work on shows like “Mr. Novak” and “Ben Casey.”

“Star Trek” lasted only three seasons, but the story did not end there. Reruns, fan conventions and movies kept it alive, and Koenig went back to Chekov in seven films, starting with “Star Trek: The Motion Picture” in 1979. He wrote a book about the role, “Chekov’s Enterprise,” in 1980. He also played Alfred Bester, a senior Psi Cop, on “Babylon 5.”

His closest friend from those years was George Takei, who played Hikaru Sulu. The two met on the Enterprise set in the 1960s and stayed friends for nearly six decades. Koenig was the best man when Takei married Brad Altman in 2008. “My heart is heavy,” Takei wrote after the news broke. He called Koenig a writer, a teacher, a thoughtful man and a loyal friend.

Koenig married actress Judy Levitt in 1965, and they stayed together until she died in 2022. His son, Andrew Koenig, who was known for the sitcom “Growing Pains,” died in 2010 at age 41. Koenig leaves behind his daughter, Danielle.

McGinnis said Koenig’s legacy goes well beyond the screen. He pointed to the countless convention appearances where Koenig met fans and treated each one with kindness. With Koenig gone, William Shatner, 95, and Takei, 89, are the only two main cast members of the original crew still living.