George Takei and Fellow Star Trek Legends Pay Tribute to Walter Koenig After His Death at 90

Tributes are pouring in across the Star Trek community for Walter Koenig, who played Ensign Pavel Chekov in the original series and in seven feature films. Koenig died on October 25 at his home in North Hollywood at the age of 90, and friends and colleagues from across his decades-long career have been sharing memories of the actor since the news broke.

George Takei and the Original Series Family Remember Koenig

George Takei, now one of only two surviving members of the Original Series cast, shared a photo of the pair taken in recent years and looked back on six decades of friendship, a bond close enough that Koenig served as best man at Takei’s 2008 wedding. Takei remembered his longtime co-star as “a writer, a teacher, a thoughtful man, and a loyal friend.” Star Trek writer David Gerrold, who penned fan-favorite episodes including “The Trouble With Tribbles,” also paid his respects, while Star Trek: Picard showrunner Terry Matalas, who brought Koenig back for a season three cameo as Federation President Anton Chekov, credited him as one of the kindest people he ever worked with.

Walter Koenig greeting fans at GalaxyCon Columbus in 2023.

Picard co-star Todd Stashwick, who was also Koenig’s longtime neighbor, remembered him as a sweet and big-hearted man, while Adam Nimoy, son of Koenig’s longtime co-star Leonard Nimoy, recalled years of crossing paths with him on the convention circuit. Deep Space Nine’s Cirroc Lofton, who interviewed Koenig for his own podcast, described him as someone who spent his life expressing his values through his work and his words.

A Career That Went Well Beyond Chekov

Koenig joined Star Trek in its second season and continued playing Chekov through all of the films featuring the original cast, including Star Trek Generations. But the role was far from his only credit. In the 1990s, he took on a very different part as the sinister Psi Corps agent Alfred Bester on Babylon 5, working alongside fellow genre veterans Bill Mumy and Claudia Christian, both of whom also shared memories of their former co-star this week. Mumy, a childhood star of The Twilight Zone and Lost in Space, wished Koenig well on his “new adventure,” while Christian called him one of a kind, bold, funny, and deadly serious about his craft.

A Convention Favorite to the End

Away from the screen, Koenig became a fixture of the convention circuit, where generations of fans got to meet the man behind Chekov in person, including as recently as 2024. His representative noted that Koenig understood exactly what Star Trek meant to the people who grew up with it, and that he embraced the community that formed around the franchise right up until the end. Koenig is survived by his daughter, Danielle, after also being predeceased by his wife of nearly 60 years, Judy, who passed away in 2022.

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Picture Source: NBC Television, Pedro Heshike for GalaxyCon (CC BY 2.0)