Walter Koenig, Chekov of ‘Star Trek’ fame, dies at 90
First published at CNN · By By Andy Rose
Walter Koenig, who played exuberant Russian navigator Pavel Chekov on the original “Star Trek” series and many of the franchise’s ensuing films, has died at the age of 90. The actor died “of old age at home in North Hollywood” on Sunday, his agent Zachery McGinnis said in an email. Although Koenig’s Chekov – with his modified mop-top haircut and thick accent – is remembered as a critical crew member aboard the USS Enterprise, he was actually added to the program in its second season as creator Gene Roddenberry was looking to add a youthful sex symbol to the show. “They were looking for somebody who would create the same kind of following that Davy Jones and The Monkees had,” Koenig said in a Star Trek DVD special feature interview . Chekov debuted on the show in 1967, at the height of Cold War tension between the United States and the Soviet Union, when having a proud Russian character as one of the “good guys” was novel. But Roddenbery prized Koenig’s fresh-faced appearance, even though he was only five years younger than stars William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy. “We badly need a young man aboard the Enterprise – we need youthful attitudes and perspectives,” Roddenberry said in a 1968 memo to producers. Background Koenig was born in Chicago, a first generation American born to Lithuanian immigrants. Within months of his birth, his family moved to Europe for his father’s job as an interpreter, but returned to the United States when Koenig became sick with colic, he said in a 2013 interview with the Archive of American Television. Koenig first studied acting at New York’s legendary Neighborhood Playhouse, alongside James Caan and Christopher Lloyd. Chekov was Koenig’s first major TV role after a few bit parts, frequently as characters much younger than his own age. That included a small role in the first week of the long-running soap opera “General Hospital” in 1963. One of his first roles was as a young Russian defector in the short-lived series “Mr. Novak,” which p…