Walter Koenig, the actor who made Pavel Chekov one of Star Trek's most familiar faces, died Sunday at 90. He died of natural causes at his home in North Hollywood, according to his representative.
For many viewers, Koenig became tied to Star Trek through a role he took on after the series had already found its footing. He joined Gene Roddenberry's show at the start of its second season and appeared in 36 of the 50 episodes that aired in 1967-68 and 1968-69, then carried Pavel Andreievich Chekov into the first seven Paramount movies released from 1979 through 1991.
That long run came from an unlikely beginning. Koenig said he did not watch Star Trek before he came aboard, even though he would go on to become one of its most recognizable names. He later recalled the moment he learned he had landed the part: in a wardrobe fitting, someone measured him for a costume, then told him, in effect, that he was on the show and that it would change his life.
Koenig's path to that role had been taking shape for years. Born in Chicago on Sept. 14, 1936, and raised in Manhattan as the son of Lithuanian immigrants, he studied pre-med at Grinnell College before transferring to UCLA. He also studied at the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York in 1958, alongside James Caan, Christopher Lloyd and Dabney Coleman. His onscreen debut came on Day in Court, and by 1963 he was appearing in the pilot and the first two episodes of General Hospital.
He was already being cast as Russians before Star Trek made him famous. He first portrayed a Russian on a 1963 episode of Mr. Novak and guest-starred on a 1964 installment of The Lieutenant, work that fit an industry fond of typecasting him into Cold War roles. Later, he would also play Alfred Bester on Babylon 5, another sci-fi turn that kept him in the orbit of the genre that defined so much of his career.
What remains is a career that never fully separated Koenig from Chekov, and a fan base that knew him by both the actor and the character. His death closes the book on one of the last direct links to the era that turned Star Trek from a television series into a durable piece of pop culture.
