Actor Walter Koenig, best known for portraying Ensign Pavel Chekov in the original Star Trek series, dies at the age of 90. Already a busy young actor at the time he debuted in the second season of Star Trek, Koenig had already crossed paths with that show’s creator, Gene Roddenberry, in an episode of Roddenberry’s prior military series, The Lieutenant, in 1964. Following his work on Star Trek’s second and third seasons, Koenig continued acting, but also took up writing, penning an episode of the 1970s animated Star Trek (while being the only main/recurring cast member not to reprise their role). Alongside his return to the role of Chekov in Star Trek: The Motion Picture, he released a first-person chronicle of the movie’s production, Chekov’s Enterprise; his first novel, Buck Alice and the Actor-Robot, followed in 1988. In the 1990s, he took on a recurring villainous role in Babylon 5, that of Psi Cop Bester, who made numerous appearances throughout the show’s five seasons (and nearly returned in the spinoff series Crusade). He would appear as Chekov through Star Trek: Generations, though he later made a few appearances in fan productions and played a surprise voice role in the final episode of Star Trek: Picard, all while appearing at conventions and in documentaries covering the Star Trek phenomenon.
