Walter Koenig's legacy beyond Chekov: Babylon 5's Bester, the Pravda story and the last two original Star Trek stars

Walter Koenig will always be Ensign Pavel Chekov to most Star Trek fans. But the actor, who died at 90, left a longer and stranger trail through science fiction than one role, from a chilling villain on Babylon 5 to scripts he wrote himself.

Koenig died “of old age at home in North Hollywood” on Sunday night, “surrounded by his daughter and niece,” his representatives told the BBC. George Takei’s tribute, posted Monday, said he “passed away early today,” so accounts of the exact timing differ slightly.

A day after the news, here’s a look at the parts of his career beyond the bridge of the Enterprise, and what his death means for the original cast.

The last two original Star Trek stars

With Koenig’s death, only two marquee cast members of the original series are still alive, NBC News reported: William Shatner, 95, who played Capt. James T. Kirk, and George Takei, 89, who played Hikaru Sulu.

Source: NBC News.

Takei: “Walter was more than Chekov”

Takei and Koenig were friends for nearly six decades, and Koenig was best man at Takei’s 2008 wedding to Brad Takei, Deadline reported. Koenig’s 90th birthday on Sept. 14 fell on the couple’s 18th anniversary.

“Walter was more than Chekov,” Takei wrote. “He was a writer, a teacher, a thoughtful man, and a loyal friend.”

Zachery McGinnis of Galactic Productions, who represented Koenig for appearances, said his legacy “extends far beyond the screen,” pointing to his “countless convention appearances” with fans. “He understood what Star Trek meant to people and embraced the community that grew around it,” McGinnis said, per Deadline and NBC News.

Alfred Bester on Babylon 5

In the mid-to-late 1990s, Koenig played a very different character: Alfred Bester, the ruthless Psi Corps telepath on Babylon 5, the BBC noted. It was a sharp turn from the eager, earnest young navigator fans knew. His wife, Judy Levitt, also appeared on Babylon 5 and in three Star Trek films, according to the BBC.

The Pravda story he disputed

Chekov joined Star Trek in its second season in 1967. According to the BBC, the character was partly meant to appeal to younger viewers, with a mop-top haircut in the style of the Beatles and the Monkees.

Gene Roddenberry’s studio also promoted the role as a response to criticism in Pravda, the Soviet Communist Party newspaper, that the show had no Russian character. Koenig later denied that account, the BBC reported. Either way, a Russian officer working alongside Americans fit the show’s Cold War-era vision of nations exploring space together.

Koenig once said Chekov’s job on the TV show was to “set out the bones of the plot and let McCoy, Spock and Kirk fill it in,” the BBC said, citing The Hollywood Reporter.

A bigger part in the films

He was arguably more central to the movies. Koenig was nominated by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror for The Wrath of Khan (1982) and The Voyage Home (1986), per the BBC. He played Chekov in six original-cast films from 1979 to 1991, plus a brief appearance in Star Trek Generations (1994). In 2023, he voiced Chekov’s son, President Anton Chekov, on Star Trek: Picard.

Koenig the writer

• He wrote “The Infinite Vulcan,” a 1973 episode of the animated Star Trek series, the BBC said.
• He was a published author and also appeared on Columbo and Futurama.
• He kept working into his 90th year, winning best actor at the 2026 Independent Shorts Awards for the short film Mr. Fleischmann.

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Earlier coverage: Walter Koenig, Chekov on 'Star Trek,' dies at 90; George Takei leads tributes (Oct 26)