Walter Koenig death at age 90,Pavel Chekov, Alfred Bester

Walter Koenig, the American actor and screenwriter known for Pavel Chekov in Star Trek, died October 25, 2026, aged 90.

Born Walter Marvin Koenig in Chicago, he began acting professionally in the mid-1960s and became known to television audiences as Ensign Pavel Chekov on Star Trek: The Original Series from 1967 to 1969. He returned to the role in all six films featuring the original cast and later voiced President Anton Chekov in Star Trek: Picard in 2023.

Koenig also played Alfred Bester in Babylon 5 and appeared in other projects including Goodbye, Raggedy Ann and The Questor Tapes. His work as a screenwriter included episodes of Land of the Lost, Family, What Really Happened to the Class of ’65? and The Powers of Matthew Star; he also wrote several books. Koenig’s family was of Russian Jewish origin and had emigrated from the Soviet Union. His parents shortened their surname from Königsberg to Koenig, and the family moved from Chicago to Manhattan’s Inwood neighborhood during his childhood. He studied at Grinnell College and the University of California, Los Angeles, and trained at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre. His career in acting and writing spanned more than six decades.