Trivia

His Russian accent is faked on the series, albeit his parents really were from Russia.

He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Television at 6679 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on September 10, 2012 (four days before his 76th birthday).

Attended and graduated from Grinnell College in Grinnell, Iowa with a major in pre-med. Transferred to the University of California, Los Angeles, where he received his Bachelor's degree in psychology.

Was the only Enterprise crew member to interact face-to-face with Khan Noonien Singh (Ricardo Montalban) in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982). Ironically, Khan recognizes him even though he did not appear on the original series episode "Space Seed".

Walter Koenig is of Russian Jewish ancestry, which made him a good candidate for Chekov on Star Trek (1966). His family had emigrated from Lithuania, USSR and changed their original surname (Koenigsberg).

Was cast as Pavel Andreievich Chekov on Star Trek (1966) because of his resemblance to Davy Jones. The producers were hoping to attract a younger audience, including girls.

Is the only Star Trek (1966) actor not to provide voices for the animated version of the series, although he did write an episode for the series.

Because his hair was too short, had to wear a wig in his first appearance on Star Trek (1966).

Walter Koenig and his wife Judy Levitt appear together in the Babylon 5 (1993) episode "A Race Through Dark Places" which aired in 1995.

His father, Isadore Koenig, was a communist who was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation during the McCarthy era.

On July 16-25, 2007, he was actively involved in the issue facing the humanitarian crisis in Burma. He visited refugee camps along the Burma-Thailand border.

Often complained about the character, Pavel Andreievich Chekov, he portrayed over the years as having no levity on Star Trek (1966). As well as getting hurt through the motion pictures and television series.

Has written episodes for What Really Happened to the Class of '65? (1977), Family (1976), Land of the Lost (1974), The Powers of Matthew Star (1982) and Star Trek: The Animated Series (1973).

Was scheduled to reprise his role as the nefarious Bester in an episode of the Babylon 5 (1993) spin-off series Crusade (1999) entitled "Value Judgements". Unfortunately, the series was canceled weeks before the episode was to be filmed. Walter Koenig was terribly disappointed by this, as he has stated publicly that he considers this his favorite "Bester" screenplay.

Is an avid collector: His collections include Star Trek Memorabilia (with a shelf completely devoted to the character Chekov) Buttons, Comic Cards, Pins and "Little Big Books". He gives us a brief tour of his collections in the segment "Life Beyond Star Trek" in the Season Two release of "Star Trek: The Original Series".

Father of Andrew Koenig (1968-2010) and Danielle Koenig (1973-).

His Star Trek character's full name was Pavel Andreievich Chekov, which leads to some interesting coincidences regarding the character's namesake and both actors who have played him. Pavel Chekov was the name of playwright Anton Chekov's father, and the Star Trek character was later played by Anton Yelchin. His middle name, Andreievich, means "Son of Andrew". Andrew was the name of Walter's son.

Father-in-law of stand-up comedian Jimmy Pardo.

Has appeared in episodes of three different series with George Takei: Star Trek (1966), Diagnosis Murder (1993) and Futurama (1999).

Contrary to popular belief, the character Commander John Koenig, as played by Martin Landau on Space: 1999 (1975) -- was not named after Koenig in any homage or joke. According to the producers of the series, it was just a coincidence. Oddly, Landau had somewhat notoriously been offered Spock on Star Trek (1966) which he turned down.

Has guest starred on numerous television series such as The Untouchables (1959), Ben Casey (1961) and Columbo (1971). The last of which, also had his fellow 'Star Trek' alumnus William Shatner in the same episode.

His last name is pronounced "Kaynig".

Is the author of the Raver comic book miniseries (1993).

Before becoming Chekov on the original Star Trek (1966) series, Walter Koenig auditioned for the role of hip surfer Stu Casey (later Riley) a character introduced for the 1965 (year two) season of Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1964). Koenig lost the role to actor Allan Hunt, who only played the role for one year since he was drafted into service in Vietnam. But the two actors stayed in touch over the years and are the best of friends. Allan Hunt even directed a play that starred Walter Koenig and Hunt's fellow former Voyage co-star Del Monroe (Kowalski).

With Anton Yelchin's untimely death on June 19, 2016, Koenig is the only actor from Star Trek (1966) to have outlived his modern counterpart.

Underwent heart bypass surgery (1993).

Since Star Trek (1966) ended, he has devoted his time to writing episodes of Family (1976), What Really Happened to the Class of '65? (1977) and has directed three plays for the Los Angeles stage - "Hotel Paradiso", "American Hurrah" and '"Becket". He also wrote "Chekov's Enterprise-A Journal on the Making of Star Trek: The Motion Picture".

His Pavel Chekov character only shared the screen with Grace Lee Whitney's Janice Rand character in Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979). They had been regulars on the original series at different times and did not share any scenes in the other three Star Trek films they had both appeared in.

With him first appearing (as 'Pavel Chekhov') on Star Trek (1966) in 1967 to him doing a voiceover (as 'Anton Chekhov') in the series finale of Star Trek: Picard (2020) in 2023, marks the longest span (to date) of any original Star Trek cast member in the franchise.

He created the character "Enik the Altrusian" for Land of the Lost (1974); said character was originally named "Eneg" ("Gene" spelled backwards, as an in-joke reference to "Star Trek" creator Gene Roddenberry).

Co-starred in the off-Broadway play "Six Characters in Search of an Author".

First husband of Anjanette Comer.

He's written 2 books Chekov's Enterprise and Buck Alice and the Actor Robot.

Both his children are actors, Josh appearing as Bonner in Crowing Pains and Danielle in Simon and Simon.

Born on exactly the same date as Nicol Williamson (Merlin from John Boorman's "Excalibur").