Walter Koenig

Walter Marvin Koenig is an American film and television actor as well as a teleplay writer, producer and comic book author. He was born in Chicago, Illinois on September 14th, 1936. Koenig is best known for playing the role of Pavel Andreievich Chekov on the original Star Trek television program and film series. One of only two actors to audition, he was cast as Chekov almost immediately primarily because of his resemblance to British actor/musician Davy Jones of the Monkees, to attract a younger audience. Series creator Gene Roddenberry asked Koenig to "ham up" his Russian accent to add a note of comic relief to the series. Chekov's accent has been criticized as inauthentic, in particular Koenig's substituting the 'w' sound in place of a 'v' sound.

After Chekov, Koenig had a starring role in a science fiction thriller Moontrap opposite Bruce Campbell and another as Psi Cop Alfred Bester on the television series Babylon 5. Koenig was the "Special Guest Star" in twelve episodes and, at the end of the third season, the production company applied for an Emmy nomination on his behalf. He was slated to play Bester on the spin-off series Crusade, but the series was cancelled before his episode was filmed. He also played "Oro" in two episodes of the Canadian science fiction television series The Starlost, which aired in 1973 on Canada's CTV television network.