Walter Koenig
Biography
Walter Koenig, an American actor and screenwriter, began acting professionally in the mid-1960s. Born in Chicago, he moved as a child to Manhattan and studied at UCLA and the Neighborhood Playhouse before early television roles in The Lieutenant and The Alfred Hitchcock Hour. He became known as Ensign Pavel Chekov on Star Trek, a part he played from the second season onward and later reprised in the original-cast films, among them Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979), Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982), Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986), and Star Trek Generations (1994). His work earned Saturn Award nominations for Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and for Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. Koenig also played Psi Cop Alfred Bester in a recurring role on Babylon 5, appeared in Moontrap (1989) and Mad Cowgirl (2006), wrote for series including Land of the Lost and Family, and voiced Anton Chekov for Star Trek: Picard.
90years old
Turns 91 on September 14in 308 days
- Born Chicago
- Star sign: VirgoThe sign runs August 23 to September 22
- Also credited as Walter Marvin Koenig
Movie Career
- Films
- 17
- Career span
- 45 years1974 to 2019
Genres
- Sci-Fi53%, 9 films
- Adventure47%, 8 films
- Action41%, 7 films
- Documentary29%, 5 films
- Biography18%, 3 films
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Big break
Koenig was one of two actors who tried out, and he got the part of Chekov almost right away, mainly because he looked like Davy Jones, the British actor and singer from the Monkees. Gene Roddenberry, the show's creator, wanted him to bring in younger viewers.
A role that slipped away
Producers of the animated Star Trek series declined to hire Koenig because of the budget, and he did not know he would not be in the cast until a fan told him at a Star Trek convention.
A role that slipped away
Koenig had a recurring part as Psi Cop Alfred Bester on Babylon 5, and was set to bring Bester to the spin-off Crusade, but that series was canceled before his episode could be filmed.
Early training
A professor urged Koenig toward acting, so he enrolled at New York City's Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre, where Dabney Coleman, Christopher Lloyd, and James Caan were fellow students.
Walter Koenig movies on Netflix
Best known for
The films on Netflix they are best known for, with the part played in each.
Most often with
Nicholas Meyer directed two of these films, Leonard Nimoy two and William Shatner two. Two actors appear in eleven of them each. Pick a number on the chart or a name in the list to see the films they share.
Films together
William Shatner's page
Nichelle Nichols's page
George Takei's page
Leonard Nimoy's page
James Doohan's page
DeForest Kelley's page
All films by Nicholas Meyer
Box office
What Walter Koenig's films earned in cinemas worldwide.
Combined worldwide box office
$734 million
7 of the 17 films have a worldwide figure.
Of the 17 films: 7 worldwide figure; 2 us gross only; 2 never in cinemas; 6 figure not found.
- 7Worldwide figure
- 2US gross only
- 2Never in cinemas
- 6Figure not found
Highest grossing
The seven biggest films earned 100% of the total. The bars are drawn to scale.
- 1$139M19.0% of the total
- 2$133M18.1% of the total
- 3$118M16.1% of the total
- 4$97M13.2% of the total
- 5$97M13.2% of the total
- 6$87M11.9% of the total
- 7$63M8.6% of the total
Awards
Three awards and honors from 1982 to 2016.
| Year | Award | Film | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Other honors | |||
| 2016 | Time Machine Award | Won | |
| 1982 | Inkpot Award | Won | |
| Star on Hollywood Walk of Fame | Honored | ||
Online
Official profiles and reference pages.