Walter Koenig
| Walter Koenig | |
|---|---|
 Koenig at a ceremony to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in September 2012 |
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| Born | Walter Marvin Koenig September 14, 1936 Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Residence | North Hollywood, Los Angeles, California |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | Grinnell College |
| Alma mater | University of California, Los Angeles |
| Years active | Since 1962 |
| Known for | Pavel Chekov, Mr. Bester |
| Home town | New York City, NY |
| Television | Star Trek, Babylon 5 |
| Spouse(s) | Anjanette Comer (?-?; divorced) Judy Levitt (1965-present; 2 children) |
| Website | |
| http://www.walterkoenigsite.com/ | |
Walter Marvin Koenig (pron.: /ˈkeɪnɪɡ/; born September 14, 1936) is an American actor, writer, teacher and director, known for his roles as Pavel Chekov in Star Trek and Alfred Bester in Babylon 5. He wrote the script for the 2008 science fiction legal thriller InAlienable.
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Early life [edit]
Koenig was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of businessman Isadore Koenig and his wife Sarah (née Strauss).[1][2] Koenig's parents were Russian Jewish immigrants from the Soviet Union; his family lived in Lithuania when they emigrated, and shortened their surname from "Königsberg" to "Koenig".[3] Koenig's father was a communist who was investigated by the FBI during the McCarthy era.[4] Koenig attended Grinnell College in Grinnell, Iowa with a pre-med major. He transferred to UCLA and received a BA in psychology. After a professor encouraged Koenig to become an actor, he attended the Neighborhood Playhouse with fellow students Dabney Coleman, Christopher Lloyd, and James Caan.[3]
Career [edit]
Star Trek [edit]
| “ | I was only one of two people who auditioned for the part, which is quite extraordinary. Considering that this has so materially affected the last 35 years of my life ... a couple of hours after I auditioned I heard that I had gotten the role. | ” |
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—Koenig, on being cast as Chekov[5] |
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Koenig played Ensign Pavel Chekov, navigator on the USS Enterprise, in the original Star Trek television series (starting in Season 2) and in all of the movies featuring the original cast (including Star Trek VII: Generations). 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.[5] As the 30-year old's hair was already receding, costume designers fashioned a Davy Jones-style "moptop" hairpiece for him. In later episodes, his own hair grew out enough to accomplish the look with a comb-over.[6] (The studio's publicity department, however, falsely ascribed the inclusion of Chekov to an article in Pravda that complained about the lack of Russians in Star Trek.[5]) Gene Roddenberry asked him 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 (e.g., "wodka" for "vodka"). Koenig has said the accent was inspired by his father, who had the same difficulty with the "v" sound.[4]
Having been told that Chekov would be a recurring role based on his popularity, Koenig was pleasantly surprised when he immediately became a regular cast member, and most of his fan mail indeed came from children.[5] When the early Season 2 episodes of Star Trek: The Original Series were shot, George Takei (who played Sulu) was delayed completing the movie The Green Berets, so Chekov is joined at the Enterprise helm by a different character. When Takei returned, the two had to share a dressing room and a single episode script. This reportedly angered Takei to the point where he nearly left the show. But the two actors have since become good friends, and the image of their two characters manning the helm of the Enterprise became iconic.[7]
Koenig is also credited for writing the Star Trek: The Animated Series installment "The Infinite Vulcan", making him the first "original cast" member to write a Star Trek story for television. The character of Pavel Andreievich Chekov never appeared in the animated version of Star Trek due to budget reasons, so Koenig never got to reprise his character on the animated series.
He received Saturn Award nominations for Best Supporting Actor in a Film for both Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. Koenig reprised his role of Pavel Chekov for the fan webseries Star Trek: New Voyages, To Serve All My Days and the independent Sky Conway/Tim Russ film Star Trek: Of Gods and Men, both in 2006, and Star Trek: Renegades, due out in 2014.
Later work [edit]
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After Chekov, Koenig had a starring role 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. He also filmed a few FMV sequences for a re-released copy of the game Star Trek Starfleet Academy for PCs.
Koenig's film, stage and TV roles span fifty years. He has played everything from a teenage gang leader (Alfred Hitchcock Presents) to Scandinavian fiance Gunnar (Gidget) to a Las Vegas entertainer (I Spy). He also had a short role in the 1976 Columbo episode "Fade in to Murder", playing Sgt Johnson -, He returned to space with a starring role in Moontrap and played a futuristic dictator in the video game Maximum Surge. The game was cancelled late in development, but considerable footage from it was recycled for the film Game Over, with Koenig's dialogue dubbed over in order to retrofit his performance into the role of a computer hard drive. In addition to acting, he has written several films (Actor, I Wish I May, You're Never Alone When You're a Schizophrenic), one-act plays, and a handful of episodes for TV shows: Star Trek: The Animated Series, Land of the Lost, Family and The Powers of Matthew Star. He has also written several books, including Warped Factors: A Neurotic's Guide to the Universe (an autobiography), Chekov's Enterprise (a journal kept during the filming of Star Trek: The Motion Picture) and Buck Alice and the Actor-Robot (a science fiction novel), which was re-released in 2006. He created his own comic book series called Raver, which was published by Malibu Comics in the early 1990s, and appeared as a "special guest star" in an issue of the comic book Eternity Smith, which features him prominently on its cover.[8]
Koenig has taught classes in acting and directing at UCLA, the Sherwood Oaks Experiment Film College, the Actor's Alley Repertory Company in Los Angeles, and the California School of Professional Psychology at Alliant International University. In 2002, Koenig directed stage versions of two of the original Twilight Zone episodes for Letter Entertainment.[9]
In 1987, Koenig directed his original one-act play The Secret Life of Lily Langtree — with his wife Judy Levitt directing her two one-acts, Tech Night: Hands on Demo and Encore: Long Distance Lady — all under the umbrella title Public Moments at the Theatre of N.O.T.E. in Los Angeles.
In 1989, Koenig starred in the science fiction film "Moontrap" as Mission commander Colonel Jason Grant.
In 1997, Koenig starred in Drawing Down the Moon, an independent film about a Wiccan woman who attempts to open a homeless shelter in a small Pennsylvania town. Koenig played Joe Merchant, a local crime lord obsessed with chaos theory who sends his thugs to intimidate her into shutting down the shelter.
In 2004, Koenig co-starred in Mad Cowgirl, an independent movie about a meat-packing health inspector dying from a brain disorder in which he played televangelist Pastor Dylan, a character described as "a sleazy, slimy, sex-addict".[citation needed] The movie played the SF Indiefest and the Silverlake Film Festival, followed by a limited release in major cities. Mad Cowgirl was released on DVD on December 5, 2006.
He is currently writing a new graphic novel to be entitled "Things To Come", about vampires after the apocalypse.[citation needed]
Koenig received the 2,279th star of the Hollywood Walk of Fame on September 10, 2012.[10]
Humanitarian work [edit]
In 2007, Koenig was asked by the human rights group U.S. Campaign for Burma to help in their grassroots campaign about the humanitarian crisis in Burma. As detailed on his official website, he visited refugee camps along the Burma-Thailand border from July 16 to July 25, 2007.
Personal life [edit]
Koenig married Judy Levitt in 1965; they are still together. They had a son, actor Andrew Koenig who committed suicide in 2010.[11][12] They also have a daughter, Danielle Koenig, who is married to comedian Jimmy Pardo, with whom she has one child. Koenig had a heart bypass surgery in 1993. His role in Babylon 5 came out of that incident, since his hospitalization forced him to bow out of a guest spot. The series producer promised to make it up to him for the lost opportunity, which he subsequently did with the role of Bester.[citation needed]
In September 2008, Koenig served as best man at the wedding of his Star Trek co-star George Takei to Brad Altman.[13]
References [edit]
- ^ "Walter Koenig Biography (1936-)". Filmreference.com. Retrieved 2012-12-17.
- ^ "Walter Koenig Biography - Yahoo! Movies". Movies.yahoo.com. 2011-04-20. Retrieved 2012-12-17.
- ^ a b "Walter Koenig's Authorized Biography". walterkoenig.com. Star Traveler Publications. Retrieved May 7, 2011.
- ^ a b Jesse Wente interview with Walter Koenig, Q, CBC Radio, August 28, 2009
- ^ a b c d "Walter Koenig - Chekov in the Original Star Trek". BBC. Retrieved May 7, 2011.
- ^ Vejvoda, Jim and Phil Pirrello. "Star Trek: The Original Series - Season 2 Review." IGN.com, September 18, 2009.
- ^ William Shatner's Star Trek Memories - documentary film, released 1995.
- ^ Eternity Smith (vol.2) #9 cover, Mile High Comics website. Retrieved July 28, 2012.
- ^ "4 Letter Entertainment". 4 Letter Entertainment. Retrieved 2012-12-17.
- ^ "Walter Koenig To Become The Last Star Trek Original To Land Star". express.co.uk. 29 August 2012.
- ^ Duke, Alan (February 25, 2010). "Missing actor's body found in Vancouver park, source says". CNN. Archived from the original on February 27, 2010.
- ^ Fisher, Luchina (February 26, 2010). "Andrew Koenig's Long, Losing Battle With Depression". ABC News.
- ^ Michael Weinfeld (5 June 2008). "George Takei and partner plan to wed in September". Associated Press. Retrieved 2008-10-24.
External links [edit]
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Walter Koenig |
- Walter Koenig Official Website
- Walter Koenig at the Internet Movie Database
- Walter Koenig at the TCM Movie Database
- Walter Koenig at AllRovi
- Walter Koenig at Memory Alpha (a Star Trek wiki)
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- 1936 births
- Living people
- 20th-century American actors
- 21st-century American actors
- Actors from Chicago, Illinois
- American film actors
- American screenwriters
- American television actors
- Ethical Culture Fieldston School alumni
- Grinnell College alumni
- Jewish American actors
- Jewish American writers
- American people of Russian-Jewish descent
- University of California, Los Angeles alumni
