Walter Koenig

“When I came in to read for Star Trek, he was very enthusiastic and one of the reasons I got the part.”

Walter Koenig · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-26

Koenig said Pevney was enthusiastic when he read for Star Trek and helped him get the part.

“I think you’re groovy, I love your hair’ — which was a wig, by the way. I got hundreds and hundreds of letters, the third most after Bill [Shatner] and Leonard [Nimoy].”

Walter Koenig · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-26

Koenig recounted fan letters praising his hair, noting it was a wig and that he received the third most fan mail after Shatner and Nimoy.

“He really liked my work, he kept telling me, ‘You’re going to be a big star,'”

Walter Koenig · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-26

Koenig recalled that director Joseph Pevney praised his work and told him he would be a big star.

“set out the bones of the plot and let McCoy, Spock and Kirk fill in it.”

Walter Koenig · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-26

Koenig knew his role on the series was minimal and mainly served to set up the plot for the main characters.

“And indeed, my [fan] mail was from people who were 8- to 14-years-old,”

Walter Koenig · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-26

Koenig said his fan mail came from children aged 8 to 14, the same demographic producers targeted with Davy Jones.

“I’d flip through the channels and I’d see Styrofoam rocks — they were so obviously Styrofoam — and I said, ‘This has got to be phony.’ I didn’t give it a chance,”

Walter Koenig · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-26

In a 2013 interview for the TV Academy Foundation, Koenig recalled not watching Star Trek before joining the show.

“and takes my crotch in his hand, and I’m saying, ‘What are you doing?!”

Walter Koenig · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-26

Koenig described the wardrobe room incident where a man was measuring him for pants.

“It was between the series and the movies, and I don’t think he remembered my name,”

Walter Koenig · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-26

Koenig said he and Shatner did not interact during their appearance together on Columbo between the series and the movies.

“the hair wasn’t real; I wasn’t really Russian, and that exotic flavor was gone; and [viewers found out] that I was married, and they couldn’t fantasize about being with Chekov. Things then started to take a nosedive.”

Walter Koenig · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-26

Koenig said Chekov became less popular because the hair was a wig, he was not really Russian, and viewers learned he was married.

“He drops on his knees in front of me,”

Walter Koenig · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-26

Koenig recounted being approached by a man in the wardrobe room after his Star Trek audition.

“And that’s the auspicious way I learned I was on Star Trek and it was going to change my life.”

Walter Koenig · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-26

Koenig described how he learned he was cast on Star Trek during the wardrobe fitting.