Star Trek: The Original Series added the young Russian Ensign Pavel Chekov to the show's cast in season 2 for both creative and practical reasons. Played by American actor Walter Koenig, Chekov would go on to become one of the core supporting members of the TOS crew alongside Scotty, Uhura, and Sulu.
The episode "Amok Time", which was the first episode broadcast during the second season, was Chekov's first television appearance ("Catspaw", the first episode shot with the Chekov character, would be broadcast a month later to roughly coincide with Halloween).
In 1965, producer Gene Roddenberry cast Takei as astrosciences physicist Sulu in the second pilot for the original Star Trek television series. When the series was accepted by NBC, Takei continued in the role of Sulu, who was now the ship's helmsman.
Kirk's crew aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise, it's hard to believe that Ensign Pavel Chekov wasn't always there from the beginning of their five-year mission. The ensign joined the crew with Star Trek's second-season "Catspaw." Actor Walter Koenig's addition to The Original Series served two primary goals.
Initially, Chekov was added to the cast of Star Trek: The Original Series to fill in for George Takei, whose commitments to the movie The Green Berets limited his screen time as Star Trek's Mr. Sulu.
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.
Sulu, on the other hand, was absent from nine consecutive episodes in the middle of the season, the result of a film George Takei was working on over-running.
Anton Yelchin was an American actor, known for playing Bobby in Hearts in Atlantis (2001), Chekov in the Star Trek (2009) reboot, Charlie Brewster in the Fright Night (2011) remake, and Jacob in. He was born in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg), Russia, USSR, to a Jewish family.
The character was not added to the cast of Star Trek: The Original Series until season 2, so his first appearance was in 2266 when he was 21. By the end of TOS, Chekov would have been 24, and his last appearance came with Star Trek: Generations in 2293 at the age of 48.
In this episode, Picard is in search of ambassador Spock who may have defected to the Romulan Empire. This episode has been praised for the "novelty and nostalgia" of seeing Spock, and noted for introducing a peace-loving Romulan faction.
The producers asked George Takei to come back and play Sulu one more time, and take the helm of the Enterprise-B. But Takei refused, because if Sulu had taken the helm, this would have meant temporarily reducing Sulu's rank, so that he could serve under Captain Kirk again.
Nimoy was approached to direct Star Trek Generations, as well as appear, but turned down both roles as he felt that Spock's part in the film was not significant enough. The intention had been to include Shatner as Kirk, Nimoy as Spock and Kelley as Leonard McCoy.
Following Yelchin's death, the producers of Star Trek stated that the role of Chekov would not be recast and that the character would be written out of any subsequent Star Trek films.
Pavel Chekov was played by Walter Koenig in The Original Series and was an awesome actor for the roll. Chekov was born in 2245 in Pushkino, in the Russian Federation on Earth. When he was 17 he joined Starfleet Academy, hoping one day he would have command of his own starship. He eventually made it through the academy.
When did Walter Koenig join the cast of Star Trek?
Walter Koenig joined the cast of "Star Trek" in 1967 as Ensign Pavel Chekov, the feisty Russian upstart who was always quick to point out that a lot of human culture originated in his home country.
The parents of Anton Yelchin have reached a settlement with the makers of the Jeep Grand Cherokee, the SUV that crushed and killed the “Star Trek” actor in his driveway in 2016.
Koenig has taught classes in acting and directing privately at UCLA, The Sherwood Oaks Experimental Film College and at the California School of Professional Psychology. Most recently, he has been an instructor at the Actor's Alley Repertory Company in Los Angeles, California.
Is Star Trek 4 confirmed? As far as we know, Star Trek 4 is definitely going to happen despite the fact we're nearing eight years since the last movie, Star Trek Beyond, was released.
During the first five Star Trek movies, he serves as helmsman aboard both the USS Enterprise and USS Enterprise-A. He is promoted to captain and given command of the USS Excelsior three years before the events of Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.
After Star Trek (1966) was canceled, he did guest stints in several TV shows, voiced Sulu for the animated Star Trek series & regularly appeared at Star Trek conventions. He also produced & hosted a public affairs show Expression East/West, which aired in Los Angeles from 1971-1973. That year, he ran for the L.A.
Takei rode to fame along with the crew of the Starship Enterprise in the short-lived but immensely popular television series, appearing in fifty-one of seventy-nine episodes that aired during Star Trek's three seasons on NBC (1966–69).
Commander Martin Madden is introduced as the replacement for Captain Riker. The alternate ending also shows Captain Picard trying out his new Captain's chair and launching the Enterprise on a new mission.
William Shatner (Kirk), George Takei (Sulu) and Walter Koenig (Chekov) are all still alive. I have had the honour of meeting all three. Moreover, I met Nichelle Nichols (Uhura) and Leonard Nimoy (Spock) before they died. Shatner can be very amusing and entertaining or a complete arse.
Anton Viktorovich Yelchin (11 March 1989 – 19 June 2016; age 27) was a Russian-born actor from Southern California who played Pavel Chekov in Star Trek, Star Trek Into Darkness, and Star Trek Beyond.
