On Monday Star Trek’s original Chekov became the final member of the TOS crew to get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Walter’s Trek co-stars and other celebs came out to Hollywood to celebrate the event. See below for a full report and lots of photos of Walter’s big day.
Koenig gets his star
Actor, writer, television icon Walter Koenig was honored Monday with the 2,479th Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The actor or was first to play Pavel Chekov was the last remaining cast member from the original Star Trek series to be honored with a star.
On hand at the ceremony ware Koenig’s Star Trek co-stars George Takei (Sulu), Nichelle Nichols (Uhura) and Leonard Nimoy (Spock). Nimoy was one of the speakers at the event, praising Walter’s great talent and memorable role on television and the delight he had making Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home particularly directing him in uttering the words "Nuclear Wessels." Specifically on the role of Chekov Nimoy paid Walter the following compliment:
I remember when Walter came on board the Enterprise there were people that had reasons for bringing this character on board. At the time our major adversaries were the Russians and it was decided for the sake of showing a positive aspect of the future it would be a good thing to have a Russian on board. Also at the same time the Beatles were a big deal and they had these interesting hair cuts and someone said "maybe we will pick up a bit of the Beatles audience we should put a Beatle wig on him." So Walter came in with his excellent Russian accent and a Beatle wig and something interesting happened. It turned out that Walter was a good actor and he took these slim dimensions of a character that had been handed to him and he created a three dimensional flesh and blood person who made an enormous contribution to Star Trek over the years.
Leonard Nimoy praising Walter Koenig at his star event in Hollywood
Nimoy and Koenig joined by Nichelle Nichols and George Takei
J. Michael Straczynski also spoke about his and Walter’s days on Babylon 5 and how he created the role of baddie Bester the PsiCop. An unintended funny highlight from the event was when Walk of Fame CEO Leron Gubler presented Walter with a proclamation from the City of Los Angeles (for "Walter Koenig Day") only to have his name misspelled.
J. Michael Straczynski speaking for Koenig
Hollywood Chamber of Commerce CEO presents Walter with proclamation from City of LA
After Walter’s Star was unveiled he called for silence to mention that Rod Roddenberry had gave a substantial amount of money to help raise the funds needed to procure the Star with Rod at his side.
Other luminaries present were M.A.S.H.’s Jamie Farr, Star Trek Voyager’s Tim Russ and Garrett Wang, DS9’s favorite Dabo Girl Chase Masterson and original BSG Boomer Herb Jefferson. His wife Judy Levitt and daughter Danielle were also on hand at the ceremony.
Rod Roddenberry and Walter with the star Roddenberry helped fund
You can watch the entire ceremony at WalkOfFame.com.
And you can visit Walter’s star at 6679 Hollywood Boulevard which is in front of Board Walk Restaurant and near the George Takei’s star.
Walter’s new star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
More photos from Walter’s Hollywood Star ceremony.
George Takei and Nichelle Nichols with Walter
Walter’s star is unveiled
Herbert Jefferson and Walter
Tim Russ
Garrett Wang and Koenig
All photos by Albert L. Ortega
Albert L. Ortega is a photojournalist and life-long Star Trek fan. You can find these and more of Al’s Photos at Getty Images. You can also visit Al on his Facebook page.
Yay, Walter!
It’s about time! Congrats Walter, from a lifelong fan!
(If it hadn’t been for that Ceti Alpha ear eel scene that first captivated me when I was four, I probably wouldn’t have turned into a life long Trekkie.)
Very nice and well deserved!
George always looks dapper.
Congrats to Walter
Congratulations Walter. It was about time!
Congratulations, Mr. Koenig.
Love the pictures, esp. the one with four of the original bridge crew. They’re all looking pretty darn good. I hope they all enjoyed the op. to connect.
Where’s Shatner? Snubbing another event?
Congrats Walter! You may have always received the short end of the Star Trek stick acting-wise, but your fans who’v
e followed your career know you are capable of some great acting!
CONGRATULATIONS. YOU REALLY EARNED THAT. ALL OUR LOVE AND RESPECT FROM YOUR FANS IN BRAZIL.
Congrats, Mr. Koenig!… Great photos!
Congratulations, Mr. Koenig!
Check this out: TM is mentioned…
http://theweek.com/article/index/233137/star-trek-into-darkness-deconstructing-the-bizarre-new-title
Congratulations Mr. Koenig. You are well-loved and an indispensable part of Star Trek, and you are so appreciated!
Where was Shatner… oh, I forgot, it doesn’t care about his Trek co-stars (outside of Nimoy and Kelly) and only sees them as lesser actors….
So Cool !
Listen, I know I don’t always speak English perfectly, but is it too much to ask to have someone proofread these posts before they go up onto a site that a lot of people read? It hurts your credibility when you let such a poorly written piece get posted unedited.
But aside from that, the pictures are nice. Congratulations, Walter.
Cool, Congrats!
Now, this is news. Makes me want to be a fan of my favorite show!!!…
Where’s Shatner?
I love Walter…but he should have corrected Leonard Nimoy…it was the DAVY JONES look they were going for…NOT the Beatles…who in 1967 were much older. RIP DJ…give the Monkees a little love Leonard!
Congratulations to Walter Koenig. I actually thought he already had a star. Star Trek is more than the “Big Three”; it couldn’t have been what it was without Chekov. No Cold War on Enterprise. A bad accent alone could have sunk the series. Great character addition.
#20: The Monkees were created for TV because the network tried to capitalize on the Beatles popularity at that time. They were an imitation of the band. So what Nimoy says is true. Chekov was an evolution, and his roots started with the Beatles.
I knew it. I knew within the first couple of posts there was going to be a comment about how William Shatner wasn’t there. I freakin knew it.
#23
Well.
He wasn’t, was he?
Wow. Nimoy’s looking young, hip and groovy.
@20
Yeah, you’re right on that. Loved Davy.
@ 22 yeah, but he looked like Davy. That was part of the deal,….to get that demographic.
Good for Keonig. Always liked him/the character. Nice
23. Andrew
I knew it too. As soon as a post goes up, someone is whining about something. And on here… we get 3 complaining about Shatner. And none of them even had anything to say about congratulating Koenig or anything about the ceremony. I predict that people don’t read other posts either and we will also have more people bring it up as the post continues.
Long overdue, but sweetly deserved.
Congratulations, Walter.
Why would the Shat be there? This wasn’t about him: /
congrats Mr.Koenig on finally getting your walk of fame star by darn time,
great to see at lease three of your co-stars to be at this event.
FWIW, Roddenberry did indeed have Davy Jones in mind when he first started asking the staff about creating a new character with a British accent for the show, mentioning in one memo “that little fellow who looks to be a hit”. Thank goodness they let him do the Russian accent instead.
Meanwhile, leave us not forget Walter’s writing skills. His narrative style, in particular, is excellent; I count “Chekov’s Enterprise”, his diary of the making of STTMP, as one of my favorite books.
28. NCM – Exactly. I like Bill, but has he ever shown up to something like this when he isn’t the center of attention? Perhaps he has, but I don’t remember it.
congrats to Mr. Koening on this honor.
…Is it me, or does Leonard Nimoy look like Iggy Pop in these photos?
Congratulations to Walter Koenig who becomes the last original Star Trek cast member to receive a Hollywood Walk of Fame star. The original Star Trek cast are the only cast to get both the Hollywood Walk of Fame and Mann’s Chinese Theater hand and footprints. The original Star Trek cast have now left their mark on this world. Leonard Nimoy looks awesome with long hair.
God bless you Walter. Can’t wait to see you in Renegades!
Congrats Mr. Koenig! A fitting tribute to your talents.
Congratulations, Walter, well deserved (and as JMS said, “about damn time!”)
I see from Nichelle Nichols’ tweets that Chris Doohan and Wende Doohan were there also –
“Nichelle Nichols @RealNichelle
We really ARE family by now. Loved spending time w/ @GineokwKoenig @GeorgeTakei @TheRealNimoy @TheMrsScotty @ChrisDoohan @roddenberry “
Congrats Walter!!! C’mon Bill you need to be there regardless!
For those slating Shatner for not showing up it’s worth remembering that Bill did film a part for the congratulatory video that was made in advance of the star ceremoney.
I Gary Barclay was at Walter Koenig’s star ceremony and I was portraying Spock in the blue uniform from Star Trek: TOS. It was an honor to be in Walter’s Inner Circle there. I will soon be posting the pictures from that event in my facebook picture area.
Gary Barclay, you are a celebrity in my world. LLAP.
Walter Koenig has had a star in my world for decades. Peace and long life to him. Good man.
25. This – Nimoy looks fantastic
Congrats, Walter! And thanks to Rod for help making it happen!
I wouldn’t turn up if I was Shatner, either. These ungrateful sods have spent decades whinging about him being the star.
@25 & 42:
Yeah, Nimoy does indeed look a decade younger with that haircut.
CONGRATULATIONS WALTER!
I had the good fortune of speaking with Mr Koenig at a convention in the early 1980s. My friends and I were in the bar enjoying some drinks and Walter was asking us about our lives, things we liked to do, &c. He was very nice “everyday people” and fun to talk with.
Plus he laughed when I told him my drink was a White Russian ;-D
PS Leonard Nimoy’s looking great! Love the hair.
Reading this article makes me feel happy to be alive. Well done and thank you to Walter for being such a wondeful human being, having precipitous highs and abyss-like lows and keeping us all entertained for the past 50 years. And what a legend Mr Nimoy is. Not only is he getting cooler but he’s pure class. If we’re honest, I think they’d why Shatner wasn’t in star trek 2009. Who wants to invite that type of energy to the party. Online the shat but come on Bill! You could have went to Walters party. Sigh.
This is awesome..Congrats Walter!!…It’s always awesome to see “most” of the crew back together again. Yes it would have been nice to see SHAT with them, but I sure he would just say.. “I hardly knew him…”…Great to see Herbert “Boomer” Jefferson!! GO BSG!!
It would have been nice to see Shatner as well, but…
Congratulations, mister Koenig, well deserved for the hour of fine entertainment… A big hug from your fans in Spain.
Live long and prosper!
And was Walter at Bill Shatner’s Star dedication? Doubt it. Why would Bill show up to a ceremony for someone who has openly displayed his dislike for him. All the badmouthing and name calling that has been displayed by the secondary TOS cast is unprofessional… Besides, Bill is busy with his career. And not sure that I am digging Nimoy’s new hairdo.