Farewell to Two Star Trek Legends: Patrick Stewart and Walter Koenig

Stewart and Koenig will be missed for more than just Star Trek

It has been a bloody awful week for Star Trek fans.

Walter Koenig, who played Pavel Chekov in the original series and films, died on October 25 at the age of 90. Just three days later, Sir Patrick Stewart, Captain Jean-Luc Picard to generations of fans, died aged 86.

Both deaths suck and made me feel sadder than I’d have thought. I have watched a ridiculous amount of Star Trek in my life. I have seen every episode of the original series and every episode of The Next Generation, along with all the films. All more than once. These were actors I’ve spent literally hundreds of hours watching.

I recently wrote about Star Trek at 60, back in happier times.

And both actors did stuff outside of Star Trek that I also really enjoyed.

Stewart became Professor Charles Xavier in the X-Men films, another series I love. (Well, mostly.) He was also on a lot of other things – check out his hilarious appearance in Extras, for example.

Koenig, meanwhile, played a completely different science-fiction character in the awesome Babylon 5. His character, Alfred Bester, was smug, charming, sinister and frequently annoying. He was one of the best recurring villains in a show packed with great characters. (Seriously, go and watch Babylon 5 if you haven’t seen it.)

Patrick Stewart

Before becoming Captain Picard, Stewart was best known as a serious Shakespearean actor who had spent years with the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Ian McKellen has revealed that when Stewart told him he had been offered Star Trek, McKellen actually advised him against it, worrying that years in Hollywood might derail his stage career.

Thankfully, Stewart ignored him.

Jean-Luc Picard became one of science fiction’s great characters, a captain who could solve a crisis with diplomacy, and intelligence. He was convincing as a leader and I would definitely have followed him. Stewart went on to play Picard through seven seasons of The Next Generation, four films and three seasons of Star Trek: Picard.

McKellen, who later starred opposite him in the X-Men films and one of his closest friends, described Stewart this week as a man “to rely on, to admire and in my case, love.” Hugh Jackman called him one of the greats of stage and screen, as well as a tremendous friend.

William Shatner said Picard “stood for the best of us.”

Walter Koenig

Koenig joined the original Star Trek in its second season in 1967. His Russian navigator was a weirdly optimistic creation in the middle of the Cold War. Apparently in the future, Russia and the West eventually sort things out. It was pretty futuristic.

He later appeared in the Star Trek films, wrote for television, taught acting and, as mentioned, turned up in Babylon 5 as Bester.

George Takei’s tribute was particularly touching. The two met on the Enterprise set in the 1960s and remained friends for almost six decades. Koenig was even Takei’s best man when he married Brad Altman in 2008.

Takei said he would remember him as a writer, teacher, thoughtful man and loyal friend.

Gone, but not forgotten

It has been an especially cruel few days for Star Trek, and I couldn’t let it pass without saying anying. Two actors from two different generations of the franchise have gone within days of each other. They will be missed.

I think it’s time for a Trek and Babylon 5 binge in their memory.