The American actor Walter Koenig, famous for embodying the navigator Pavel Chekov in the original series of "Star Trek," has passed away at the age of 90 in California.
Koenig died last Sunday "due to his advanced age in North Hollywood," as detailed by his representative, Zachery McGinnis, in an email sent to several U.S. media outlets.
The character of Chekov was introduced in 1967, during the second season of the production created by Gene Roddenberry, and his origin and marked Russian accent represented a true novelty on American television, which was then heavily influenced by the context of the Cold War.
Son of a family of Lithuanian origin, Koenig was born in Chicago and studied dramatic arts at the Neighborhood Playhouse school in New York, where he trained alongside actors like James Caan and Christopher Lloyd.