“A real gentleman, and I’m so glad that I actually got a chance to work with him…”
Fans are still mourning the loss of Walter Koenig, who died on Oct. 25. The veteran actor portrayed Pavel Chekov in Star Trek: The Original Series, plus the show’s subsequent theatrical releases. And many of those who worked in the Trek universe, including Koenig’s friend and co-star George Takei, have left heartfelt goodbyes online celebrating the late actor’s legacy and life.
However, I don’t know if any of the tributes hit as hard, or were as emotional, as the one Marina Sirtis posted. Sirtis, who portrayed the fan-favorite character Counselor Deanna Troi on Star Trek: The Next Generation and later reprised the role in the streaming series Picard, uploaded the must-see video below to her Instagram account. And it’s hard not to cry along with Sirtis, as she remembers her dear friend and fellow Trek family member.
Both Koenig and Sirtis appeared in the 1994 feature film Star Trek Generations which effectively passed Trek's cinematic torch from Captain James T. Kirk’s (William Shatner) crew to those aboard the USS Enterprise-D under the command of Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart).
Sadly, though, Koenig and Sirtis didn’t share any scenes together because Pavel Chekov only appeared during Generations' opening sequence set in the 23rd century, while all of Deanna Troi’s scenes were set in the 24th century. However, as Sirtis mentioned in the video above, she did work with Koenig on the sci-fi horror flick InAlienable nearly 20 years ago.
Were you as moved by Marina Sirtis’ heartfelt video as I was? Share your own thoughts about the emotional tribute to Walter Koenig with us on the Redshirts Always Die Facebook and X pages. And Sirtis and Koenig’s intriguing collaboration in InAlienable is free to stream on Tubi, PLEX, and The Roku Channel, at the time of this writing.
Live long and prosper, Trekkies!
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