Remembering Walter Koenig and Patrick Stewart

This week has been a sad one for Star Trek with the passing of two icons from different generations of the franchise who both appeared in the appropriately titled 1994 movie, Star Trek: Generations.

I was shocked today to learn of the death of Sir Patrick Stewart at the age of 86, just days after the death of Walter Koenig at the age of 90.

Walter Koenig was famous for playing Starfleet officer Pavel Chekov in the original Star Trek television series from 1967 to 1969 and then again in seven Star Trek films, from Star Trek: The Motion Picture in 1979 to Star Trek: Generations in 1994.

Sir Patrick Stewart became a household name in 1987 at the age of 47 when he initiated the role of Captain Jean-Luc Picard in the television series, Star Trek: The Next Generation. Stewart played Picard for seven years on the small screen before taking the character to the big screen with four films, beginning with Star Trek: Generations in 1994 and concluding with Star Trek: Nemesis in 2002.

Stewart went on to become an even bigger international star with the role of Professor Charles Xavier in the X-Men movies, before returning to conclude Picard and the Next Generation’s arc in the 2020-2023 television series, Star Trek: Picard.

I met Walter Koenig in 1994 when I took my brother to our first and only Star Trek convention at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York City to meet and get the autographs of both Koenig and James Doohan (Star Trek’s Scotty). Koenig, 58 at the time, was recovering from a recent heart attack. It was wonderful to see the two Star Trek legends in person and interact with them briefly. Doohan passed away about a decade later at the age of 85.

Four years after seeing Sir Patrick Stewart on Broadway in 1994 in his one-man stage adaptation of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, I had the great honor and privilege of interviewing Stewart by telephone in 1998 for his USA Network movie, Moby Dick. It was quite the experience to hear his distinctive and stentorian voice on the phone speaking to me.

I was scheduled to interview Stewart’s costar, Henry Thomas of E.T. the Extraterrestrial fame, immediately afterward, and I wasn’t looking forward to the awkward prospect of cutting my interview with Stewart short. Thankfully, Stewart miraculously finished what he was saying at the exact minute I had to call Thomas. I told Stewart, and he was very gracious, saying, “I understand. And give Henry my love and greetings. We will talk again.”

I never did get to talk to Stewart again. However, Stewart continued to talk to me through his countless performances in the following years, and he will continue to talk to future generations through the vast and impressive legacy he leaves behind.

May the memories of Walter Koenig and Sir Patrick Stewart continue to live long and prosper.

--Raj Manoharan