He probably said “da bearss”, since he was from Chicago.
He was born in Chicago (to Russian Jewish immigrants), and raised in Chicago and New York. I never heard him with a Russian accent in anything other than Star Trek.
It’s his best role by far and what I’ll remember him for. A true evil. Bester believes telepaths are superior, just as a matter of fact. Mundanes are lesser evolved humans, doomed to die off.
Scary.
I was always frustrated that his demise was only covered in a post-shot book. It felt like the show had led Garribaldi to the point of enacting his revenge on Bester, but it never happened in the show.
Takei vs. Shatner
As it should be.
In addition to acting, he wrote several films (I Wish I May, You’re Never Alone When You’re a Schizophrenic), one-act plays, and a handful of episodes for TV shows: Star Trek: The Animated Series, Land of the Lost, Family and The Powers of Matthew Star.[10][30]
He wrote several books, including Warped Factors: A Neurotic’s Guide to the Universe (an autobiography), Chekov’s Enterprise (a journal kept during the filming of Star Trek: The Motion Picture) and Buck Alice and the Actor-Robot (a science fiction novel), which was re-released in 2006. He created his own comic book series called Raver, which was published by Malibu Comics in the early 1990s, and appeared as a “special guest star” in an issue of the comic book Eternity Smith, which features him prominently on its cover.[31]
In 2013, Koenig released the graphic novel Walter Koenig’s Things To Come with artist J.C. Baez, published by Bluewater Comics, which compiled the four issues of the miniseries of the same name.
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I don’t recall any accent – certainly not his Chekov one.
Brian
In interviews, he usually had a standard midwestern accent.
He was born in Chicago, grew up in New York, and went to college in Iowa and California.
When Koenig was cast as Bester I thought it was a bit of stunt casting and didn’t expect much out of it. Bester was a much better character than Chekov ever was and Koenig did a great job with it.
I thought he was literally a kid during TOS; he was thirty(?).
He was the same age as George Takei but playing younger. It was surprising. Then new Chekov was actually very young.
He’s only in 12 episodes but is highly memorable. It’s the peak of his career.
When our daughter was 14, she and I watched every episode of TOS. When I asked who her favorite character was, she said, “Chekov.” When I asked why, she said, “Because he looks like one of The Beatles.” (She was a huge Beatles fan. Still is, at 27.)
I held the door for him at Loscon III. He said thank you with eye contact. Fond memory.
RIP
It’s said in The Making of Star Trek that all Ensigns seem to be 22, and Roddenberry wanted a character that would appeal to the teenage audience like Davey Jones on The Monkees.
In one interview, Koenig said he modeled his Russian accent after that of his uncle, who couldn’t pronounce the English “V.” Desilu executive Herb Solow said it was the worst Russian accent he’d ever heard.
I have to agree with Solow. Not once in almost 60 years have I met a male Russian with an accent like Chekov’s. They usually sound like Steve Martin’s Georg Festrunk when they try to speak English. I’ve also never seen “Chekhov” written with a simple “K.”
(I’ve additionally had Scots tell me that Doohan’s Scottish accent was not at all authentic, even though he said he modeled it after that of an Army bunkmate from Aberdeen.)
For those not familiar with this, a Harlan Ellison story was inspired from overhearing something Walter Koenig said in a party.
Here is an updated list of all the Babylon 5 actors to die. A stunningly high number.
Dr. Franklin - Richard Biggs
G’kar - Andreas Katsulas
Zack - Jeff Conaway
Sinclair - Michael O’hare
Garibaldi - Jerry Doyle
Vir - Stephen Furst
Delenn - Mira Furlan
Bester - Walter Koenig
Also Zathras - Tim Choate
In those 12 episodes he was given more genuine character development than he got in 2 seasons and 7 movies as Chekov.
With hints of NYC, in my opinion.
He also wrote an episode of Land of the Lost
Enik was supposed to be Eneg (Gene backwards), but got changed somewhere in development.
Brian
In David Gerrold’s wonderful retelling of how he wrote The Trouble With Tribbles (1976) as his first screenplay, he recalls hanging around the set of Star Trek before finishing writing TTWT, trying to get a feel for the show’s vibe (and just geeking out, being so excited to be there). He saw Walter Koenig off to the side, looking at his meager number of lines for whatever episode they were filming that day. He went over to him, introducing himself as the writer of the screenplay of a future episode. Gerrold commiserated with him as they discussed how few lines the minor characters get each episode, and how that might affect their earnings. At that moment, he decided that Chekov/Koenig would have a significant role in TTWT, with lots of lines. Plus, since he was supposed to be Russian, Gerrold would make him very Russian. It’s one of my favorite parts of the book.