I was today days old when I learned that Walter Koenig — Pavel Chekov on the original Star Trek — died Sunday, October 26, 2026, at age 90. That leaves just two of the show’s original eight main cast members still alive: William Shatner and George Takei. Six are gone now, four of them within the last two decades. Here’s where all eight ended up, in the order they first appeared on screen: Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scotty, Uhura, Chekov, Nurse Chapel, and Sulu.
James Kirk — William Shatner (Alive, 95)
Born March 22, 1931, in Montreal, Canada, Shatner led the Enterprise through the original 1966-69 series and seven feature films (1979-1994) — Kirk died on-screen in Star Trek: Generations (1994), but Shatner himself kept working:
- Starred in T.J. Hooker (1982-86) and hosted Rescue 911
- Wrote several memoirs and the TekWar sci-fi novel series
- Won two Emmys and a Golden Globe for Boston Legal (2004-2008)
- Co-starred with Henry Winkler, George Foreman, and Terry Bradshaw on NBC’s bucket-list travel show Better Late Than Never (2016-2018)
- Flew to actual space aboard Blue Origin’s NS-18 mission in October 2021, at age 90 — the oldest person ever to fly to space at the time
- Still active in 2026: appeared at New York Comic Con in October and debuted a heavy metal band at Chicago’s Riot Fest
Here’s the ad:
Photo: Super Festivals from Ft. Lauderdale, USA, CC BY 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Spock — Leonard Nimoy (Died Feb. 27, 2015, age 83)
Born March 26, 1931, in Boston, Nimoy died at his home in Bel Air, California, of end-stage COPD — a disease he attributed to a smoking habit he'd quit back in 1985, but which had already caused irreversible lung damage. After Trek:
- Moved behind the camera, directing Star Trek III: The Search for Spock and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
- Directed the major 1987 box-office hit 3 Men and a Baby
- Published memoirs and poetry (I Am Not Spock, I Am Spock)
- Was a noted photographer in his own right
His famous final public message, posted shortly before his death, was simply: “LLAP” — Live Long And Prosper.
Photo: Beth Madison (derivative work: Lämpel), CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Dr. McCoy — DeForest Kelley (Died June 11, 1999, age 79)
Photo: Alan C. Teeple (User:ACT1), CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Born January 20, 1920, in Toccoa, Georgia, Kelley was the first of the main cast to die — he passed away in Los Angeles of stomach cancer.
- Before Trek, was a reliable villain in Western films
- In one of the show’s better-known behind-the-scenes stories, Gene Roddenberry originally offered Kelley the role of Spock; he turned it down and took McCoy instead
- Retired from acting in the mid-1990s
- Survived by his wife of nearly 54 years, Carolyn Dowling
Scotty — James Doohan (Died July 20, 2005, age 85)
Born March 3, 1920, in Vancouver, Canada, Doohan died at his home in Redmond, Washington, of pneumonia complicated by Alzheimer's disease.
- Was a genuine WWII veteran: as a Canadian Army captain, led men ashore on D-Day at Normandy, was wounded in the arm and leg, and lost a finger in combat
- Trained as an actor in New York after the war, appearing in roughly 4,000 radio programs before Star Trek
- Kept voicing Scotty in Star Trek: The Animated Series (1973-74)
- Stayed active on the convention circuit for decades
Uhura — Nichelle Nichols (Died July 30, 2022, age 89)
Born December 28, 1932, in Robbins, Illinois, Nichols died in Silver City, New Mexico, where she lived with her son; natural causes were given, after she'd been treated for advanced dementia since around 2018.
- Her Uhura role was a landmark for Black representation on 1960s television
- Volunteered as a NASA recruiter from 1977 to 2015
- Personally credited with helping recruit Sally Ride, the first American woman in space, and Guion Bluford, the first African-American astronaut, among many other women and minority astronaut-corps candidates
Chekov — Walter Koenig (Died Sunday, October 26, 2026, age 90)
Born September 14, 1936, in Chicago, Koenig died of old age at his North Hollywood home, with his daughter and niece present — the death that prompted this post.
- Joined the cast in Season 2 (1967) and appeared in seven Star Trek films (1979-1994)
- Other credits included Columbo, Babylon 5, and The Starlost; also worked as a writer and director
- Received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2012
- George Takei’s tribute called him “more than Chekov… a writer, a teacher, a thoughtful man, and a loyal friend”
Photo: Angela George, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Nurse Chapel — Majel Barrett (Died December 18, 2008, age 76)
Photo: Beth Madison, CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Born Majel Lee Hudec on February 23, 1932, in Ohio, Barrett died at her home in Bel Air, California, after a short battle with leukemia.
- Married Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, who died in 1991, and never remarried
- After his death, used material from his archives to executive-produce two of his unproduced concepts, Earth: Final Conflict and Andromeda
- Voiced the Enterprise computer across multiple Trek series and films — recording her final performance, the computer voice for the 2009 J.J. Abrams Star Trek film, in early December 2008, just before her death
- Played Lwaxana Troi in later series
Sulu — George Takei (Alive, 89)
Born April 20, 1937, in Los Angeles, Takei played Sulu on the original 1966-69 series and in the films through 1994, later reprising Captain Sulu in Star Trek: Voyager's 30th-anniversary episode “Flashback” (1996). After Trek:
- Became a prominent LGBTQ+ rights activist, coming out publicly in 2005
- Became a prolific social-media humorist and advocate
- Starred on Broadway in Allegiance, based on his own childhood in a WWII Japanese-American internment camp
- Authored the graphic memoir They Called Us Enemy about that experience
- His 2026 graphic memoir It Rhymes with Takei won the 2026 Will Eisner Comic Industry Award for Best Graphic Memoir
- Largely stepped back from acting now to focus on writing, speaking, and advocacy
Photo: Florida Supercon from Ft. Lauderdale, USA, CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Two still with us, six gone, and sixty years on, the original eight are still the names everyone pictures first when they hear the word “Enterprise.”