What The Last Living Stars Of The Original Star Trek Look Like Today

In 1966, "Star Trek" boldly went where no man had gone before with the premiere of its first television series. Decades later, it's still a beloved franchise. Given the fact that it debuted more than a century ago and all of its main cast members were already adults at the time, it's an unfortunate reality that most of them are sadly no longer with us today.

The main cast of both "The Original Series" and the first six "Star Trek" feature films consisted of William Shatner as James T. Kirk, Leonard Nimoy as Spock, DeForest Kelley as Leonard "Bones" McCoy, James Doohan as Montgomery "Scotty" Scott, Walter Koenig as Pavel Chekov (starting from Season 2), Nichelle Nichols as Nyota Uhura, and George Takei as Hikaru Sulu. Of those seven actors, only three are still alive as of 2026.

Kelley, the oldest main cast member on "TOS," died in 1999 at the age of 79. Six years later, Doohan — who was only a month and a half younger than Kelley — died at 85. Nimoy was the next to bid farewell, dying in early 2015 at the age of 83. Most recently, Nichols died at the age of 89 in 2022. Of course, that begs the question: Just what are Shatner, Koenig, and Takei up to these days?

George Takei portrayed Lieutenant Hikaru Sulu, helmsman of the U.S.S. Enterprise, throughout all three seasons of "Star Trek: The Original Series" from 1966 to 1969. He later reprised his role for the story's big-screen continuation starting in 1979, with Sulu ultimately becoming Captain of the U.S.S. Excelsior by the events of 1991's "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country." His final live-action appearance as the character came in a 1996 episode, "Star Trek: Voyager."

Interestingly enough, Takei was actually the youngest member of the original main cast of "Star Trek." Born in 1937, Takei was 29 years old when "The Original Series" premiered on NBC in 1966. Fast-forward to 2026, and Takei has now outlived Kelley by 27 years. Takei is still active as an actor, though he has largely transitioned to voice work in recent years. This has included revisiting the character of Captain Sulu for a 2022 guest appearance on the animated series "Star Trek: Lower Decks." He also still regularly makes public appearances. The photo above, for instance, was taken when a soon-to-be-89-year-old Takei attended the premiere of the off-Broadway play "Chinese Republicans" in February 2026.

Meanwhile, Takei's "Star Trek" legacy has also endured thanks to modern reinventions of the character he originated. "Harold & Kumar" alum John Cho portrayed Lieutenant Sulu in the trilogy of "Star Trek" reboot films that ran from 2009 to 2016. More recently, Kai Murakami was cast to play a slightly younger version of Takei's Sulu in the final season of the prequel series "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds."

Much like George Takei, Walter Koenig was decidedly on the younger side as far as the original "Star Trek" crew was concerned. Koenig was born in September 1936, meaning he was about 30 years old when he joined the main cast of "The Original Series" as Ensign Pavel Chekov, starting with Season 2 in 1967. In fact, his debut episode, "Amok Time," first aired just one day after his 31st birthday. He stuck around through the end of the series, and joined his fellow main cast members when they all returned for the first six "Star Trek" movies from 1979 to 1991.

Not counting non-canon fan-made projects or appearances using archival footage, Koenig's final live-action appearance as Pavel Chekov (who now held the rank of commander) came in the 1994 film "Star Trek Generations," the franchise's seventh big-screen entry, for which only three original cast members returned. Anton Yelchin later took over the role of Pavel when the "Star Trek" film series was rebooted in 2009. That being said, Koenig eventually returned to the franchise to voice Anton Chekov, President of the United Federation of Planets, in a 2023 episode of "Star Trek: Picard." Koenig's new "Trek" character was named in honor of Yelchin, who himself tragically died in 2016 at the age of just 27.

Like Takei, Koenig remains fairly active in the entertainment industry despite his age. Above, an 88-year-old Koenig is pictured attending the premiere of the film "Raging Midlife" in March 2025. More recently, he starred in a short film titled "Mr. Fleischmann."

The lead actor of the original "Star Trek" series is also its oldest main cast member who is still alive today. Born in March 1931, William Shatner was about 35 years old when he first took on the role of Captain James T. Kirk in 1966. Like most of his co-stars, he appeared in all three seasons through 1969, and eventually returned to lead the charge once again when the franchise made the jump to the big screen in 1979.

After receiving top billing in all six original "Star Trek" movies, Shatner made one final appearance as Kirk (who had since been promoted to admiral then demoted back to captain) in the franchise's seventh feature film, "Star Trek Generations," which premiered in 1994. In that entry, Shatner's Captain Kirk joined forces with Patrick Stewart's Captain Jean-Luc Picard from "Star Trek: The Next Generation," which had only recently concluded its own seven-season run.

A few short decades later, Shatner has now actually been to space (well, the edge of space) for real. He's also appeared in public as recently as New York Comic Con in October 2026, as pictured above. Furthermore, while he turned a whopping 95 years old in March 2026, it's clear that the '60s heartthrob is aging like fine wine. He also has an impressive (and surprising) music career. "I don't know what 95 feels like — except, every time I hear the number 95, I go, 'Who?! Who?! Who's 95 here?!'" Shatner told E! News in April 2026. Regarding his impressive longevity, he added, "I don't know what it is. I lead a healthy life. I don't — essentially don't drink. I don't smoke."