Decades after he donned Chekov’s wig, Walter Koenig spoke about why he had to wear it in the first place. According to the actor, the idea came from Gene Roddenberry — the mastermind behind “Star Trek” – who told his staff that he wanted the character to have the same appeal with the younger demographic as The Monkees frontman Davy Jones did with the youth of the era. “Chekov was all about demographics. They wanted a male character who could bring in the 8 to 12-year-olds,” Koenig explained to TV Insider in 2016.
https://www.looper.com/1492476/star-trek-catspaw-chekov-haircut-wig-explained/
For real. I watched him in Trek first, then was blown away by him in Babylon 5. I was like damn he can act, and Trek pretty much only used him for a bit of comedy relief!
The first episode of B5 I saw him in as a guest star I was like I really hope he’s a recurring character, and I was glad to find out that he indeed was.