Anton Yelchin

Anton Viktorovich Yelchin, Анто́н Ви́кторович Ельчи́н; March 11, 1989 – June 19, 2016) was an American film and television actor, known for portraying Pavel Chekov in the Star Trek reboot series, and for several other prominent roles.

Born to a Russian Jewish family in Leningrad, Yelchin relocated to the United States as an infant. He began performing in the late 1990s, appearing in several television roles and the Hollywood films Along Came a Spider and Hearts in Atlantis (both 2001). His role as Jacob Clarke in the Steven Spielberg miniseries Taken was significant in furthering his career as a child actor. He later appeared on the television series Huff and appeared in the films Terminator Salvation (2009), Charlie Bartlett (2007), Fright Night (2011), Like Crazy (2011), The Smurfs (2011), Only Lovers Left Alive (2013) and Green Room (2015). He appears in Star Trek (2009) and Star Trek Into Darkness (2013), and will appear posthumously in Star Trek Beyond (2016).

Early in the morning of June 19, 2016, Yelchin was found by friends pinned between his Jeep Grand Cherokee and a brick pillar outside his home in Studio City, California, in what was described as a "freak accident." He was pronounced dead later that day at the age of 27.

Yelchin once played in a punk band named the Hammerheads, though the group has since disbanded. He enjoyed playing the guitar, saying that it gave him "a lot of fulfillment", and was a fan of acoustic blues music.

He attended the Sherman Oaks Center for Enriched Studies in Tarzana, California, and enrolled at the University of Southern California in fall 2007 to study film.

Early in the morning of June 19, 2016, Yelchin was found by friends pinned between his 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee and a brick pillar outside his home in Studio City, California, in what was described as a "freak accident." Yelchin exited his car while in his driveway, when it rolled back and trapped him against the pillar and a security fence.He was pronounced dead later that day.

The Los Angeles County coroner's office identified the cause of death as "blunt traumatic asphyxia", and stated that there were "no obvious suspicious circumstances involved." His Jeep was among those Fiat Chrysler models under a recall notice for transmission errors leading to unintended rolling; while the initial recall had begun before Yelchin's death, no affected vehicles had yet been repaired.