American actor Anton Viktorovich Yelchin, most recognized for his portrayal of Pavel Chekov in 2009's Star Trek, 2013's Star Trek: Into Darkness and the forthcoming Star Trek: Beyond died yesterday June 19th, 2016 after being in a "freak accident" in which the young star was pinned between his car and the security gate to his home in Studio City, California, he died later the same day. He was only 27 years old.
Born March 11th, 1989 in Leningrad, Soviet Union (now St. Petersberg, Russia) Anton and his Jewish parents Figure Skaters Irina Korina and Viktor Yelchin moved to the United States when Anton was six months old as refugees from religious and political oppression from Stalin's soviet authorities. 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. His uncle is the children's author Eugene Yelchin.
Anton's career as an actor began when he was just 9 years old, starring in the 1998 independent film A Man Is Mostly Water. Throughout his youth, Anton enjoyed great success as a TV star appearing in US TV shows such as Delivering Milo, Huff, Law & Order: Criminal Intent and Criminal Minds. Anton first gained recognition on the big screen for his role as Bobby Garfield in 2001's Hearts in Atlantis, and again for his portrayal of Zack Mazursky, a character based on real-life kidnap and murder victim Nicholas Markowitz in 2007's Alpha Dog - Markowitz's mother would later praise his portrayal of her son.
It was in 2009 that Anton received international recognition for his portrayal of Pavel Chekov in J.J. Abrams ensemble cast reboot of the Star Trek movie franchise and also as a teenage Kyle Reese in McG's Terminator Salvation (pictured above). His portrayal of both roles was met with acclaim from critics, fans and the actors previous cast in those roles (Walter Koenig and Michael Biehn, respectively) and launched Anton's career as a leading man.
Following the praise of his performances in Star Trek and Terminator Salvation Anton was cast as Charlie Brewster in 2011 remake of Fright Night, starred in the romantic comedy Like Crazy and supplied his voice to the role of Clumsy Smurf in The Smurfs movie and its sequels and for the Albino Pirate in 2012's The Pirates! Band of Misfits. Recently Anton reprised his role of Chekov in 2013's Star Trek: Into Darkness and was cast in the title role of Odd Thomas (pictured above), based on the bestselling novel series of the same name by Dean R. Koontz. The Forthcoming Star Trek: Beyond will be one of the few films to star Anton that will be released after his death.
Scified's team, member's and fans extend our deepest and most heartfelt condolences out to Anton's family and friends in this heartbreaking time of grief. Anton's flame burnt bright and strong, but will never be extinguished. He was one of Hollywoods greatest in the making, taken from us all before his time.
Anton Viktorovich Yelchin
11/03/1989 - 19/06/2016
