Star Trek fans around the world were saddened with the untimely passing of Anton Yelchin.
By: Ringo Bones
Anton Yelchin was introduced to the Star Trek universe as
the actor who played Pavel Chekov – first made famous by Walter Koenig in the
mid 1960s era original Star Trek TV series – during the JJ Abrams reboot of the
iconic science fiction franchise. Yelchin has been killed by his own car at his
home in Los Angeles, police say. It struck him after rolling backwards down the
steep drive at his Studio City home, pinning him against a brick postbox pillar
and a security fence. He died shortly after 01:00 (08:00 GMT) on Sunday, June
19, 2016.
Yelchin reprised his role as Pavel Chekov in a third film,
Star Trek Beyond, which is due for release next month. JJ Abrams, who directed
Yelchin in the first two Star Trek reboots, paid tribute on Twitter saying he
was “brilliant”. Fellow Star Trek cast-mates Zachary Quinto, John Cho and even
William Shatner also paid tribute.
Anton Yelchin’s untimely death had saddened the entire Star
Trek fan-base because he has yet more to offer to the iconic science fiction
franchise’s ongoing trajectory. His untimely passing could “complicate” any
subsequent Star Trek movies that are yet to be made.
Yelchin’s first screen role was in the US TV drama ER in
2000 and appeared in more than a dozen TV series and films before his breakout
role in 2006’s Alpha Dog.
