Anton Yelchin

Early life

Yelchin was born March 11, 1989, in Leningrad, Soviet Union (now Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation). His parents, Irina Korina and Viktor Yelchin, were pair figure skaters, who were celebrities and stars of the Leningrad Ice Ballet for fifteen years. His family is Jewish; in the USSR, they were subjected to religious and political oppression. Yelchin had said: "My grandparents suffered in ways I can't even begin to understand under Stalin." Nationally, Yelchin's parents were the third-ranked pair team; they thus qualified for the 1972 Winter Olympics, but were not permitted to participate by the Soviet authorities. Yelchin had said the reason was unclear: "I don't exactly know what that was – because they were Jewish or because the KGB didn't want them to travel".

Yelchin's family moved to the United States in September 1989, when Anton was six months old, after receiving refugee status from the United States Department of State. Yelchin's mother worked as a figure skating choreographer and his father as a figure skating coach, having been Sasha Cohen's first trainer. Yelchin's uncle is the children's author and painter Eugene Yelchin.

In an article published in the Los Angeles Times in December 1989, Yelchin's mother stated "A woman came up, saw Anton, and said, 'He's beautiful. He will be actor.'" Yelchin had stated that he "wasn't very good" at figure skating, his parents' profession.

Career

After his film debut A Man is Mostly Water, Yelchin's early roles in both film and television included A Time for Dancing, Delivering Milo, House of D and Taken. He guest-starred in the season four episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm, as Stewart, Cheryl David's cousin and a self-described magician, knowing a card trick. His biggest film recognition came for the role of Bobby Garfield in Hearts in Atlantis (2001), in which he won Best Performance in a Feature Film – Leading Young Actor at the 2002 Young Artist Awards.

In Showtime's television series Huff, he played Byrd Huffstodt, the 14-year-old son of the eponymous character (Hank Azaria). In 2006, he guest-starred in the Law & Order: Criminal Intent episode "Tru Love", as a boy who falls in love with his teacher. He also appeared in the Criminal Minds episode "Sex, Birth & Death" as Nathan Harris, a boy who has fantasies about killing prostitutes.

In the American version of Alpha Dog, Yelchin played Zack Mazursky, a character based on the death of Nicholas Markowitz. USA Today's review described the performance as "heartbreakingly endearing". After the premiere, Markowitz's mother praised his portrayal of her son. Yelchin subsequently headlined Fierce People, which received a limited release on September 7, 2007. In 2008, he played the title role in Charlie Bartlett, a film about a wealthy teenager in a public high school. He also appeared alongside the Russian duo t.A.T.u. in the film You and I (which was filmed in Moscow during the summer of 2007), and co-starred with Susan Sarandon and Justin Chatwin in Middle of Nowhere. He starred in two films released in May 2009, including the eleventh Star Trek film as teenage navigator Pavel Chekov and Kyle Reese in Terminator Salvation.

In 2011, Yelchin played Charley Brewster in Craig Gillespie's remake film Fright Night, starred in the romantic drama Like Crazy, and voiced Clumsy Smurf in the film adaptation of The Smurfs and its sequel. He replaced Russell Tovey for the voice role of Albino Pirate in the American version of the animated film The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists! (also known as The Pirates! Band of Misfits) (2012). Yelchin voiced Shun in Studio Ghibli's From Up on Poppy Hill.

He reprised his role for Chekov in Star Trek Into Darkness (2013) and played the lead in the thriller Odd Thomas (2013) and the horror comedy Burying the Ex (2014). In 2015, he starred in the independent horror film Green Room which premiered at the Cannes film festival that year and received limited theatrical release in May 2016.

Shortly before his death, Yelchin had reprised his role as Chekov in Star Trek Beyond, which was released on July 22, 2016. He also completed filming several independent films which released posthumously. He recorded the voice role of Jim in Guillermo del Toro's Trollhunters.

Personal life

Yelchin once played for the disbanded punk band the Hammerheads. 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.

Death

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". Yelchin exited his car while in his driveway, which is on a steep incline, when it rolled back and trapped him against the pillar and a security fence. He was pronounced dead later that day. The Jeep crushed his lungs, and he is believed to have died within a minute of impact.

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".

Lawsuit

The vehicle involved was among some Fiat Chrysler models under a recall notice for transmission errors leading to unintended rolling and while the initial recall had begun before Yelchin's death, no affected vehicles had yet been repaired.

On August 1, 2016, the attorney of Yelchin's parents announced that they were planning to file a wrongful death lawsuit against Fiat Chrysler. The car maker claimed Yelchin was responsible for his own death, because he had "misused" the vehicle.

Tributes

The producers of Star Trek said the role of Chekov would not be recast and the character would be written out of any subsequent films. Star Trek Beyond was dedicated to Yelchin.

Smurfs: The Lost Village was also dedicated to him, as he had provided the voice of Clumsy Smurf. Additionally, We Don't Belong Here, Rememory, Porto and the first two episodes of Trollhunters were also dedicated to him.

He was also featured in the "In Memoriam" section during the 89th Academy Awards.