Anton Yelchin

Anton Yelchin (11 March 1989, Leningrad, USSR — 19 June 2016, Los Angeles, California) was an American film and TV actor of Russian Jewish origins who relocated to the United States with his family as an infant. Yelchin debuted as a child actor at twelve; one of his first adult roles was in the 2006 Alpha Dog crime drama, written and directed by Nick Cassavetes and starring Bruce Willis, Justin Timberlake, and Emile Hirsch. Anton Yelchin came to prominence for his portrayal of Lieutenant Pavel Chekov in the 2009 Star Trek reboot directed by J. J. Abrams, re-appearing in Star Trek Into Darkness (2013) and Star Trek Beyond (2016) sequels. Yelchin died in a freak accident at his home at only 27; after he failed to arrive at a rehearsal in June 2016, Anton's body was found pinned between his Jeep Grand Cherokee and a brick pillar outside his house in Studio City, Los Angeles. Apparently, he parked the car in the driveway and went to retrieve mail at the locked gate downhill when the vehicle rolled back spontaneously and crushed him against the fence. By tragic coincidence, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles was aware of rollaway incidents for 2014-2015 Grand Cherokee models caused by a problematic gearshift design and already issued a recall in April 2016. The required software patch to fix the gear indicator only reached Fiat Chrysler dealerships on the week of Yelchin's death. His parents sued FCA for wrongful death in August 2016, settling out of court two years later.