Anton Yelchin joined the 27 club on June 19, 2016. The cause of death is recorded as: Accidental blunt traumatic asphyxia
Anton Viktorovich Yelchin was an American actor, best known for his role as Pavel Chekov in the Star Trek reboot series. Born on March 11, 1989, in Leningrad, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union, Yelchin's parents were Irina Korina and Viktor Yelchin, who were pair figure skaters for the Leningrad Ice Ballet for 15 years. Due to their Jewish faith and political oppression in the Soviet Union, they left for the United States with their six-month-old son Anton, eventually receiving refugee status from the Department of State.
Yelchin's parents were not able to compete in the 1972 Winter Olympics despite being the third-ranked pair team due to unknown reasons, possibly related to their religion or the Soviet authorities' disapproval of their travel. Yelchin grew up in the San Fernando Valley and attended Sherman Oaks Center for Enriched Studies before enrolling at the University of Southern California to study film. Unbeknownst to many, Yelchin was born with cystic fibrosis, a medical condition that was not publicly disclosed until after his untimely death in 2016.
Yelchin began his acting career with a small role in A Man Is Mostly Water and went on to appear in various films and television series throughout the early 2000s. He received critical acclaim for his portrayal of Bobby Garfield in Hearts in Atlantis (2001), earning him a Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a Feature Film: Leading Young Actor. Yelchin also starred as Byrd Huffstodt, the 14-year-old son of Hank Azaria's character on Showtime's television series Huff.
In 2006, Yelchin landed more prominent roles in high-profile films such as Alpha Dog alongside Bruce Willis and Justin Timberlake and portraying Kyle Reese in Terminator Salvation. He reprised his role as Chekov in the Star Trek reboot and its subsequent sequels, Star Trek Into Darkness (2013) and Star Trek Beyond (2016). Yelchin's filmography also includes independent projects such as Like Crazy (2011), Fright Night (2011), Odd Thomas (2013), 5 to 7 (2014), Burying the Ex (2014), The Driftless Area (2015), and Green Room (2015).
As a voice actor, Yelchin provided the voices of Clumsy Smurf in the live-action Smurfs films (2011–2013) and Jim Lake Jr. on the Netflix animated series Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia (2016-2018). Yelchin's active career came to a tragic end when he was fatally injured by his SUV in June 2016 at the age of 27. His legacy lies not only in his impressive body of work on both the big and small screen, but also in the inspiration he provided as a talented artist with an unwavering passion for his craft. Yelchin's untimely demise left fans mourning the loss of a remarkable talent and a promising future in the world of acting.