LOS ANGELES, June 19 Reuters- Actor Anton Yelchin, best known for playing the young Russian starship navigator Chekov in the rebooted series of Star Trek movies, has died after accidentally being crushed by his own car against a driveway wall.
The Russian-born Yelchin, 27, died shortly after 1 am on Sunday local time after he apparently stepped out of his car in the steep driveway of his Los Angeles home and it rolled backwards, said Jenny Houser, spokeswoman for the Los Angeles Police Department.
"The car pinned him against a brick wall and a security fence, and that trauma led to his death," Houser said.
Yelchin was due at a rehearsal and when he did not show up, friends went to his house and found him dead, Houser said. No foul play was suspected, but the accident was under investigation, she said.
A number of actors and others who worked with Yelchin took to social media with tributes and expressions of dismay.
"Still in shock. Rest in peace, Anton," Justin Lin, who directed Yelchin in his third Star Trek movie, wrote on Twitter.
"Your passion and enthusiasm will live on with everyone that had the pleasure of knowing you."
Yelchin was best known for assuming the role of Pavel Chekov, the young navigator on the bridge of the starship Enterprise, for the 2009 re-launch of the Star Trek film franchise and two sequels - 2013's Star Trek Into Darkness and the upcoming Star Trek Beyond, set to open on July 22.
Director JJ Abrams, who cast Yelchin in the franchise, has written in a statement that he was "brilliant ... kind ... funny as hell, and supremely talented."
"I loved Anton Yelchin so much," wrote John Cho, who played fellow Enterprise crew member Sulu in the new Star Trek films.
"He was a true artist - curious, beautiful, courageous. He was a great pal and a great son. I'm in ruins."
Yelchin was born in St Petersburg, the son of two figure skaters, and emigrated to the US as an infant. He was an only child.
He has appeared in numerous films and was in the TV series Huff, starring Hank Azaria, who wrote on Twitter that he was devastated. "He was a very sweet kid. My heart goes out to his family."
Early in his career as a teenager, Yelchin gained wide attention appearing with Anthony Hopkins in the 2001 film Hearts in Atlantis and with Robin Williams in 2004's House of D.
Yelchin played Jacob Clarke in the Steven Spielberg miniseries Taken and also appeared in the films Terminator Salvation, Charlie Bartlett, Fright Night, Like Crazy, and Only Lovers Left Alive between 2007 and 2013.
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