Anton Yelchin

I was saddened to learn of the death of 27-year old Anton Yelchin in a tragic accident Sunday morning. Best known for playing Chekhov in the new Star Trek movie series, Yelchin was a rising star adept at comedy, horror, and drama.

Born in Leningrad in 1989, Yelchin moved to the U.S. with his parents and began acting professionally at age 10, in the tv series ER. 

On a 2003 episode of Without a Trace, he plays a shy, gay-coded boy who is kidnapped along with his classmates.

Starring roles in Jack, Fierce People, and Alpha Dog followed, plus a tv series, Huff.

As a teenager, Yelchin did his share of hetero-horny "Girl Walking in Slow Motion Across Her Yard" roles, but he also did some homoerotic buddy-bonding, notably in House of D (2004), where an adult Tom (David Duchovny) recalls his adolescent friendship with the mentally challenged Pappas (Robin Williams), and in Terminator Salvation (2009), where Marcus (Sam Worthington) goes back to the past to stop Skynet from taking over the world, and bonds with the teenage Kyle (Yelchin).











The Star Trek reboots with Kirk and company just out of Star Fleet Academy, have occupied Yelchin's time for the past several years.  When I was a kid, I thought that Chekhov and Sulu were a romantic couple.

Yelchin still managed to find some independent vehicles, such as a remake of Fright Night, the heterosexist paranormal saga Odd Thomas and the spy caper Dying of the Light (where he buddy-bonds with Nicholas Cage)



See also: Star Trek