Actor Anton Yelchin dies at 27

Anton Yelchin, a star of the Star Trek films, Alpha Dog, and Like Crazy, died Sunday in a freak accident. He was 27.

Yelchin's friends were worried when he didn't show up for a band performance early in the morning, and he was found at his home pinned between his car and a brick mailbox pillar, Variety reports. "It appears he had exited his car and was behind it when the vehicle rolled down a steep driveway," the Los Angeles Police Department said in a statement.

Yelchin played Pavel Chekhov in the Star Trek film franchise, and his latest movie in the series, Star Trek Beyond, debuts July 22. Yelchin was born in Leningrad, and moved with his family to the U.S. when he was 6 months old, seeking political asylum. He began acting at 9 years old. He is being remembered by friends on Twitter, with director J.J. Abrams writing, "You were brilliant. You were kind. You were funny as hell. And you weren't here nearly long enough. Missing you, JJ."

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