As our regular readers will know we here at the Gadget Helpline are big fans of Star Trek and the impact it’s had on our tech world so it’s with great sadness we read the reports last night that the actor Anton Yelchin has passed away under tragic circumstances.
The young actor who plays the U.S.S Enterprise’s navigation officer Pavel Chekov in the current film series was only 27 years old when he was killed by his own car in the most bizarre of situations but we’ll leave the details to the entertainment news websites which are all reporting on the unexpected and sudden tragedy.
For such a young talent Yelchin has appeared in many feature films including Odd Thomas, Terminator: Salvation, the remake of Fright Night and the Ferris Bueller-esque Charlie Bartlett (a personal favourite) – but of course, he is best known for bringing Star Trek’s Russian helmsman back to the big screen when J.J Abrams rebooted the franchise in 2009 and he will appear as Chekov one last time in the upcoming Star Trek Beyond.
His portrayal of the character and his troubled pronunciations (complete with “wessels” and “wictor wictors”) were a joyful highlight of the new series. The charming and beloved character even enjoyed a huge outpouring of internet memes and tribute art featuring his catchphrase – “I CAN DO ZAT!”
Anton Yelchin’s friends and fellow actors have been posting their heartfelt tributes on Twitter and other social media sites and the death of a celebrity is not the typical news we would report on, but being fans of Star Trek, and often referencing it in our writing, we wanted to join the online community in sharing our sympathies and saying farewell to another star taken too soon. The young ensign certainly has a good crew waiting for him up there.