ululate!

Anton Yelchin, the young actor who made it to the big time playing Pavel Chekov in JJ Abrams's Star Trek films, has died at age 27. He was, apparently, crushed by his own car at the front gate of his home. The car was found to be in neutral gear; foul play isn't suspected, but investigations are ongoing. This has all the makings of a horrible freak accident; how much of it can be chalked up to negligence, and how much can be attributed to mechanical failure, won't be known for a while, I imagine.

I was shocked by the news of Yelchin's death, which came to me, as most news does these days, via my Twitter feed. I can't say that I had watched many of Yelchin's films; only "Terminator: Salvation" comes to mind aside from Trek. I had wanted to watch "Odd Thomas," but I somehow never got around to it. All the same, upon learning of Yelchin's death, I was left with a feeling of potential greatness nipped in the bud. Yelchin had a sharp comic sense, and I get the impression that he must have been fun to be around on set. Twitter tributes to Yelchin, from his young Hollywood friends, appeared almost immediately. Several people referred to his character as "curious"—not as in "strange," but as in "wanting to know everything." It's a shame, too, that Yelchin was the only son of his Russian parents, both nationally ranked figure skaters, who fled to the US when Yelchin was only a year old.

Yelchin's father is named Viktor, and from what I've read, Yelchin's "Wictor, Wictor" line in 2009's "Star Trek" was a sly tribute to his dad. How awful to be a parent who has lost his only child. RIP, Anton Yelchin. We hardly knew you.


_