Anton Yelchin acted.
Anton Viktorovich Yelchin ( Анто́н Ви́кторович Ельчи́н March 11 , 1989 -- June 19 , 2016 ) was an American actor . He played Pavel Chekov in three Star Trek films , including the 2009 reboot film of the same name , along with the sequels , Star Trek Into Darkness and the posthumously released Star Trek Beyond ( 2016 ) .