Maury Chaykin

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Maury Chaykin
Chaykin-Wolfe-1.jpg
Maury Chaykin in A Nero Wolfe Mystery
Born Maury Alan Chaykin
(1949-07-27)July 27, 1949
Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Died July 27, 2010(2010-07-27) (aged 61)
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Resting place Cremated
Occupation Actor
Years active 1975–2010
Spouse(s) Ilana Frank (?-1993; divorced)
Susannah Hoffmann (?-2010; his death; 1 child)

Maury Alan Chaykin (July 27, 1949 – July 27, 2010) was an American-born Canadian actor, best known for his portrayal of detective Nero Wolfe, as well as for his work as a character actor in many films and television programs.[1]

Contents

Personal life [edit]

Chaykin was born in Brooklyn, New York. His father, Irving J. Chaykin (1912–2007), was born in Brooklyn, and was a professor of accountancy at City College of New York.[2] His mother, Clarice Chaykin (née Bloomfield), was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, but raised in Montreal, Quebec since the age of three. She graduated from Beth Israel Hospital nursing school in Newark, New Jersey.[3] Chaykin's maternal uncle, George Bloomfield (1930–2011), was a veteran Canadian director, producer, writer and actor who directed Chaykin in a number of projects for film and television.[4]

Raised in New York City, Chaykin studied drama at the University at Buffalo, The State University of New York. He subsequently moved to Toronto, Ontario, where he resided until his death. Chaykin's first marriage, to Canadian producer Ilana Frank, ended in divorce.[5] He was married to Canadian actress Susannah Hoffmann, with whom he had one daughter, Rose. Best known for having played Jen Pringle in the Anne of Avonlea series, Hoffmann had a supporting role in a 2002 episode of the television series, A Nero Wolfe Mystery, in which Chaykin starred.

Career [edit]

Chaykin was known for portrayals of blustery supporting characters. One of his rare leading roles was Nero Wolfe. Chaykin first played the legendary detective in The Golden Spiders: A Nero Wolfe Mystery (2000), an A&E telefilm adaptation of the 1953 novel by Rex Stout. Timothy Hutton costarred in the production as Archie Goodwin. The New York Times reported Chaykin's "undisguised delight" at starring in the promotion for The Golden Spiders: "There's an extraordinary billboard up on Sunset Boulevard right now, with a humongous photograph of my face. ... I drive by it constantly, back and forth, back and forth."[6] The original movie's success led to the weekly series, A Nero Wolfe Mystery, which played for two seasons on A&E and continues to air internationally. Chaykin and Hutton had worked together previously, albeit briefly, in the 1985 film Turk 182; and they worked together subsequently, in the 2006 film Heavens Fall.

Two of Chaykin's early motion picture roles brought him public recognition: computer programmer Jim Sting in WarGames and prosecution witness Sam Tipton in My Cousin Vinny. In 1990, he had a small but pivotal role in the film Dances with Wolves, portraying Major Fambrough.

Chaykin had his first starring role in Whale Music, a 1994 film in which he played a burned-out rock star, a character based largely on Brian Wilson. Chaykin was named Best Actor at the 15th Genie Awards for his portrayal.

Chaykin also had roles on the television series Seeing Things and Emily of New Moon as well as a recurring role as the intergalactic gourmand Nerus (a nod to Nero Wolfe)[7] in Stargate SG-1.

Chaykin portrayed the colourful bookie Frank Perlin opposite Philip Seymour Hoffman's compulsive gambler Dan Mahowny in Owning Mahowny, a film that critic Roger Ebert named as one of the ten best of 2003. In 2006, Chaykin appeared in an episode of the Ken Finkleman miniseries, At the Hotel, and received a Gemini Award for best performance by an actor in a guest role. He had a semi-recurring role in the HBO series Entourage, as volatile movie producer Harvey Weingard, a send-up of the celebrated producer Harvey Weinstein. He also appeared as Stan Deane, father of Kevin Zegers' character Woody Deane, in the 2006 romantic comedy It's a Boy Girl Thing.

To celebrate the first 30 years of his career, the Chlotrudis Society for Independent Film presented Chaykin with its Career So Far Award in 2006. Chaykin spoke to the Toronto Star about the honour:

I got this strange call from Chlotrudis ... I thought it was a disease. It's a society for independent film and they said, "We're giving you The Career So Far Award. Not The Lifetime Achievement Award. We hope you will do a lot more indie films." They want to fly me down to Cambridge, Massachusetts. Last year's winner was Philip Seymour Hoffman. I looked up their website and they are legit. Nero Wolfe raised orchids. Maybe he had a rare form of Chlotrudis.[8]

Chaykin starred in the first two seasons (2008–2010) of the Canadian comedy-drama television series Less Than Kind as Sam Blecher, the owner of a family-run driving school. In 2011 he posthumously received the ACTRA Toronto Award for Outstanding Performance — Male for his work in the Gemini Award-winning series.

Death [edit]

Maury Chaykin died in Toronto on July 27, 2010, his 61st birthday, from complications of a heart valve infection.[9]

Filmography [edit]

Year Title Role Notes
1975 Me
1978 King of Kensington (TV series) "Polyfur"
1980 Double Negative Rollins
1980 Jimmy B. and André Bruno
1980 Nothing Personal Kanook
1980 The Kidnapping of the President Harvey Cannon
1981 The July Group Harvey
1981 Death Hunt Clarence
1981 Just Jessie Joey Harper
1982 Soup for One Wexler
1982 Highpoint Falco
1982–1986 Seeing Things (TV series) Randall Jackson "Evil Eye" (1982)
"I'm Looking Through You" (1984)
"Defective Vision" (1986)
"Optical Illusion" (1986)
1983 Overdrawn at the Memory Bank Gondol
1983 ABC Weekend Special (TV series) Mousey "Horatio Alger Updated: Frank and Fearless"
1983 Curtains Monty
1983 WarGames Jim Sting
1983 Of Unknown Origin Dan Errol
1984 Hockey Night Bum Johnston
1984 Harry & Son Lawrence
1984 The Guardian Rudy Simbro
1984 Mrs. Soffel Guard Charlie Reynolds
1985 The Suicide Murders Sid
1985 Turk 182 Man in Wheelchair
1985 Def-Con 4 Vinny
1985 In Like Flynn Williams
1985 Canada's Sweetheart: The Saga of Hal C. Banks Harold Chamberlain Banks
1986 Meatballs III: Summer Job Huey, River Rat Leader
1986 The Vindicator Burt Arthurs
1986 Act of Vengeance Claude Vealey
1986 Philip Marlowe, Private Eye (TV series) Lt. Copernik "Red Wind"
1986 Night Heat (TV series) Mallory
Merle Marlowe		 "Dead Ringer"
"Body Conscious"
1986 Crime Story (TV series) Steven Kordo "Crime Pays"
1987 Adderly (TV series) Russian Agent "Requiem"
1987 Higher Education Guido
1987 Future Block
1987 The Bedroom Window Pool Player
1987 Wild Thing Jonathan Trask
1987 Race for the Bomb (TV miniseries) General Leslie Groves
1987 Nowhere to Hide Marchais
1987 Diamonds (TV series) Murray Wolf "Here Comes the Bride"
1987 Hearts of Fire Charlie Kelso
1987 Caribe Captain Burdoch
1988 Stars and Bars Freeborn Gage
1988 Hot Paint Wilensky
1988 Iron Eagle II Sgt. Downs
1988 Twins Burt Klane
1989 Cold Comfort Floyd Lucas
1989 The Twilight Zone (TV series) James L. "Fats" Brown "A Game of Pool"
1989 George's Island Mr. Droonfield
1989 Millennium Roger Keane
1989 Breaking In Vincent Tucci
1990 Labor of Love
1990 Where the Heart Is Harry
1990 Street Legal (TV series) Ben Tochet "Holy Thursday"
"Spare Parts"
1990 Mr. Destiny Guzelman
1990 Dances with Wolves Major Fambrough
1991 The Pianist Cody
1991 Montréal vu par... "En passant" (segment)
1991 The Adjuster Bubba
1991 Conspiracy of Silence D'Arcy Bancroft
1992 Split Images Walter Kouza
1992 My Cousin Vinny Sam Tipton
1992 Leaving Normal Leon "Crazy-As" Pendleton
1992 Buried on Sunday Dexter Lexcannon
1992 Hero Winston, Bernie's Landlord
1993 Sommersby Lawyer Dawson
1993 Matrix (TV series) Lionel Meeks/Charles Meeks "A Madness to His Method"
1993 Money for Nothing Vincente Goldoni
1993 Josh and S.A.M. Pizza Man
1993 Beethoven's 2nd Cliff Klamath
1994 Transplant
1994 Exotica uncredited
1994 Whale Music Desmond Howl Genie Award
1994 Camilla Harold Cara
1995 Unstrung Heroes Arthur Lidz
1995 Devil in a Blue Dress Matthew Terell
1995 Sugartime Tony Accardo
1995 Cutthroat Island John Reed
1996 If Looks Could Kill Dr. Richard Boggs
1997 Keeping the Promise Ben Loomis
1997 La Femme Nikita (TV series) Rudy "Innocent" — Gemini Award
1997 Love and Death on Long Island Irving Buckmuller
1997 The Sweet Hereafter Wendell Walker
1997 Gone Fishin' Kirk, Waiter uncredited
1997 Strip Search Tomas
1997 Northern Lights Ben Rubadue
1997 Pale Saints The Pirate
1997 A Life Less Ordinary Tod Johnson
1997 MouseHunt Alexander Falko
1997–1998 Due South (TV series) Pike
Jasper Gutman		 "Spy vs. Spy" (1997)
"Mojo Rising" (1998)
1998 Death by Dawn
1998 Tracey Takes On... (TV series) Kurt Rasmussen "Marriage"
1998 Emily of New Moon (TV series) Lofty John
1998 Jerry and Tom Billy
1998 The Mask of Zorro Prison Warden
1998 Psi Factor: Chronicles of the Paranormal (TV series) Dr. Bob Dalhousie "Harlequin"
1999 Let the Devil Wear Black Bruce
1999 Lexx (TV series) Pa Gollean "Love Grows"
"White Trash"
1999 Entrapment Conrad Greene
1999 Joan of Arc (TV miniseries) Sir Robert de Baudricourt
1999 Touched Bert
1999 Mystery, Alaska Bailey Pruitt
1999 Jacob Two Two Meets the Hooded Fang Mr. Cooper/Louie Loser
1999 Made in Canada (TV series) Captain McGee "For the Children"
2000 What's Cooking? Herbie Seelig
2000 The Golden Spiders: A Nero Wolfe Mystery (TV) Nero Wolfe
2000 The Art of War Frank Capella
2001 Bartleby Ernest
2001 Varian's War Marcello
2001 Plan B Donald Rossi
2001 On Their Knees Norman
2001–2002 A Nero Wolfe Mystery (TV series) Nero Wolfe
2002 Crossed Over Ethan Lowry
2002 Bleacher Bums Scorekeeper Billy
2002 Past Perfect Chuck
2002 The Wet Season Uncle Rick
2002 Hostage The Kidnapper
2002 Tracey Ullman in the Trailer Tales Dan Weisman
2003 Owning Mahowny Frank Perlin
2003 Andromeda (TV) Citizen Eight "Pieces of Eight"
2004 CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (TV series) Joseph Greene/Joe Landers "No More Bets"
2004 Intern Academy Dr. Roger "Tony" Toussant
2004 Sugar Stanley
2004 The Eleventh Hour (TV series) Dr. Jackson "The Revenge Specialist"
2004 Being Julia Walter Gibbs
2004 Wilby Wonderful Mayor Brent Fisher
2004 Sex Traffic Ernie Dwight
2005 Where the Truth Lies Sally Sanmarco
2005 The Hunt for the BTK Killer Robert Beattie
2005–2006 Stargate SG-1 (TV series) Nerus "Beachhead" (2005)
"Off the Grid" (2006)
2005–2007 Entourage (TV series) Harvey Weingard "The Sundance Kids" (2005)
"Malibooty" (2007)
"Sorry, Harvey" (2007)
"The Cannes Kids" (2007)
2006 Boston Legal (TV series) Ryan Myerson "Live Big"
2006 At the Hotel (TV series) Jerry Mitchell "The Perfect Couple" — Gemini Award
2006 Trailer Park Boys (TV series) Chief of Police "Gimme My Fuckin Money or Randy's Dead"
2006 Eureka (TV series) Sheriff William Cobb Pilot
2006 Heavens Fall Lyle Harris
2006 It's a Boy Girl Thing Stan Deane
2007 Superstorm (TV miniseries) Senator Wallace
2007 Elijah Premier Howard Pawley
2008 Hooked on Speedman Dietrich Baum
2008 Production Office Shelly
2008 The Grift Rusty
2008 Blindness Accountant
2008 Adoration
2008 Glitch Mr. Linkletter
2008 Bull Roland Gow
2008 Murder on Her Mind John Emory
2008–2010 Less Than Kind (TV series) Sam Blecher ACTRA Toronto Award
2009 Cooking with Stella H. E. Mr. Durand
2009 Abroad Lord Oldenberg
2010 Barney's Version John Emory
2010 Casino Jack Big Tony
2010 The Drunk and On Drugs Happy Fun Time Hour Doctor Funtime
2010 Conduct Unbecoming Col. Fox

Awards [edit]

References [edit]

  1. ^ Weber, Bruce, "Maury Chaykin, Character Actor, Dies at 61"; The New York Times, July 29, 2010
  2. ^ Irving Chaykin death notice in The New York Times, April 1, 2007; Irving Chaykin memorial at Baruch College
  3. ^ Multicultural Canada, Canadian Jewish Review, April 12, 1946, p. 18
  4. ^ George Bloomfield obituary, The Globe and Mail, May 16, 2011. George Bloomfield, Internet Movie Database (retrieved May 26, 2011). Bloomfield directed Chaykin in films including Riel, Double Negative, Nothing Personal and Jacob Two Two Meets the Hooded Fang. For television, Bloomfield directed Chaykin in episodes of Street Legal, La Femme Nikita, Emily of New Moon and A Nero Wolfe Mystery ("Murder Is Corny," "Poison à la Carte").
  5. ^ "Award-winning actor was TV's 'Nero Wolfe'";The Washington Post, July 28, 2010. Posner, Michael, "Obituaries; Maury Alan Chaykin, 61." The Globe and Mail, July 31, 2010
  6. ^ Weitzman, Elizabeth, "The Nominees for Hardest-Working Actor Are..."; The New York Times, March 12, 2000. "It's a rare show of vanity for an actor who specializes in particularly unsavory characters," Weitzman wrote.
  7. ^ Zekas, Rita, "That's a Maury," Toronto Star, February 19, 2006. "I've been playing a character called Nerus on a few episodes of Stargate SG-1", Chaykin told the columnist. "The creator of the show is a big fan of Nero Wolfe. Nerus is a gourmand from a different planet."
  8. ^ Zekas, Rita, "That's a Maury", Toronto Star, February 19, 2006
  9. ^ Weber, Bruce, "Maury Chaykin, Character Actor, Dies at 61"; The New York Times, July 29, 2010
  10. ^ Award shared with Caerthan Banks, Ian Holm, Sarah Polley, Tom McCamus, Stephanie Morgenstern, Gabrielle Rose and Alberta Watson
  11. ^ ACTRA Award Revived in Honour of 60th Anniversary: Ten Award Nominees Announced by ACTRA Toronto (February 3, 2003); The ACTRA Awards in Toronto; retrieved 7-1-08
  12. ^ 12th Annual Chlotrudis Awards Ceremony (March 19, 2006) featuring special guest Maury Chaykin; retrieved 7-1-08
  13. ^ Award shared with Benjamin Arthur, Jesse Camacho, Wendel Meldrum and Nancy Sorel; CBC News, October 2, 2009
  14. ^ Nomination shared with Benjamin Arthur, Jesse Camacho, Wendel Meldrum, Brooke Palsson and Nancy Sorel; Canadian Comedy Awards & Festival nominees, retrieved July 28, 2010
  15. ^ The 9th Annual ACTRA Awards in Toronto — 2011 Nominees Announced (January 12, 2011); retrieved 1-14-11. "ACTRA honours Chaykin and Wright with posthumous awards"; The Globe and Mail, retrieved 2-26-11

External links [edit]


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