Maury Chaykin Biography

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.

Personal life

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. His mother, Clarice Chaykin (née Bloomfield, 1921"2012), 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. 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.

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. 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

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." 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) 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.

Chaykin starred as Sam Blecher, the owner of a family-run driving school in Winnipeg, in the first two seasons (2008"2010) of the Canadian comedy-drama television series Less Than Kind. The series received the 2010 Gemini Award for Best Comedy Program or Series.

"Sam is an out-of-control, good-hearted, big-hearted person who just can't quite get it right with his family," Chaykin told Q radio interviewer Jian Ghomeshi in April 2010. "He's full of love but he can't express it. But what he does express is anxiety, desperation, and the need to dominate, which is kind of pathetic." Asked whether he liked the character, Chaykin replied, "I love him. I do, I really do, and it's the same kind of love that a person has for family "? where you see their foibles but at the same time you embrace them because they are a part of you. And Sam certainly is a part of me. In 2011 Chaykin posthumously received the ACTRA Toronto Award for Outstanding Performance "? Male for his performance as Sam Blecher in Less Than Kind. He had been nominated for the award in 2003, for his portrayal of Nero Wolfe.

Death

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

Filmography

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

• 1986, Nominee, Gemini Award
  Canada's Sweetheart: The Saga of Hal C. Banks
  Best Performance by a Lead Actor in a Single Dramatic Program
  Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television
• 1989, Nominee, Genie Award
  Iron Eagle II
  Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role
  Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television
• 1990, Nominee, Genie Award
  Cold Comfort
  Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role
  Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television
• 1994, Winner, Genie Award
  Whale Music
  Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role
  Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television
• 1997, Winner, National Board of Review Award
  The Sweet Hereafter
  Best Acting by an Ensemble
  National Board of Review of Motion Pictures
• 1998, Winner, Gemini Award
  La Femme Nikita (episode "Innocent")
  Best Performance by an Actor in a Guest Role in a Dramatic Series
  Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television

• 1998, Nominee, Gemini Award
  Emily of New Moon (episode "Paradise Lost")
  Best Performance by an Actor in a Guest Role in a Dramatic Series
  Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television
• 2003, Nominee, ACTRA Toronto Award
  A Nero Wolfe Mystery
  Outstanding Performance " Male
  Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists
• 2006, Winner, Career So Far Award
  Chlotrudis Society for Independent Film
• 2006, Winner, Gemini Award
  At the Hotel (episode "The Perfect Couple")
  Best Performance by an Actor in a Guest Role in a Dramatic Series
  Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television
• 2009, Winner, Canadian Comedy Award
  Less Than Kind
  Best Performance by an Ensemble " Television
  The Canadian Comedy Foundation for Excellence
• 2010, Winner, Canadian Comedy Award
  Less Than Kind
  Best Performance by an Ensemble " Television
  The Canadian Comedy Foundation for Excellence
• 2011, Winner, ACTRA Toronto Award
  Less Than Kind
  Outstanding Performance " Male
  Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists