Maury Alan Chaykin (July 27, 1949 – July 27, 2010) was a versatile and talented American-Canadian character actor with a knack for playing blustery, aggressive, and often comic characters. He would be recognized by most US audiences by face and voice even if not be name. He was in everything from WarGames, Twins (1988), Dances with Wolves, My Cousin Vinny, and MouseHunt. He was a regular of director Atom Egoyan; showing up in The Adjuster, Montreal Stories, Exotica, and The Sweet Hereafter. Probably his most famous role was as Nero Wolfe in A Nero Wolfe Mystery, a role that earned him an ACTRA Award nomination. He also won a Genie Award (of three total nominations) for Whale Music, playing a washed-up former rockstar holed up in a secluded mansion.
He was born in Brooklyn, his father an American, his mother a Canadian, and throughout his life he maintained a dual citizenship. He studied acting at the State University of New York in Buffalo, where he founded the avant-garde Swamp Fox Theater Group, appearing uninvited at the Festival of Underground Theatre in Toronto, making a strong impression on the festival's artistic director. In 1974, when Chaykin was a struggling young actor working off-Broadway, Gass invited him to Toronto to help create Hurray for Johnny Canuck, his stage adaptation of the wartime comic book. Chaykin's performance in the play led to job offers from both sides of the border, and he was invited to perform in the New York Shakespeare Festival's Public Theater production of Leave It to Beaver Is Dead with Mandy Patinkin and Dianne Wiest. He quickly became one of Canada's most respected and versatile character actors, accruing a total of 120 film and TV credits.
Film Roles
- 1980 Death Hunt as Clarence
- 1983 Curtains as Monty
- 1983 WarGames as Jim Sting
- 1983 Of Unknown Origin as Dan Errol
- 1985 Turk 182 as Man in Wheelchair
- 1985 Def-Con 4 as Vinny
- 1986 Meatballs III: Summer Job as Huey
- 1986 The Vindicator as Burt Arthurs
- 1987 The Bedroom Window as a Pool Player
- 1988 Iron Eagle II as Sgt. Neville Downs - Chaykin's first Genie Award nomination
- 1988 Twins (1988) as Burt Klane
- 1989 Millennium (1989) as Roger Keane
- 1989 Cold Comfort as Floyd Lucas - Second Genie Award nominaton
- 1989 George's Island as Mr. Droonfield
- 1990 Where the Heart Is as Harry
- 1990 Mr. Destiny as Guzelman
- 1990 Dances with Wolves as Major Farmbrough
- 1991 The Adjuster as Bubba - First of 6 collaborations with Atom Egoyan
- 1992 My Cousin Vinny as Sam Tipton
- 1992 Accidental Hero as Winston
- 1992 Buried On Sunday as Dexter
- 1993 Sommersby as Lawyer Dawson
- 1993 Josh and S.A.M. as Pizza Man
- 1993 Beethoven 2nd as Cliff Klamath
- 1994 Exotica as Club Client
- 1994 Whale Music as Desmond Howl - Won Genie Award for Best Actor
- 1995 Cutthroat Island as John Reed
- 1996 Harriet the Spy as the Holiday Pageant Director
- 1997 Love and Death on Long Island as Irving Buckmuller
- 1997 The Sweet Hereafter as Wendell Walker
- 1997 Gone Fishin' as Kirk the Waiter
- 1997 A Life Less Ordinary as Tod Johnson
- 1997 MouseHunt as Alexander Falko
- 1998 The Mask of Zorro as Prison Warden Santiago
- 1999 Entrapment as Conrad Greene
- 2000 What's Cooking? as Herbie Selig
- 2000 The Art of War as Special Agent Frank Capella
- 2005 Where the Truth Lies as Sally Sanmarco
- 2006 It's a Boy Girl Thing as Stan Deane
- 2008 Blindness as the Accountant
- 2010 Barney's Version as John Emory
- 2010 Casino Jack as Big Tony
Television Roles
- 2001 - 2004 A Nero Wolfe Mystery as Nero Wolfe
Tropes
- Big Applesauce: He was born and raised in Brooklyn and his accent followed him all throughout his life, even after he emigrated to Canada.
- Deadpan Snarker: His roles have a lot of this.
- Fat Bastard: His more villainous roles come across like this.
- Star-Making Role: Though he was already a star in Canada, it was his brief but memorable turn as a deranged Colonel in Dances with Wolves that helped raise his profile in the U.S.
