Maury Chaykin, RIP

You may not recognize the name but you would likely have recognized the face of the great Canadian character actor from at least some of the 153 appearances in film that imdb.com lists. And there are really many more than that since imbd.com lists each tv series as one appearance. The Times informs me this morning that he died yesterday from kidney problems.

I got to know the name from his performance as Nero Wolfe in A&E's outstanding television series based on the Wolfe novels and stories. If you've been visiting The Inn for a very long time you may remember a link in the left-hand column to the "Save Nero Wolfe" site which went up after A&E cancelled Nero Wolfe. So far as I can recall that's the only reference to a tv programme that's ever graced The Inn's fabled left-hand column. The link remained up long after there was any point to it; A&E, the "Arts and Entertainment network" had long stopped having anything to do with either the arts or entertainment although it keeps the acronym.

In my mind Maury Chaykin was Nero Wolfe. I can't read the stories now without having Maury Chaykin and Timothy Hutton in mind. (In much the same way, I can't think of Elizabeth I without imagining Bette Davis or Sherlock Holmes without Basil Rathbone.) There was still some small hope that the series might have been revived elsewhere or that a film would be produced but now that won't happen. Maury Chaykin will be greatly missed.

Fritz and Mr Wolfe on the proper preparation of venison:



The Wolfe Pack