The industry lost one of its most prolific and beloved character actors on Tuesday with the death of Maury Chaykin. He was 61.

In a career spanning more than 35 years, Chaykin is best known for his work in the Canadian cult classic Whale Music (1994), and had a memorable performance as Major Fambrough in Kevin Costner’s Dances with Wolves (1990). He also regularly appeared in Atom Egoyan films including The Adjuster, The Sweet Hereafter, Adoration and Where the Truth Lies, and in Don McKellar’s Cooking With Stella and Blindness.

Chaykin recently took on the role of Big Tony in Casino Jack, the Hamilton-shot feature that was announced as a gala presentation on Tuesday by TIFF organizers. The actor also held a recurring role in the HBO Canada series Less Than Kind, which was set to begin production in Winnipeg on its third season.

Chaykin told Playback Daily in a 2008 interview that he was incredulous after reading the first script for the show.

‘Are they actually doing this?’ he wondered aloud. ‘[The script] is not particularly nice, it’s not watered down… it shows all the characters with all their warts and edges. At the same time, it was a wonderful, very funny, very edgy story about a Jewish family in Winnipeg,’ he said.

Aubie Greenberg, director of original programming for movie services at Astral Television Networks, which runs HBO Canada, said ‘We are deeply saddened to hear about the passing of Maury Chaykin, one of Canada’s finest talents. Our thoughts are with his family and friends during this very difficult time.’

ACTRA national president Ferne Downey also paid tribute to Chaykin.

‘Maury was an infinitely gifted actor who has left us an incomparable body of work that will be cherished for many generations to come. We will miss his passion for his craft and his love and commitment to building our Canadian industry,’ she said

Chaykin was nominated for three Genies (Iron Eagle II and Cold Comfort), and won for his work on Whale Music. He was also nominated for four Geminis (Canada’s Sweetheart, Nikita, Emily of New Moon), and won for At the Hotel in 2006.