Sad news, the American-born Canadian character actor Maury Chaykin has died. His mother was Canadian, and he gravitated to Toronto in the 1970s, making his name as an ACTRA stalwart in any number of TV shows and films. By 1990 he was making it into major movies, and at the end of his career, and life, was recognisable to a whole new audience for being on the popular Entourage. Chaykin was physically striking, and unruly or slovenly, able to skew bad or simply schmuck as the script demanded - indeed, he was one of the great character actors of the last few decades. Gifted with a superb voice and presence, he often stole the show. He will be much missed.
THAT HANDSOME MAN A PERSONAL BRIEF REVIEW BY TODD SWIFT I could lie and claim Larkin, Yeats , or Dylan Thomas most excited me as a young poet, or even Pound or FT Prince - but the truth be told, it was Thom Gunn I first and most loved when I was young. Precisely, I fell in love with his first two collections, written under a formalist, Elizabethan ( Fulke Greville mainly), Yvor Winters triad of influences - uniquely fused with an interest in homerotica, pop culture ( Brando, Elvis , motorcycles). His best poem 'On The Move' is oddly presented here without the quote that began it usually - Man, you gotta go - which I loved. Gunn was - and remains - so thrilling, to me at least, because so odd. His elegance, poise, and intelligence is all about display, about surface - but the surface of a panther, who ripples with strength beneath the skin. With Gunn, you dressed to have sex. Or so I thought. Because I was queer (I maintain the right to lay claim to that
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