TORONTO — Actress Cayle Chernin, best known for appearing in the seminal Canadian road movie, "Goin' Down the Road," has died. She was 63.Going Down the Road.
When I was living at Hazelton Ave. in Toronto (we had a commune) there was a premier or preview of 'Going Down the Road' at the New Yorker.
I went with Melinda, Carla and Helen and Pauline. Pauline and i were going together at the time.
We were knocked out by the movie and afterwards we went to the Pilot and we all raved about it. we felt it was a big step for Canadian Movies. Pauline really liked it. anyway they wanted to go back to Hazelton and i stayed on for a few more drinks.
so I am sitting there and who walks in but Paul Bradley. We hit it off we were friends from almost the first moment we met. We had a couple of hours of drinking and story telling and somewhere in
this haze i got a great idea. it was Pauline's birthday on Friday and we were having a party. So I talked Paul into coming and to play his character of Joey from the movie (this was not difficult). This was my idea of a crazy birthday present for Pauline.
Friday night Paul showed up with a friend (who kinda looked like McGrath) Introduced as Joey and just blew Pauline and the girls away. Paul is a traveling roadshow by himself and after a couple of hours went into entertainment mode. we had lots of drugs and booze and food and he ended up staying for a couple of days and we were good friends for ever more. Over the years we would get to gether every once in a while and have a good get together.
Cayle Cherin was Salina. She went off to Hollywood and Dennis Hopper etc. Anyway just after i opened my after hours club about 5 years later. Cayle showed up on the scene I didn't recognize her to me she was this mysterious beautiful girl who started hanging around the 22 and Grossmans etc.
Then one night she shows up at my bar with some guy. Didn't like him much but ended up playing poker dice with him. I won about $300 off him. it was late and we all had a bunch of drink into us. When he said he didn't have any money left. I said half joking I will play you one more game. you win you get your $300 dollars back I win I get your girlfriend. He said ok and we rolled the dice as Cayle looked askance. When I won Cayle went into a bit of a tirade about the whole thing and told guy to get lost who did he think he was etc.I guess she thought i was a better deal because we dated for a while but even better became really good close friends. For the rest of her life we were really good buddies and enjoyed our friendship. I skyped her just a few days before she die. I really miss her. She was an extremely brilliant writer, actor and produce
Film producer Robin Cass says Chernin died Friday.
Chernin had been preparing for a return to the spotlight with "Down the Road Again," a sequel to the 1970 road movie about two down-on-their-luck Nova Scotians who head to Toronto looking for work.
Earlier this month, friend and "Goin' Down the Road" co-star Jayne Eastwood said Chernin was diagnosed in June with advanced ovarian cancer.
Eastwood said Chernin kept her illness secret while filming took place in October and didn't tell castmates until shooting wrapped that she was sick.
Eastwood also said Chernin was the one who persuaded original director Don Shebib to revisit his iconic characters with another film.
"It was her who convinced Don Shebib to make this movie," Eastwood said. "This was her baby and she was going to do this movie come hell or high water."
Eastwood said Chernin was energetic and enthusiastic during filming, and was so dedicated to the project she delayed traditional cancer treatments so she could work.
"The doctors were screaming at her, they said, 'Do you know what you've done? You will go faster.' And she said, 'I want to spend my last months the way I want to spend them and I want to do "Down the Road Again","' said Eastwood.
The original film featured Doug McGrath and the late Paul Bradley, who died in 2003, as the jobless duo Pete and Joey.
Eastwood played Joey's flame Betty, while Chernin played Betty's best friend, Selina.
"Down the Road Again" picks up the story in Vancouver, with Pete as a retired postman and Joey gravely ill.
Shebib has said he expects the film to be released later this year.
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