RIP Chris Wiggins

Mon, 27 Feb 2017 03:57:50 GMT

I meant to post this earlier this week when I heard of the news, but things got away from me. I read online that Canadian ginger daddy-bear actor Chris Wiggins had passed away at age 87.

John D. LeMay, Chris Wiggins, and Robey
from "Friday the 13th: The Series"

He's probably best known by most of us as Jack Marshak, the occult expert on "Friday the 13th: The Series" that aired back in the late 1980's. There was one episode where Wiggins was shirtless and the fur was plentiful. He was in his late-50's at the time, but still in great bearish shape.

I also saw him in the 1969 "The Best Damn Fiddler from Calabogie to Kaladar", which won him the Best Actor Canadian Film Award (the Canadian equivalent of an Oscar, now called a Genie award). The movie is pretty good, and also stars a young Margot Kidder in her first feature role. You can watch the full movie online on YouTube and on the National Film Board of Canada website:

http://www.nfb.ca/film/best_damn_fiddler_from_calabogie_to_kaladar/

I'd recently bought a book about Friday the 13th: The Series, which included behind-the-scenes commentary from the actors, but noticed that Wiggins was not included in the interviews. I guessed that his advanced age might have been the reason and I was right. Wiggins passed away on February 19, 2017, from complications from Alzheimer's disease.

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Whine and Cheese

RIP Chris Wiggins