Chaney Kley Minnis, CU grad, actor in 'CSI,' 'Cold Case'

Aresu Eqbali, Rocky Mountain News

Published August 3, 2007 at midnight

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Chaney Kley Minnis, an actor who played roles in television episodes of The Shield, CSI, Las Vegas and Cold Case, thrived on drama.

Mr. Minnis had charisma on the stage and an uncanny ability to connect with the audience. In 1998, his lead role in the play Angels of Lemnos in Chicago won him an Equity Award from the prestigious Joseph Jefferson Award committee.

"The entire cast was involved by his performance. They supported him, and he was really big with the audience. He loved to pick up the energy from the audience," his father Robert E. Minnis, a Denver dentist, said. "That's when he got inspired. He knew he was an actor from that moment on."

The 34-year-old died July 24 of an apparent breathing problem while sleeping at his at home in Venice, Calif. His father said he likely died of sleep apnea.

He was born Aug. 20, 1972, in Manassas, Va.

Mr. Minnis discovered his interest in performing through talent shows while attending Denver's Thomas Jefferson High School in the late 1980s.

"He was more of a good guy," his father said. "He did not want to be in military roles. He sort of wanted to play heavies, bad guys. I guess he wanted to do that to expand his horizon."

In 1996, Mr. Minnis received a fine arts degree from the University of Colorado.

"He was very supportive of his sisters and brother," his father said. "Once he had made some money from a movie. He came to town and gave his sisters cash."

Mr. Minnis' best friend since high school, Brian Edelman, said, "Chaney brought his love to our crew (of friends). He taught all of us how to love unconditionally."

When Mr. Minnis was 19, he met his fiancée, Melodie Ann Baker. The couple had planned to marry next summer.

"Because this love was so strong between them, this is the hardest thing," Edelman said.

Mr. Minnis played the lead in the movie thriller Darkness Falls.

About a year ago, Mr. Minnis felt his passion went beyond acting and showed his talent in writing scenes and coaching actors during a teaching course.

"He got a chance to coach one to one . . . and both of the people he coached won auditions and roles," Robert Minnis said. "That was a very big moment for Chaney. And he began to write scripts for classes."

Mr. Minnis was preceded in death by his mother, Linda Joan Minnis.

In addition to his father and fiancée, he is survived by sisters Merrit Chelsey Schmidt, of Boulder, Anne Marisa Minnis and Leslie Catherine Minnis, both of Denver; a brother, Andrew Peter Schutz, of Denver; and stepmother Doris Hellinghausen.

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