Chaney Kley Minnis (August 20, 1972 – July 24, 2007) was an American actor. During his career he was best known for his recurring role as Officer Asher on the FX drama ''

The Shield ''The Shield'' is an American crime drama television series starring Michael Chiklis that premiered on March 12, 2002, on FX in the United States, and concluded on November 25, 2008, after seven seasons. Known for its portrayal of corrupt pol ...

'' and as the lead in the

horror Horror may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Genres *Horror fiction, a genre of fiction **Japanese horror, Japanese horror fiction ** Korean horror, Korean horror fiction *Horror film, a film genre *Horror comics, comic books focusing on ...

movie '' Darkness Falls''.

Early life

Chaney Kley Minnis was born August 20, 1972, in

Manassas, Virginia Manassas (), formerly Manassas Junction, is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. The population was 42,772 at the 2020 Census. It is the county seat of Prince William County, although the two are separate jurisd ...

and raised in

Denver, Colorado Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the United ...

. He attended Denver's Thomas Jefferson High School, and the

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, University of Colorado Denver, and the University o ...

in Boulder, Colorado, where he earned a BFA in drama. After graduating from college, Kley relocated to

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

where he began working as a stage actor. Kley starred in a 1998

Chicago Dramatists Chicago Dramatists is a theatre in River West, West Town, Chicago, Illinois, USA, focused on nurturing playwrights and developing new plays. It was founded in 1979 by Russ Tutterow and is notable for its Network Playwright Program, which offers cla ...

' production of ''The Angels of Lemnos'', for which he won a

Joseph Jefferson Award The Joseph Jefferson Award, more commonly known informally as the Jeff Award, is given for theatre arts produced in the Chicago area. Founded in 1968, the awards are named in tribute to actor Joseph Jefferson, a 19th-century American theater star ...

for Best Actor.

Career

Chaney first appeared on the television series, '' Buffy the Vampire Slayer'', appearing on the episode " Real Me". In 2001, he made his film debut portraying Brandon in ''

Legally Blonde ''Legally Blonde'' is a 2001 American comedy film directed by Robert Luketic in his feature-length directorial debut, and scripted by Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith from Amanda Brown's 2001 novel of the same name. It stars Reese Wit ...

''. In 2003, Kley portrayed Kyle Walsh in the

thriller Thriller may refer to: * Thriller (genre), a broad genre of literature, film and television ** Thriller film, a film genre under the general thriller genre Comics * ''Thriller'' (DC Comics), a comic book series published 1983–84 by DC Comics i ...

movie '' Darkness Falls''. He then later appeared on ''

NCIS NCIS or N.C.I.S. may refer to: Law enforcement * National Criminal Intelligence Service, the predecessor to the Serious Organised Crime Agency of the United Kingdom * Naval Criminal Investigative Service, a United States law enforcement and intelli ...

'', ''

Cold Case A cold case is a crime, or a suspected crime, that has not yet been fully resolved and is not the subject of a current criminal investigation, but for which new information could emerge from new witness testimony, re-examined archives, new or re ...

'', '' CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'', as well as ''

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish language, Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the List of United States cities by population, 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the U.S. state, state of Neva ...

''. Kley's last film was ''One Way to Valhalla'' (2009).

Death

Kley died on July 24, 2007, in

Venice, Los Angeles Venice is a neighborhood of the city of Los Angeles within the Westside (Los Angeles County), Westside region of Los Angeles County, California. Venice was founded by Abbot Kinney in 1905 as a seaside resort town. It was an independent city unti ...

. According to his father, the likely cause was sleep apnea. After an autopsy was performed, the cause of death was discovered to be a drug overdose, stated by his father afterward.
Find a Grave He was buried in Denver.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kley, Chaney 1972 births 2007 deaths American male film actors American male stage actors American male television actors Drug-related deaths in California Male actors from Denver Male actors from Virginia University of Colorado alumni People from Manassas, Virginia 20th-century American male actors