The news broke yesterday that Toronto theatre, film and television actor Tracy Wright had died, age 50, of pancreatic cancer. Torontoist has a nice memorial here. I can’t say I knew her, but we both live(d) in the same neighbourhood and work(ed) in the same industry, so we developed a nodding acquaintance over the last decade or so.

I didn’t even know she was sick until a couple of weeks ago, when it sort of slipped out at the press day for Bruce McDonald’s “This Movie is Broken”; her partner Don McKellar had cancelled his scheduled interviews on short notice, and we were told he was staying home with Tracy, who’d just come back from the hospital. I asked McDonald what that meant when I sat down with him; he filled me in on the details, and I felt like I’d been punched in the stomach for the rest of the day.

I asked him to give them my love the next time he saw Don. I hope he did, but it doesn’t really matter. I’m sure it would have been just one more voice in a chorus of support. Tracy Wright may never have been a huge star, even by Canadian standards, but she was deeply loved in this town, and elsewhere, and we’ll be seeing proof of that in the days to come.

Also, Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz’ new action romance comedy thing “Knight and Day” opens today. My review will appear in the new issue of NOW tonight, and I’ll put it online as soon as I’m able, but all you really need to know is that it is a full-on mess that wastes the time and talent of all involved. (UPDATE: There it is.) Life is short and unfair; don’t waste your time.