"Twin Peaks" Stars - Then, Now And Before

    It's one of the best-loved TV shows of all time. But what are the cast up to these days? And what did they do before appearing in David Lynch's atmospheric murder mystery?

    Luke Lewis
    by Luke Lewis

    BuzzFeed Executive Editor, UK

    1. Kyle MacLachlan / Special Agent Dale Cooper

    Everett Collection / Getty

    You know about all the acting roles he’s had in recent years, from Sex And The City to Portlandia. What you might not know is that the animal-obsessed MacLachlan owns a winery called Pursued By Bear, and has built a website devoted to his dogs, Mookie and Sam.

    Via muad-dib-33.tumblr.com

    MacLachlan got his first major acting role in 1984, playing Paul Atreides in David Lynch’s sci-fi film Dune.

    2. Sherilyn Fenn / Audrey Horne

    Everett Collection, Getty Images

    In the immediate aftermath of Twin Peaks Fenn was offered an Audrey Horne spin-off series, but she turned it down. In recent years her acting roles have been numerous, but relatively low-profile. She’s been in CSI: Miami, Gilmore Girls and TV movie The Dukes Of Hazzard: The Beginning.

    Via imdb.com

    She began her acting career in the mid-80s, appearing in films such as Zombie High and (pictured) Just One Of The Guys.

    3. Mädchen Amick / Shelly Johnson

    Everett Collection/Getty

    The mid-‘90s were quiet for Amick, but she bounced back at the end of the decade with a recurring role in Dawson’s Creek. Since then she’s appeared in Gossip Girl, Californication and My Own Worst Enemy.

    Via en.memory-alpha.org

    Machen was still a teenager when in 1988 she won a role on the then-new TV series Star Trek: The Next Generation, which led a year later to Twin Peaks.

    4. Sheryl Lee / Laura Palmer

    Via http://Everett%20Collection,%20Getty%20Images

    Despite initially only appearing in Twin Peaks as a dead body, Lee went on to have a successful, if low-key, acting career. TV shows she's been in include Desperate Housewives and One Tree Hill. Fun fact: she dated David Duchovny in the '90s.

    Via Flickr: sheryl_lee

    Twin Peaks was Lee's first major acting role. David Lynch asked her audition after seeing a publicity photo of her in Seattle from one of the plays she was starring in at the time.

    5. Dana Ashbrook / Bobby Briggs

    Everett Collection/IMDB

    After playing swaggering football captain Briggs in Twin Peaks, Ashbrook played the role of Rich Rinaldi in Dawson’s Creek, and was a series regular in the TV adaptation of Crash. Since that show ended in 2009, he’s turned up on episodes of Psych (where he brought back Bobby for the Twin Peaks tribute episode 'Dual Spires') and Blue Collar.

    starpulse.com

    In 1978 Ashbrook got his first acting role, a bit part in spoof B-movie Attack Of The Killer Tomatoes.

    6. Richard Beymer / Benjamin Horne

    ABC / Via people.zap2it.com

    Beymer is 74 now, and no longer does much acting. However, he recently self-published a semi-autobiographical novel, Impostor: Or Whatever Happened to Richard Beymer?

    Via imdb.com

    In his youth Beymer was quite the cinematic idol, and played the role of Tony in the 1961 film version of West Side Story.

    7. Lara Flynn Boyle / Donna Hayward

    Everett Collection, Getty Images

    These days Boyle works mostly in film. She was in Happiness, Men In Black II and, er, Hansel And Gretel Get Baked.

    Via maelgon.livejournal.com

    A young Boyle had roles in both Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and Dead Poet’s Society (pictured), but all her scenes in the former, and most in the latter, were cut. Post-Peaks she also starred as the accident-prone Stacy in Wayne’s World.

    8. Peggy Lipton / Norma Jennings

    Everett Collection, Getty Images

    Lipton, now 66, doesn’t do much acting these days, but in 2005 she released her memoirs, Breathing Out. In the book Lipton revealed she’d been diagnosed with colon cancer.

    Getty Images / Via Flickr: evsmitty

    Twin Peaks gave Lipton a second flush of fame. She ‘d been well known to US television viewers in the late 60s/early 70s thanks to her role in police drama The Mod Squad. She was also, at one point, married to the record producer Quincy Jones. Their daughter is Rashida Jones, star of The Social Network, Parks And Recreation, and The Muppets.

    9. Jack Nance / Pete Martell

    Via http://Everett%20Collection

    Nance’s life took a downward turn after Twin Peaks. In November 1991 his wife Kelly Jean Van Dyke, a porn actress, committed suicide. Nance himself died in 1996, from injuries incurred during a drunken brawl outside a donut store.

    Via entertainmentguidefilmtv.blogspot.co.uk

    Nance mostly played minor roles in his career, with the exception of Eraserhead in 1977, in which he played the lead.

    10. Catherine E. Coulson / The Log Lady

    Everett Collection, Getty Images

    Coulson is now primarily a theatre actor, though she did appear in season two of Portlandia. She was married to Jack Nance (aka Pete Martell) from 1968 to 1976.

    Via lynchnet.com

    Coulson helped behind-the-scenes on David Lynchs’s Eraserhead, and had a role in his short film The Amputee (1974).

    11. Michael Ontkean / Sheriff Harry S. Truman

    ABC / Via hollywoodhatesme.wordpress.com

    Ontkean, 67, lives in Hawaii, and still gets work in TV and film. In 2011 he appeared alongside George Clooney in The Descendents.

    tumblr.com

    Prior to landing his role on Twin Peaks, Ontkean was best known for appearing in The Rookies, an American crime drama series that aired on ABC from 1972 until 1976.

    12. Joan Chen / Jocelyn Packard

    Everett Collection, Getty Images

    Shanghai-born Chen has had a busy career, starring in a string of mostly Chinese language films, as well as Ang Lee’s acclaimed Lust, Caution in 2007.

    Via imdb.com

    She became famous in China for her performance in the 1979 film Little Flower and came to international attention for her performance in the 1987 Academy Award-winning film The Last Emperor.

    13. Kimmy Robertson / Lucy Moran

    Everett Collection, Getty Images

    Robertson is 58 now, and has enjoyed a successful career as a voice artist for film and TV. Her most recent role was on American Dad.

    Via aveleyman.com

    In 1989, a couple of years before Twin Peaks, Robertson has a minor role in Honey I Shrunk The Kids (pictured right). Prior to that she’d starred in the 1982 coming-of-age film The Last American Virgin (left).

    14. Piper Laurie / Catherine Martell

    Everett Collection, Getty Images

    Laurie is 81, but kept working until a couple of years ago. She has been nominated for three Academy Awards over the course of her career.

    Via fernandomachado.blog.br

    Back in the 1950s Laurie was a bona fide screen siren. To enhance her image, Universal Studios told gossip columnists that she bathed in milk and ate flower petals to protect her luminous skin.

    15. Ray Wise / Leland Palmer

    Wise, 65, is always popping up in US TV dramas, notably How I Met Your Mother and several episodes of Mad Men, in which he played the role of Ken Cosgrove's father-in-law Ed Baxter.

    Wise cut his teeth performing in ‘80s soap operas such as Dallas and Days Of Our Lives.

    16. Grace Zabriskie / Sarah Palmer

    Via http://Everett%20Collection,%20Getty%20Images

    Zabriskie has been in loads of TV dramas, including The West Wing and HBO’s Big Love. Plus of course everyone remembers her as Susan’s mother in Seinfeld. Zabriskie's character's husband on the series was played by her former Twin Peaks co-star, Warren Frost.

    Via horrorphile.net

    Her pre-Twin Peaks CV is extensive, and includes An Officer And A Gentlemen, as well as TV shows such as Cagney And Lacey and Knots Landing. This photo is a still from the 1981 sci-fi/horror film Galaxy Of Terror.

    17. Eric De Re / Leo Johnson

    imdb.com / Via welcometotwinpeaks.com

    Since appearing as a medic in Starship Troopers in 1997, Da Re has not been up to much. According to IMDB his last role was as Male Partygoer in the 2002 serial killer film Bundy. The photo on the right was taken in 2012, when he was detained by the L.A.P.D. on suspicion of starting more than 50 fires in Hollywood. He wasn't guilty, though.

    Via heysquirrel.tumblr.com

    Fun fact: Da Re attended Horace Mann elementary and Beverly Hills High School with fellow actor Nicolas Cage. His mum is Johanna Ray, casting director for Twin Peaks, as well as David Lynch films such as Mulholland Drive and Blue Velvet.

    18. James Marshall / James Hurley

    Everett Collection/Getty Images

    Marshall had a pretty desultory acting career post-Twin Peaks, beyond a role in A Few Good Men in 1992. He battled ill health for much of the noughties, eventually having his colon removed, thanks to a bowel disease which he claimed was a reaction to taking the acne drug Accutane. He sued the manufacturers for $11m in damages, but lost the case. His acting career over, he has now reinvented himself as a singer-songwriter.

    Via celebrities.pl

    Prior to Twin Peaks Marshall had a smattering of late ‘80s TV roles, including China Beach and Murder She Wrote.

    19. Heather Graham / Annie Blackburn

    Everett Collection, Getty, Stephen Lovekin

    Twin Peaks was a springboard to a huge career for Graham. Her filmography includes Austin Powers, Boogie Nights and The Hangover, to name just a few.

    Via happyotter666.blogspot.co.uk

    Graham's early film roles include Twins, Growing Pains and (pictured) 1988's License to Drive.