Michael Ontkean | |
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![]() Ontkean in The Rookies (1973) | |
Born | Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada | January 24, 1946
Alma mater | University of New Hampshire |
Occupation | Actor |
Years active | 1955–2011 |
Spouses | Frances E. Knight (m. 1971;div. 1980)Jamie Smith-Jackson (m. 1987;div. 2019) |
Children | 2 |
Michael Ontkean (born January 24, 1946) [1] is a retired Canadian actor, long-based in the United States. [2] Born and raised in Vancouver, British Columbia, Ontkean relocated to the United States to attend the University of New Hampshire on a hockey scholarship before pursuing a career in acting in the early 1970s.
He initially came to prominence portraying Officer Willie Gillis on the crime drama series The Rookies from 1972 to 1974, followed by lead roles in the hockey sports comedy film Slap Shot (1977) and the romantic comedy Willie & Phil (1980). In 1982, he had a starring role opposite Harry Hamlin and Kate Jackson in the drama Making Love , in which he portrayed a married man who comes to terms with his homosexuality. Ontkean continued to appear in films, such as Clara's Heart (1988) and Postcards from the Edge (1990) before being cast as Sheriff Harry S. Truman on David Lynch's Twin Peaks (1990–1991).
Ontkean was born and raised in Vancouver, British Columbia, the son of Muriel (née Cooper), an actress, and Leonard Ontkean, a boxer and actor. He was a child actor in Vancouver, appearing on the Canadian television series Hudson's Bay (1959). [3] His family later relocated to Toronto, where he attended St. Michael's Choir School and Holy Rosary Catholic School before attending St. Michael's College School. He grew up playing hockey and he earned a hockey scholarship to the University of New Hampshire, a Division I program playing in the ECAC. In his three years on the varsity program, Ontkean scored 63 goals and 111 points in 85 games played. [4] He led the team in goal scoring his junior year with 30 goals, and was second behind fellow Canadian Louis Frigon his senior year. [5]
Ontkean began in Hollywood by guest starring in The Partridge Family in 1971, and had guest roles on such shows as Ironside and Longstreet , but his break was in the ABC series The Rookies (1972–1976), [2] in which he played Officer Willie Gillis for the first two seasons;[ citation needed ] he left the show and was succeeded by actor Bruce Fairbairn. [6] His hockey skills helped him land the role of Ned Braden in Slap Shot (1977), [2] as he performed all of his on-ice shots himself. In 1979, he appeared in the first episode of Tales of the Unexpected . Other early movie roles included Necromancy (1972) with Orson Welles; Voices (1979) with Amy Irving; Willie & Phil (1980) with Margot Kidder; The Blood of Others (1984); Kids Don't Tell (1985) with JoBeth Williams; The Right of the People (1986); The Allnighter and Maid to Order (both 1987) (the latter with Ally Sheedy); Clara's Heart (1988) with Whoopi Goldberg, and Bye Bye Blues (1989). [7]
Making Love (1982) was about a married man who discovers his homosexuality. Ontkean was not the director's first choice for the film: Arthur Hiller had previously approached Tom Berenger, Michael Douglas, Harrison Ford, William Hurt and Peter Strauss to play the lead, before finally approaching Ontkean. According to Hiller, the reaction of most actors was to tell him not to even consider them for the role. [8] The film reunited Ontkean with Kate Jackson; the two had previously co-starred together in The Rookies . Many years later, Ontkean tried to prevent clips from the film from being included in The Celluloid Closet , a 1995 documentary about LGBT characters in film, but he was unsuccessful. [9]
Ontkean appeared as Sheriff Harry S. Truman in David Lynch and Mark Frost's Twin Peaks (1990–1991). [10] He filmed scenes for Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me but, like many others from the original TV series, his scenes were deleted from the final film. [11]
Ontkean subsequently appeared in many film and television productions including In Defense of a Married Man (1990); In a Child's Name (1991) with Valerie Bertinelli; Legacy of Lies (1992); Rapture and Vendetta II: The New Mafia (both 1993); Swann: A Mystery and The Stepford Husbands (both 1996); Summer of the Monkeys and A Chance of Snow (both 1998; the latter again with JoBeth Williams); Bear with Me (2000), and Mrs. Ashboro's Cat (2003).
Ontkean had a recurring role on Fox's short-lived series North Shore in 2004, and also appeared in the 2008 comedy TV show Sophie .
He had a supporting role in the 2011 film The Descendants , which was his last role to date before he decided to retire from acting. [12] The movie was filmed in Hawaii, where he lives.
Ontkean was approached to reprise his role as Sheriff Truman for the 2017 revival of Twin Peaks. At first, Ontkean was reportedly excited about returning to the role, and enlisted Twin Peaks authority Brad Dukes to help him find the jacket which his character once wore on the show. Dukes located a suitable replica, bought it and sent it to Ontkean. However, in 2015, Ontkean dropped out of the Twin Peaks revival, for reasons which were never made public. Dukes recalled: "We last spoke in August and he informed me he wasn't going to Washington after all. I told him I was heartbroken to hear that. Aside from being heartbroken, I am puzzled. Twin Peaks is not Twin Peaks without Michael Ontkean as Sheriff Harry S. Truman." [13] He was replaced by Robert Forster, playing Sheriff Truman's brother Frank. Forster was initially David Lynch's first choice to play Harry Truman in 1990. [14]
Michael was married to Jamie Smith-Jackson, an actress and design director and owner of Jamie Jackson Design. The couple later divorced; they have two daughters, Jenna Millman and Sadie Sapphire Ontkean. [15] [16] [17]
He is a fan of the Vancouver Canucks. [18]
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1971 | The Peace Killers | Jeff | |
1972 | Necromancy | Frank Brandon | |
1972 | Pickup on 101 | Chuck | |
1972 | Hot Summer Week | Will | |
1977 | Slap Shot | Ned Braden | |
1979 | Voices | Drew Rothman | |
1980 | Willie & Phil | Willie Kaufman | |
1982 | Making Love | Zach | |
1984 | The Blood of Others | Jean | |
1984 | Just the Way You Are | Peter Nichols | |
1987 | The Allnighter | Mickey | |
1987 | Maid to Order | Nick McGuire | |
1987 | Street Justice | Curt Flynn | |
1988 | Clara's Heart | Bill Hart | |
1989 | Bye Bye Blues | Teddy Harper | |
1989 | Cold Front | Derek McKenzie | |
1990 | Postcards from the Edge | Robert Munch | |
1992 | Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me | Sheriff Harry S. Truman | Scenes deleted. Later featured in Twin Peaks: The Missing Pieces . |
1996 | Swann | Stephen | |
1998 | Summer of the Monkeys | John Lee | |
1998 | Nico the Unicorn | Tom Gentry | |
1999 | Just a Little Harmless Sex | Jeff | |
2011 | The Descendants | Cousin Milo | Final role (to date) |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1956 | Hawkeye and the Last of the Mohicans | Cochea | Episode: "The Wild One" |
1959 | Hudson's Bay | Jeremy Warrant | Episode: "Pierre's Three Evils" |
1970 | Ironside | Man | Episode: "Noel's Gonna Fly" |
1970 | Dan August | Mike Foschke | Episode: "The Soldier" |
1971 | Disneyland | Alcide | 2 episodes |
1971 | The Partridge Family | Lester Braddock | Episode: "Not With My Sister, You Don't!" |
1971 | Longstreet | David De Carie | Episode: "So, Who's Fred Hornbeck?" |
1972–1974 | The Rookies | Officer Willie Gillis | 47 episodes |
1979 | Tales of the Unexpected | Tommy | Episode: "The Man from the South" |
1985 | Kids Don't Tell | John Ryan | Television film |
1986 | The Right of the People | Christopher Wells | Television film |
1989 | The Hitchhiker | Gordon Brooks | Episode: "Square Deal" |
1990–1991 | Twin Peaks | Sheriff Harry S. Truman | 30 episodes |
1990 | In Defense of a Married Man | Robert | Television film |
1991 | In a Child's Name | Ken Taylor | Miniseries |
1992 | Legacy of Lies | Zach Resnick | Television film |
1993 | Rapture | Jeff Lisker | Television film |
1993 | Whose Child Is This? The War for Baby Jessica | Jan DeBoer | Television film |
1993 | Bride of Violence 2 | Hank Parnell | Television film |
1994 | Family Album | Ward Thayer | Miniseries |
1999 | PSI Factor: Chronicles of the Paranormal | John Doe / Wesley Addison | Episode: "John Doe" |
1996 | The Man Next Door | Eli Cooley | Television film |
1996 | The Stepford Husbands | Mick Davison | Television film |
1997–2000 | The Outer Limits | Dr. Field / Dr. Charles McCamber | 2 episodes |
1998 | A Chance of Snow | Matthew Parker | Television film |
2000 | Green Sails | John Scott | Television film |
2002 | A Killing Spring | Tom Keaton | Television film |
2004 | Ghost Cat | Wes Merritt | Television film |
2004–2005 | North Shore | Gordon Matthews | 4 episodes |
2008 | Sophie | Victor Hearst | 3 episodes (Final television role to date) |
Year | Award | Category | Production | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
1990 | Genie Award | Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role | Bye Bye Blues | Nominated |
1991 | Soap Opera Digest Award | Outstanding Hero: Prime Time | Twin Peaks | Nominated |
Twin Peaks is an American mystery serial drama television series created by Mark Frost and David Lynch. It premiered on ABC on April 8, 1990, and ran for two seasons until its cancellation in 1991. The show returned in 2017 for a third season on Showtime.
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me is a 1992 psychological horror film directed by David Lynch and written by Lynch and Robert Engels. It serves as a prequel to the television series Twin Peaks (1990–1991), created by Mark Frost and Lynch, who were also executive producers. It revolves around the investigation into the murder of Teresa Banks and the last seven days in the life of Laura Palmer, a popular high school student in the fictional Washington town of Twin Peaks. Unlike the series, which was an uncanny blend of detective fiction, horror, the supernatural, offbeat humor, and soap opera tropes, the film has a much darker, less humorous tone.
Robert Wallace Foster Jr., known professionally as Robert Forster, was an American actor, known for his roles as John Cassellis in Medium Cool (1969), Captain Dan Holland in The Black Hole (1979), Abdul Rafai in The Delta Force (1986), and Max Cherry in Jackie Brown (1997), for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
Bob is a fictional character in the ABC television series Twin Peaks, played by Frank Silva. He is an interdimensional entity who feeds on pain and sorrow. An inhabiting spirit, he possesses human beings and then commits acts of rape and murder in order to feast on the suffering of his victims. In the film Fire Walk With Me, this suffering is called "garmonbozia" and can manifest in the form of creamed corn.
Phillip Michael Gerard is a character in the TV series Twin Peaks, portrayed by Al Strobel.
The pilot episode, also known as "Northwest Passage", of the mystery television series Twin Peaks premiered on the ABC Network on Sunday, April 8, 1990. It was written by series creators Mark Frost and David Lynch, and directed by Lynch. The pilot follows the characters of Dale Cooper and Harry S. Truman as they investigate the death of popular high school student Laura Palmer; Cooper believes the murder has connections to a murder case that occurred a year earlier. In addition to setting the tone for the show, the episode sets up several character and story arcs and marked the appearance of several recurring characters. The episode received a strong Nielsen household rating compared to other season one episodes, and was well received by fans and critics alike. The original title for the series was Northwest Passage, but this was later changed.
"Episode 29", also known as "Beyond Life and Death", is the twenty-second and final episode of the second season of the American mystery television series Twin Peaks. Episode 29 served as the final episode of Twin Peaks for over 25 years, until Twin Peaks: The Return was aired in 2017. Upon its original airing in 1991, the episode was paired with episode 28 to form the second hour of what was then billed as a two-part series finale. The episode was written by the series co-creator Mark Frost, producer Harley Peyton and regular writer Robert Engels and was directed by series co-creator David Lynch, who rewrote parts of the script. It features series regulars Kyle MacLachlan, Michael Ontkean, Richard Beymer and Kenneth Welsh; and guest stars Frank Silva as Killer Bob, Michael J. Anderson as The Man from Another Place, Carel Struycken as The Giant, and Heather Graham as Annie Blackburn.
"Episode 2", also known as "Zen, or the Skill to Catch a Killer", is the third episode of the first season of the American mystery television series Twin Peaks. The episode was written by series creators David Lynch and Mark Frost, and directed by Lynch. It features series regulars Kyle MacLachlan, Michael Ontkean, Ray Wise and Richard Beymer; and introduces Michael J. Anderson as The Man from Another Place, Miguel Ferrer as Albert Rosenfield and David Patrick Kelly as Jerry Horne.
"Episode 1", also known as "Traces to Nowhere", is the second episode of the first season of the American mystery television series Twin Peaks. The episode was written by series creators David Lynch and Mark Frost, and directed by Duwayne Dunham. "Episode 1" features series regulars Kyle MacLachlan, Michael Ontkean, and Richard Beymer.
"Episode 3", later also known as "Rest in Pain", is the fourth episode of the first season of the American mystery television series Twin Peaks. The episode was written by Harley Peyton, and directed by Tina Rathborne. "Episode 3" features series regulars Kyle MacLachlan, Michael Ontkean and Ray Wise, and introduces Sheryl Lee's second role, Maddy Ferguson.
"Episode 14", also known as "Lonely Souls", is the seventh episode of the second season of the American mystery television series Twin Peaks. The episode was written by series co-creator Mark Frost and directed by series co-creator David Lynch. It features series regulars Kyle MacLachlan, Michael Ontkean, Ray Wise and Richard Beymer; and guest stars Frank Silva (uncredited) as Killer BOB, Hank Worden as The Waiter, Julee Cruise as Singer, and David Lynch as Gordon Cole.
"Episode 5", also known as "Cooper's Dreams", is the sixth episode of the first season of the American mystery television series Twin Peaks. The episode was written by series co-creator Mark Frost and directed by Lesli Linka Glatter. "Episode 5" features series regulars Kyle MacLachlan, Michael Ontkean and Richard Beymer, with guest appearances by Chris Mulkey and David Patrick Kelly.
"Episode 6", also known as "Realization Time", is the seventh episode of the first season of the American mystery television series Twin Peaks. The episode was written by Harley Peyton, and directed by Caleb Deschanel. "Episode 6" features series regulars Kyle MacLachlan, Sherilyn Fenn and Eric Da Re, with guest appearances by Chris Mulkey and David Patrick Kelly.
"Episode 16", also known as "Arbitrary Law", is the ninth episode of the second season of the American mystery television series Twin Peaks. The episode was written by series co-creator Mark Frost, producer Harley Peyton and regular writer Robert Engels, and directed by Tim Hunter. It features series regulars Kyle MacLachlan, Michael Ontkean, Ray Wise and Richard Beymer, and guest stars Miguel Ferrer as Albert Rosenfield, Don S. Davis as Major Briggs, and Al Strobel as MIKE.
"Episode 8", also known as "May the Giant Be with You", is the first episode of the second season of the American mystery television series Twin Peaks. The episode was written by series co-creators David Lynch and Mark Frost, and directed by Lynch. It features series regulars Kyle MacLachlan, Michael Ontkean, Ray Wise and Richard Beymer; and guest stars Grace Zabriskie as Sarah Palmer, Chris Mulkey as Hank Jennings, Miguel Ferrer as Albert Rosenfield, Don S. Davis as Major Garland Briggs, and Victoria Catlin as Blackie O'Reilly.
The third season of Twin Peaks, also known as Twin Peaks: The Return and Twin Peaks: A Limited Event Series, consists of 18 episodes and premiered on Showtime on May 21, 2017. Developed and written by creators David Lynch and Mark Frost, with Lynch directing, the season is a continuation of the 1990–1991 ABC series and its 1992 theatrical prequel Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me. An ensemble of returning and new cast members appear, led by original star Kyle MacLachlan.
Twin Peaks: The Missing Pieces is a 2014 feature-length compilation of deleted and extended scenes from Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me, a 1992 film directed by David Lynch and written by Lynch and Robert Engels. It was released over twenty-two years after the movie and the original series ended and three years before the revival, Twin Peaks: The Return, aired.
"Episode 9", also known as "Coma", is the second episode of the second season of the American mystery television series Twin Peaks. The episode was written by Harley Peyton, and directed by series co-creator David Lynch. It features series regulars Kyle MacLachlan, Michael Ontkean, Ray Wise and Richard Beymer; and guest stars Chris Mulkey as Hank Jennings, Miguel Ferrer as Albert Rosenfield, David Patrick Kelly as Jerry Horne. Don S. Davis as Major Garland Briggs, Victoria Catlin as Blackie O'Reilly, Don Amendolia as Emory Battis, Frances Bay as Mrs. Tremond, Grace Zabriskie as Sarah Palmer, and Catherine E. Coulson as the Log Lady.
"Part 17", also known as "The Return, Part 17", is the 17th episode of the third season of the TV series Twin Peaks. It was written by Mark Frost and David Lynch, directed by Lynch, and stars Kyle MacLachlan. "Part 17" was broadcast on Showtime along with Part 18 on September 3, 2017, and seen by an audience of 254,000 viewers in the United States. It received widespread acclaim.