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Grace Zabriskie | |
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Born | Grace Caplinger [1] May 17, 1941 [2] New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S. |
Occupation | Actress |
Years active | 1978–present |
Children | 2 |
Grace Zabriskie (née Caplinger; born May 17, 1941) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Sarah Palmer in Twin Peaks (1990–1991; 2017) and its film prequel Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992), Lois Henrickson in Big Love , as well as in cult films such as two of David Lynch's films: Juana Durango in Wild at Heart (1990) and Visitor #1 in Inland Empire (2006). Other film roles include Nickel Mountain (1984), Child's Play 2 (1990), and The Grudge (2004). She also is known for her recurring roles in Seinfeld and Charmed .
Zabriskie was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, the daughter of Marion Grace (née Zabriskie), of Wyckoff, New Jersey, and Roger Thomas "Tom" Caplinger. [3] Her mother had distant Polish and Dutch ancestry, [4] and was a relative of James Zabriskie, a 19th-century railroad industrialist and early pioneer of California. [5] Zabriskie has said that her family was visited by Tennessee Williams, Gore Vidal and Truman Capote during her childhood. [6] Her father owned the famous French quarter gay bar Cafe Lafitte in Exile. [1]
In the early 1960s, Zabriskie was among a circle of Kerry Thornley's New Orleans friends. At one point, Thornley began work on a novel about her titled Can Grace Come Out and Play? [1] Thornley later claimed to have had an "eight-year-long, off-again-on-again, affair/friendship/rivalry/ego-game/karmic unraveling" with her, but Zabriskie described it as "four and a half minutes in bed" after a discussion on the exclusion of sex from their friendship—shared with Zabriskie's then-husband Rob—as being "irrational". [7]
Her sister, Lane Caplinger, worked as a typist in New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison's office. Caplinger is reputed to have covertly produced all five copies of the first edition of the Principia Discordia in 1965. [8]
After making her major film debut in Norma Rae , Zabriskie went on to appear in dozens of other works, including the 1981 Roger Corman horror film Galaxy of Terror and the 1981 miniseries adaptation of John Steinbeck's East of Eden . She played the nanny in The Private Eyes , Debra Winger's mother in An Officer and a Gentleman , Heather Langenkamp's mother in Nickel Mountain , and Paul Le Mat's mother in The Burning Bed (starring Farrah Fawcett). She had a small but crucial part in the fifth season finale of Knots Landing .
She appeared in 1989's Drugstore Cowboy and as the ill-fated orphanage owner Grace Poole in Child's Play 2 . Other movies include the 1991 film adaptation Fried Green Tomatoes and Philip Ridley's 1995 film The Passion of Darkly Noon .
Zabriskie is perhaps most familiar for her television work. After a recurring role on the soap opera Santa Barbara , she appeared on David Lynch's Twin Peaks and its spin-off film, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me as Sarah Palmer, the eerily psychic mother of the doomed Laura Palmer.
Zabriskie also appeared in Lynch's Wild at Heart —notably as the twin sister of a character played by Isabella Rossellini, an actress eleven years her junior. David Lynch later cast her as a sinister Polish neighbor in Inland Empire in 2006.
Zabriskie may best be remembered as Mrs. Ross, a recurring character on the sitcom Seinfeld . She played the mother of another doomed daughter, Susan Ross—George Costanza's fiancée—who died after licking cheap envelope adhesive when mailing out her wedding invitations. Zabriskie's character's husband on the series, who also appeared in a recurring role, was played by her former Twin Peaks co-star, Warren Frost.
She also made a brief but memorable appearance in the episode "S'ain't Valentine's" on the CBS sitcom The King of Queens , as the emotionally disturbed and alcoholic mother of Spence Olchin (played by Patton Oswalt). While the character Veronica Olchin would reappear throughout the series, Zabriskie would not portray her again, having been replaced by Anne Meara. She also starred as Lois Henrickson in Big Love , an HBO drama series that seriously explored the issue of polygamy, [9] and appeared twice in Aaron Spelling's series Charmed as "The Crone".
She has worked in radio, collaborating with radio dramatist/monologist Joe Frank several times. In one episode of Frank's show, "Home (Original)", she talks at length about her childhood in New Orleans, with a focus on her father.
Zabriskie appeared in the 2004 American remake of The Grudge , in which she played a senile elderly woman sensitive to the paranormal occurrences in her home.
In 2020, she starred in the music video for Grouplove's "Youth". [10] directed by Christopher Blauvelt.
In her early 20s, Zabriskie and her then-husband Rob "had an intense friendship, which graduated, or from another point of view disintegrated into more of a friendship between" Zabriskie and Kerry Thornley; this friendship was "centered around an intense shared love for and fascination with the philosophy of Ayn Rand". [11]
Zabriskie is the mother of two daughters: Helen, who became an actress, and Marion Lane, a painter. In 1993, Helen died of Hodgkin's disease. [12] Marion died in 2019, aged 56, of cancer. [13]
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1978 | They Went That-A-Way & That-A-Way | Lem's Wife | |
1979 | Norma Rae | Linette Odum | |
1980 | The Private Eyes | Nanny | |
1981 | Galaxy of Terror | Captain Trantor | |
1982 | An Officer and a Gentleman | Esther Pokrifki | |
1984 | Nickel Mountain | Ellie Wells | |
1984 | Body Rock | Chilly's Mother | |
1986 | The Big Easy | Mama | |
1987 | Rampage | Naomi Reece | |
1987 | Leonard Part 6 | Jefferson | |
1988 | The Boost | Sheryl | |
1989 | Drugstore Cowboy | Bob's Mother | |
1990 | Megaville | Mrs. Jessica Palinov | |
1990 | Wild at Heart | Juana Durango | |
1990 | Child's Play 2 | Grace Poole | |
1991 | Ambition | Mrs. Wendy Merrick | |
1991 | Servants of Twilight | Grace Spivey | |
1991 | My Own Private Idaho | Alena | |
1991 | Fried Green Tomatoes | Eva Bates | |
1992 | The Waterdance | Pat | |
1992 | FernGully: The Last Rainforest | Narrator/Magi Lune (voice) | |
1992 | Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me | Sarah Palmer | |
1992 | Chain of Desire | Linda Bailey | |
1993 | Stone Soup | Olympia | |
1993 | Even Cowgirls Get the Blues | Mrs. Maria Hankshaw | |
1994 | The Last Laugh | Louise | Short film |
1994 | The Crew | Gloria Pierce | |
1994 | Drop Zone | Winona | |
1995 | Desert Winds | Jackie's Mother | |
1995 | The Passion of Darkly Noon | Roxy | |
1996 | A Family Thing | Ruby | |
1996 | Bastard Out of Carolina | Granny | |
1997 | Seed | Mother's Voice | Short film |
1997 | Psycho Sushi | Great Aunt | |
1997 | George B. | The Mother | |
1997 | Dead Men Can't Dance | Brig. Gen. Burke | |
1997 | Annie's Garden | Mrs. Felicity Barnes | |
1997 | Sparkler | Sherri | |
1998 | Armageddon | Dottie | |
1998 | Dante's View | Geraldine | |
1999 | Trash | Mrs. Wendy DeMarie | |
1999 | A Texas Funeral | Murtis | |
1999 | Me and Will | Edith | |
2000 | Home the Horror Story | Grace Parkinson | |
2000 | A Fate Foretold | Olga | Short film |
2000 | Puppy Love | Jeanette Foley | Short film |
2000 | Gone in 60 Seconds | Helen Raines | |
2001 | They Crawl | Mrs. Gage | |
2002 | R.S.V.P. | Mary Franklin | |
2002 | No Good Deed | Mrs. Karen Quarre | |
2003 | The Wind Effect | Allison | Short film |
2004 | The Last Letter | Mrs. Stella Allison | |
2004 | Chrystal | Gladys | |
2004 | The Grudge | Emma | |
2004 | Sabine and the Two-Headed Baby | Sabine | Short film |
2006 | Inland Empire | Visitor #1 | |
2007 | Careless | Adrienne | |
2007 | License to Wed | Grandma Jones | |
2007 | Alternate Endings | Mom | Short film |
2008 | The Brothel | Madam | |
2009 | Bob Funk | Mrs. June Funk | |
2009 | My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done? | Mrs. Joan McCullum | |
2013 | Wrong Cops | Donna | |
2013 | Trancers: City of Lost Angels | The Warden | Short film (shot in 1988) |
2014 | Blind Malice | Nanna | |
2014 | The Judge | Mrs. Anita Blackwell | |
2014 | The Makings of You | Margaret | a.k.a. Never My Love |
2015 | Only Child | Delores | |
2015 | Christmas at Rosemont | Josephine | |
2019 | Polaroid | Lena Sable | |
2021 | Cryptozoo | Joan (voice) |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1978 | The Million Dollar Dixie Deliverance | Widow Cummins | TV movie |
1979 | Concrete Cowboys | Mrs. Kate Barnaby | Episode: "Concrete Cowboys" |
1979 | Freedom Road | Ruth Lait | TV movie |
1980 | CBS Afternoon Playhouse | Episode: "Lost in Death Valley" | |
1980 | Blinded by the Light | Emily | TV movie |
1981 | East of Eden | Mrs. Catherine Ames | TV miniseries |
1981 | Hart to Hart | Ethyl | Episode: "A Couple of Harts" |
1982 | The Executioner's Song | Kathryne Baker | TV movie |
1983 | Tales of the Gold Monkey | Dr. Clouet | Episode: "Last Chance Louie" |
1983 | M.A.D.D.: Mothers Against Drunk Drivers | Silvie Alice Kohler | TV movie |
1983 | Cagney & Lacey | Adele | Episode: "Affirmative Action" |
1984 | My Mother's Secret Life | Maggie Ryan | TV movie |
1984 | Knots Landing | Chambermaid | Episode: "Negotiations" |
1984 | The Burning Bed | Flossie Hughes | TV movie |
1984 | Paper Dolls | Cathy | Episode: "1.8" |
1985 | ABC Afterschool Special | Mrs. Linton | Episode: "One Too Many" |
1985 | Santa Barbara | Theda Bassett | 17 episodes |
1985 | North Beach and Rawhide | Hearings Officer | TV movie |
1985 | Shadow Chasers | Mary Komatar | Episode: "Shadow Chasers: Part 1" |
1986 | Hill Street Blues | Terry Sylvestri | Episode: "Das Blues" Episode: "Scales of Justice" |
1986 | Cagney & Lacey | Eva Sikorski | Episode: "Model Citizens" |
1987 | Falcon Crest | Mabel Burton | Episode: "When the Bough Breaks" Episode: "The Cradle Will Fall" |
1987 | Mistress | Deanie | TV movie |
1988 | The Bronx Zoo | Mrs. Barris | Episode: "Ties That Bind" |
1988 | My Father, My Son | Mouza | TV movie |
1988 | Shooter | Sister Marie | TV movie |
1988 | Empty Nest | Eva Barrett | Episode: "Pilot" |
1989 | The Ryan White Story | Gloria White | TV movie |
1989 | Unsub | Alma | Episode: "White Bone Demon" |
1989 | A Deadly Silence | Psychologist | TV movie |
1989 | Moonlighting | Rita | Episode: "In 'N Outlaws"; uncredited |
1990 | Tales from the Crypt | Mrs. Colbert | Episode: "The Secret" |
1990 | Hometown Boy Makes Good | Helen Geary | TV movie |
1990–1991 | Twin Peaks | Sarah Palmer | 13 episodes |
1991 | Prison Stories: Women on the Inside | Genevieve | TV movie |
1991 | Blood Ties | The Woman | TV movie |
1991 | Intimate Stranger | Dana P. Ashley | TV movie |
1992 | Freshman Dorm | Episode: "Pilot" | |
1992 | A House of Secrets and Lies | Ruby | TV movie |
1992, 1996–1998 | Seinfeld | Mrs. Ross | 5 episodes |
1993 | Bonds of Love | Emma | TV movie |
1993 | Miracle Child | Adeleine Newberry | TV movie |
1993 | Black Widow Murders: The Blanche Taylor Moore Story | Ethel | TV movie |
1993 | Banner Times | Momma | TV movie |
1993 | Double Deception | Dr. Kester | TV movie |
1993 | Sirens | Female Store Owner | Episode: "Keeping the Peace" |
1993 | Angel Falls | Cuema | Episode: "Fall from Grace" |
1994 | Lifestories: Families in Crisis | Sandy Henry | Episode: "A Body to Die For: The Aaron Henry Story" |
1995 | Crazy for a Kiss | Pearl Kinross | TV movie |
1995 | Children of the Dust | Rose | TV movie |
1995 | Under Suspicion | Lily Cassins | Episode: "Hostage Standoff" Episode: "Wrongful Shooting" |
1995 | Empty Nest | Scarlett | Episode: "Life Goes On: Part 1" Episode: "Life Goes On: Part 2" |
1995 | Fallen Angels | Virna | Episode: "The Black Bargain" |
1995 | NYPD Blue | Wanda Padzik | Episode: "The Bookie and the Kooky Cookie" |
1996 | A Promise to Carolyn | Francie Harper | TV movie |
1996 | Second Noah | Mrs. Cheval | Episode: "Stormy Weather" |
1996 | Murder at My Door | Grandma | TV movie |
1996 | The Burning Zone | Retired CIA Agent | Episode: "Touch of the Dead" |
1997 | NYPD Blue | Millie Banks | Episode: "A Remington Original" |
1997 | High Incident | Mattie | Episode: "Remote Control" |
1997 | Over the Top | Dolly | Episode: "The Southern Story" |
1997 | The Devil's Child | Rose DeMarco | TV movie |
1998 | Dharma & Greg | Naomi | Episode: "It Takes a Village" |
1998 | Houdini | Mrs. Weiss | TV movie |
1998 | Profiler | Mrs. Boudreaux | Episode: "The Sum of Her Parts" |
1999 | The King of Queens | Veronica | Episode: "S'ain't Valentine's" |
2000 | Jesse | Grandma Rose | Episode: "Jesse Gives Birth" |
2000 | The West Wing | Isobel | Episode: "In the Shadow of Two Gunmen: Part II" |
2002 | The Guardian | Judith | Episode: "The Dead" |
2002 | The Glow | Sylvia Goodstein | TV movie |
2002–2003 | John Doe | Yellow Teeth | 6 episodes |
2003 | Charmed | The Crone | Episode: "Baby's First Demon" Episode: "Sense and Sense Ability" |
2005 | Medium | Connie Buckley | Episode: "The Other Side of the Tracks" |
2006–2011 | Big Love | Lois Henrickson | 52 episodes |
2013 | The Killing | Mama Dips | 3 episodes |
2015 | Ray Donovan | Miss Monassian | 6 episodes |
2016 | Outcast | Mildred | 4 episodes |
2017 | Santa Clarita Diet | Mrs. Baković | 2 episodes |
2017 | Twin Peaks | Sarah Palmer | 6 episodes |
2018 | The Alienist | John's Grandmother | 4 episodes |
2018 | Ballers | Enid | 2 episodes |
2019 | Hot Streets | Senkah (voice) | Episode: "Super Agent 2" |
2022 | Mike | Camille D'Amato |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2022 | The Quarry | Eliza Vorez | Voice, motion capture and likeness |
|- |1994 | Voyeur |Margaret Hawke |Actress (FMV) |}
Discordianism is a religion, philosophy, or paradigm centered on Eris, also known as Discordia, the Goddess of strife and discord. Discordianism uses archetypes or ideals associated with her. It was founded after the 1963 publication of its "holy book," the Principia Discordia, written by Greg Hill with Kerry Wendell Thornley, the two working under the pseudonyms Malaclypse the Younger and Omar Khayyam Ravenhurst.
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 originally ran for two seasons until its cancellation in 1991. The show returned in 2017 for a third season on Showtime.
Kerry Wendell Thornley was an American author. He is known as the co-founder of Discordianism, in which context he is usually known as Omar Khayyam Ravenhurst or simply Lord Omar. He and Hill authored the religion's text Principia Discordia, Or, How I Found Goddess, and What I Did to Her When I Found Her. Thornley also was known for his 1962 manuscript The Idle Warriors, which was based on the activities of his acquaintance Lee Harvey Oswald before the 1963 assassination of John F. Kennedy.
Lara Flynn Boyle is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Donna Hayward in the television series Twin Peaks (1990–1991). After portraying Stacy in Penelope Spheeris's comedy Wayne's World (1992), Boyle had a lead role in John Dahl's neo-noir film Red Rock West (1993), followed by roles in Threesome (1994), Cafe Society (1995), and Happiness (1998). From 1997 to 2003, Boyle portrayed Assistant District Attorney Helen Gamble in the ABC television series The Practice for which she was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series.
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.
Mädchen Elaina Amick is an American actress and television director. She is known for her starring role as Shelly Johnson on the television series Twin Peaks (1990–1991), its prequel film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992) and its revival television series Twin Peaks: The Return (2017). She was a series regular on Central Park West (1995–1996), Freddie (2005–2006), and Witches of East End (2013–2014). In film, she had starring roles in Sleepwalkers (1992) and Dream Lover (1993). She portrays Alice Smith on The CW's drama television series Riverdale (2017–present).
Sheryl Lynn Lee is a German-born American film, stage, and television actress. After studying acting in college, Lee relocated to Seattle, Washington to work in theater, where she was cast by David Lynch as Laura Palmer and Maddy Ferguson on the 1990 television series Twin Peaks and in the 1992 film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me. After completing Twin Peaks, she returned to theater, appearing in the title role of Salome on Broadway opposite Al Pacino.
Sherilyn Fenn is an American actress and author. She came to attention for her performance as Audrey Horne on the television series Twin Peaks for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe Award and an Emmy Award.
Laura Palmer is a fictional character in the Twin Peaks franchise. She is portrayed by Sheryl Lee and was created by the series creators David Lynch and Mark Frost. She first appears in the ABC original series Twin Peaks. A high school student whose death is the catalyst for the events of the series, Palmer is the protagonist in Lynch's prequel film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (1992), which depicts the final week of her life leading up to her murder. Laura also appears in the novels, Twin Peaks: The Return (2017), and a variety of merchandise based on the series.
Kathleen Wilhoite is an American actress and musician. She made her feature film debut in Private School (1983) before having a leading role in Murphy's Law (1986), followed by supporting parts in Witchboard, Crossing Delancey (1988), Road House (1989), and Lorenzo's Oil (1992). She also had notable guest-starring roles on several series during this time, including Twin Peaks (1990).
Donna Marie Hayward is a fictional character in the Twin Peaks franchise. She was portrayed by Lara Flynn Boyle in the television series Twin Peaks (1990–1991) and by Moira Kelly in the film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (1992) and its deleted and extended scenes compilation Twin Peaks: The Missing Pieces (2014). She was created by David Lynch and Mark Frost. Making her debut as a main character in the original series, Donna is introduced as the best friend and classmate of Laura Palmer, who tries to solve the mystery of her murder. Donna has a supporting role in the prequel film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, which depicts the final week of Laura's life. Donna is referenced numerous times in Jennifer Lynch's novel The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer. The novel Twin Peaks: The Final Dossier by Mark Frost reveals some of what happened to her after the events of the show's second season.
Madeleine "Maddy" Ferguson is a fictional character in the Twin Peaks franchise. She was created by the series creators David Lynch and Mark Frost and portrayed by Sheryl Lee. Introduced in the fourth episode of the first season, Maddy is the older cousin of Laura Palmer who comes to Twin Peaks to help her aunt and uncle cope with the death of their daughter. Over the course of the series, Maddy forms a close friendship with Donna Hayward and James Hurley, Laura's closest friends, and assists them in their investigation into her death. Originally, she was not intended to be a part of the series but was created by David Lynch so that Lee could have a larger role in the series.
Warren Frost was an American actor. His work was mainly in theater, but he worked in films and television sporadically from 1958. He is known for television roles on Matlock and Seinfeld, and particularly as Doctor Hayward on Twin Peaks, a series co-created by his son Mark Frost. He has also appeared in TV movies, such as Psycho IV: The Beginning (1990) and The Stand (1994).
Robyn Elaine Lively Johnson is an American actress. She is known for her roles in the 1989 films Teen Witch and The Karate Kid Part III. She is also known for her roles in the TV shows Doogie Howser, M.D.; Twin Peaks; Savannah; and Saving Grace.
The Principia Discordia is the first published Discordian religious text. It was written by Greg Hill with Kerry Wendell Thornley and others. The first edition was printed allegedly using Jim Garrison's Xerox printer in 1963. The second edition was published under the title Principia Discordia or How The West Was Lost in a limited edition of five copies in 1965. The phrase Principia Discordia, reminiscent of Isaac Newton's 1687 Principia Mathematica, is presumably intended to mean Discordant Principles, or Principles of Discordance.
"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 4", also known as "The One-Armed Man", is the fifth episode of the first season of the American mystery television series Twin Peaks. The episode was written by Robert Engels, and directed by Tim Hunter. "Episode 4" features series regulars Kyle MacLachlan, Piper Laurie and Richard Beymer, and introduces series co-creator David Lynch in the role of Gordon Cole.
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.
Laura's Ghost: Women Speak about Twin Peaks is a 2020 book by Courtenay Stallings. The book explores the legacy of the fictional character Laura Palmer, whose death was the precipitating event in the television show Twin Peaks. Laura's Ghost features interviews with and essays from women involved with Twin Peaks including Sheryl Lee, who played Laura Palmer, as well as actress Grace Zabriskie, and Jennifer Lynch, daughter of the series’ director David Lynch.