Lara Flynn Boyle

Early life

Boyle was born in Davenport, Iowa, the daughter of Sally Flynn, a clerical worker, assistant, and manager, and Michael L. Boyle. Her paternal grandfather was U.S. Representative Charles A. Boyle. She has Irish, German, and Italian ancestry. She is named after a character in Boris Pasternak's novel Doctor Zhivago. Her father left when she was six, causing her and her mother to move to smaller quarters. Around this time, she was diagnosed with dyslexia. She was raised in Chicago, Illinois, and Wisconsin, and graduated from The Chicago Academy for the Arts.

Career

In 1986, Boyle landed a small part in John Hughes's teen comedy film Ferris Bueller's Day Off, which earned her a SAG card, though her scenes were deleted from the final cut of the film. Subsequently, Boyle had a supporting role as Jackie Bradford in the television miniseries Amerika (1987), followed by guest appearances on episodes of the series Jack and Mike (1987) and Sable (1987).

After a string of supporting roles, Boyle landed a lead role in the Gary Sherman horror film Poltergeist III (1988), which was distributed by the media company MGM. Although she was cast as Ginny Danburry in Peter Weir's drama film Dead Poets Society (1989), her scenes were ultimately deleted from the final cut.

In 1989, Boyle rose to international prominence when David Lynch cast her as Donna Hayward in the television series Twin Peaks (1990–1991). The series focused on the murder of the high school Homecoming Queen Laura Palmer, with Boyle portraying Laura's best friend. Her main storyline focused on her trying to solve the mystery of who killed Laura.

The series premiered April 8, 1990, on ABC and subsequently became one of the top-rated series of 1990, but a decline in ratings ultimately led to its cancellation after its second season in 1991. Boyle appeared in all 30 episodes.

When discussing Lynch's direction, Boyle stated, "I remember, in the pilot, I did a very long scene that we had to shoot 30 or 40 times. David came up to me and said quietly, in my ear: 'Think of how gently a deer has to move in the snow…' It was strange direction. But that's what I thought of, and it worked. We were at the helm of a piece of heaven on Twin Peaks and we just went where David Lynch told us. That might sound very obscure but it really is true. How he sees the world is how we should all see the world."

In October 1990, while promoting Twin Peaks, Boyle was featured on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine along with her co-stars Mädchen Amick and Sherilyn Fenn. While starring on Twin Peaks, Boyle portrayed Sarah in Clint Eastwood's action film The Rookie (1990), Rosarita in Adam Rifkin's satirical comedy film The Dark Backward (1991), Mara Motes in Michael Karbelnikoff's crime film Mobsters (1991), and Sandra Gladstone in the romantic thriller Eye of the Storm (1991).

Boyle also appeared in the television films Terror on Highway 91 (1989), The Preppie Murder (1989), as well as episodes of The Hidden Room and May Wine.

Shortly after the cancellation of Twin Peaks, plans were being made for a feature film adaptation. Boyle was asked by Lynch to reprise her role as Donna Hayward in the psychological horror film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992) but she was unable to commit to the project due to scheduling conflicts with her roles as Heather in Marc Rocco's drama film Where the Day Takes You (alongside her Twin Peaks co-star Kyle MacLachlan), Stacy in Penelope Spheeris's comedy Wayne's World, and Beverly Franks in Alan Rudolph's crime drama Equinox. This led to her being replaced by actress Moira Kelly. In 1993, Boyle starred as Kris Bolin in the thriller film The Temp and portrayed the temptress Suzanne Brown in the neo-noir film Red Rock West alongside Nicolas Cage and Dennis Hopper.

In 1994, Boyle was cast as Alex in the comedy Threesome, Laraine Cotwell in Baby's Day Out, and Ida Muntz in The Road to Wellville. The same year, Boyle appeared in the television films Past Tense and Jacob. In 1995, she was cast as Pat Ward in the mystery film Cafe Society. In 1997, she portrayed Marianne Byron in the film Afterglow. Boyle auditioned for the title role in David E. Kelley's Ally McBeal. Although she lost out to Calista Flockhart, Boyle impressed Kelley enough to cast her the role of Assistant District Attorney Helen Gamble in his other 1997 series, The Practice. The following year, Boyle portrayed Helen Jordan in Todd Solondz’s controversial comedy-drama film Happiness.

She starred on The Practice until 2003, when, in a dramatic attempt to revamp the show and cut costs, she was dismissed along with most of the cast. For her performance as Helen Gamble, she received an Emmy nomination as well as several Screen Actors Guild ensemble cast nominations. Boyle also made a crossover appearance in the role of Helen Gamble in an episode of Ally McBeal, and an uncredited guest appearance on the same show in its final season.

In 2002, Boyle played a lead role in the blockbuster feature film Men in Black II, as the villainous shapeshifting alien Serleena. She also guest-starred on one of the last episodes of Ally McBeal, this time as Tally Cupp, and had a recurring role on several episodes of Huff.

In 2005, Boyle joined the cast of Las Vegas for a seven-episode stint as Monica Mancuso, a new hotel owner. [[File:Kyle MacLachlan, Lara Flynn Boyle (253704548).jpg|right|thumbnail|upright 1.4|Boyle and [[Kyle MacLachlan]] at the Governor's Ball held immediately after the 1990 Emmy Awards]]She played Barbara Amiel in the television film Shades of Black, about Amiel and her husband, Lord Black. Boyle also guest-starred as an ambitious reporter involved with the suspects in a possible murder in the Law & Order 2008 episode "Submission".

In 2009, Boyle portrayed Mary in Baby on Board. The same year, Boyle was cast as Betty McBain in the independent film Life Is Hot in Cracktown. In 2010, she starred as Kathy in Cougar Hunting. In 2013, Boyle portrayed Witch Agnes in the horror comedy film Hansel & Gretel Get Baked. In 2015, she portrayed Ms. Donley in the film Lucky Dog.

In 2020, after a five-year break, she returned to acting to star as Grace in the film Death in Texas alongside Stephen Lang.

Personal life

Boyle dated her Twin Peaks co-star Kyle MacLachlan from 1990 until 1992, and was married to John Patrick Dee III from 1996 to 1998. She then dated comedian David Spade, whom she left for actor Jack Nicholson after Nicholson asked her out in front of Spade while the three were smoking weed together; Boyle was 29 and Nicholson was 62 at the time, and Spade later found out they were together from a paparazzi report on a car crash they were in. Boyle and Nicholson went public with their romance at the 1999 Emmy Awards ceremony and reportedly split up in late 2000. On December 18, 2006, Boyle married real estate investor Donald Ray Thomas II in San Antonio, Texas.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

References

1. "Lara Flynn Boyle Biography (1970–)".
2. (March 23, 1969). "Marriage Announcement 4 -- No Title". [[Chicago Tribune]].
3. Kilian, Michael. (October 5, 1997). "Thanks, Ma Lara Flynn Boyle Remains Grounded By Her Chicago Roots". [[Chicago Tribune]].
4. "Lara Flynn Boyle Online – TWOH Interview – Page 3 of 6".
5. Diamond, Jamie. (July 27, 2002). "Tough Cookie, Snug Retreat: At Home with Lara Flynn Boyle". [[The New York Times]].
6. Hart, Hugh. (September 10, 1992). "Runaway Success". [[Chicago Tribune]].
7. Donelan, Loretta. (June 9, 2014). "'Dead Poets Society' Turns 25 & Here's 9 Little Known Facts About the Film".
8. Anthony, Andrew. (March 20, 2010). "Twin Peaks: How Laura Palmer's death marked the rebirth of TV drama". [[The Guardian]].
9. (June 1, 2015). "'That Show You Like Might Be Coming Back in Style': How Twin Peaks Changed the Face of Contemporary Television". American, British and Canadian Studies Journal.
10. (June 3, 2016). "Ontological Security, Authorship, and Resurrection: Exploring Twin Peaks' Social Media Afterlife". [[University of Texas Press]].
11. (June 3, 2016). ""The Series That Changed Television"?: Twin Peaks, "Classic" Status, and Temporal Capital". [[University of Texas Press]].
12. Crouch, Ian. (October 7, 2014). "Some Thoughts on the Planned Return of ''Twin Peaks''".
13. Thomas, Kevin. (March 25, 1994). "Movie Review: 'Red Rock West': An Honest, Stylishly Likable Film Noir". [[Los Angeles Times]].
14. Maslin, Janet. (October 9, 1998). "Film Festival Review; Faulty Families: Music Is Easy Listening and Dessert Is Hard to Take". [[The New York Times]].
15. (May 19, 2003). "'Practice' cast off the docket".
16. Pierce, Scott D.. (December 18, 1998). "'The Practice' and 'Ally' are still crossing paths". [[Deseret News]].
17. (May 3, 2004). "Boyle in a 'Huff' for Showtime". Chicago Tribune.
18. [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1031379/combined Details of "Submission"], 2008 episode of ''[[Law & Order]]'' at the [[IMDb]]
19. Goldstein, Gregg. (March 13, 2007). "Next stop: 'Cracktown' for 6 actors".
20. N'Duka, Amanda. (November 6, 2019). "Stephen Lang Joins 'Death in Texas'; KJ Smith Cast In 'Fatal Affair'; Oliver Cooper In 'Ghostbusters'". [[Deadline Hollywood]].
21. (December 20, 2006). "Ex 'Vegas' Actress Boyle Gets Hitched". [[The Orlando Sentinel]].
22. Ahsan, Sadaf. (August 27, 2015). "How David Spade lost girlfriend Lara Flynn Boyle to Jack Nicholson". [[National Post]].
23. (December 20, 2006). "Lara Flynn Boyle Weds".
24. (October 4, 2010). "Lara's reality show". [[New York Post]].