In 1990’s second season of Twin Peaks, Dohlen portrayed the agoraphobic, orchid-growing Harold Smith.
Actor Lenny Von Dohlen Dead at 64
Lenny Von Dohlen, an actor, passed away. He was 64.
According to Steven J. Wolfe, the actor’s longtime manager, the actor “died Tuesday at his home in Los Angeles after a protracted illness.”
On Friday morning, Catherine, Von Dohlen’s sister, was the first to post on Facebook that he had passed away.
On July 5, “the world lost a beautiful man,” she wrote. “Brother Len had a great deal of passion for everything and everyone. He was always in charge, whether it was an engaging discussion, a creative endeavor, or a journey to a new location.”
Catherine went on: “He enjoyed a good chuckle. He keeps moving forward spiritually. full of vitality in his remembrance.”
Before landing his big break in the 1984 film Electric Dreams as Miles Harding, Von Dohlen made his acting debut in the telefilm Kent State and had a small part in Tender Mercies.
The actor portrayed the agoraphobic orchid-growing Harold Smith in the second season of Twin Peaks on Showtime in 1990. Von Dohlen had many television appearances before making an appearance in the 1992 New Line film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me.
Von Dohlen’s TV credits include Picket Fences, Chicago Hope, The Lazarus Man, The Pretender, CSI: Miami, and Don’t Touch. He also appeared in a number of well-known TV episodes as a guest star, including The Equalizer, Miami Vice, thirtysomething, and The Young Riders.
Von Dohlen, who is best known for his dramatic performances, such as the title part in Billy Galvin, also demonstrated his physical comedic prowess as one of the movie’s fumbling bad guys.
Other movie credits include Leaving Normal, Cadillac, Jennifer 8, Tollbooth, Blind Vision, and One Good Turn.
Von Dohlen was raised in Goliad, Texas, but was born in Augusta, Georgia. He later graduated from Denver’s Loretto Heights College and enrolled at the University of Texas at Austin.
His initial love was theater, according to a statement from longtime manager Wolfe.
Along with other New York productions like Asian Shade, The Team, Twister, Vanishing Act, and The Maderati, he co-starred with Kathy Baker in the revivals of Desire Under the Elms at The Roundabout Theater and Caryl Churchill’s popular drama Cloud 9 and Cloud 9.
And, Wolfe noted, “He continued to work in regional theater across the country over the years.”
Most recently, Von Dohlen collaborated with Sally Kirkland, Jennifer Tilly, and Keith Carradine on the upcoming comedy film Sallywood.
The writer James Still, Von Dohlen’s boyfriend, his mother Gay Von Dohlen, his daughter Hazel, age 21, and his siblings Mary Gay, Catherine, and John David all survive him.
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