"Eraserhead" himself, Jack Nance
Anthony Torres
Jack Nance, the actor who played the title character in
director David Lynch's 1977 cult classic "Eraserhead"
died Monday. Nance is better known to TV viewers for
his part as the henpecked husband of the lumber mill
owner played by Piper Laurie on "Twin Peaks", another
Lynch effort. Police are investigating whether the death
was a homicide.
On a personal note, I have nothing to add in the vein of
the beautiful heartfelt eulogy I just read for country
songwriter Townes Van Zandt, but I will say that I've been
entranced with the oddball charisma of Jack Nance ever
since I saw "Eraserhead" for the first time 10 years ago.
The guy was a true original, and was well-suited for David
Lynch's bizarre flights of fancy.
It was a shock to hear of his death, as it was only through a
fleeting graphic on Friday's "Showbiz Today" on CNN.
I can only hope it doesn't turn out to be a murder, but if
it is, it would be a fittingly unusual death for a seemingly
unusual man. Rest in peace, Jack.
Anthony Torres
Dearborn, Michigan
SHADOW1966
That's very weird as I just saw him the other day (and it now seems he was
already dead) on MTV in a Suicidial Tendences video from the early 80s. I
had seen it before Twin Peaks and never knew he played the father.
Anyone know why they waited so long to announce his death?
On a sadder note, Jack was married to Jerry Van Dyke's daughter Kelly.
She killed herself after she apparently thought he'd hung up on her during
a phone argument in which she threatened to kill herself. Jack, who was
filming Twin Peaks:Fire Walk With Me at the time, didn't hang up on her-a
severe thunderstorm cut their connection. He tried in vain to call her
back. She hanged herself in a closet and was found by friend Lisa Loring,
TV's Wednesday on The Addams Family series. Even sadder is that when the
film was released, Jack's part was not even in it. It was trimmed for
time.
J.D. Baldwin
In article <5al4od$c...@juliana.sprynet.com>, Anthony Torres
<anth...@sprynet.com> wrote:
>It was a shock to hear of his death, as it was only through a fleeting
>graphic on Friday's "Showbiz Today" on CNN. I can only hope it
>doesn't turn out to be a murder, but if it is, it would be a fittingly
>unusual death for a seemingly unusual man. Rest in peace, Jack.
Doesn't sound like it. According to today's Detroit paper, Nance was
in a fight in a donut shop the day before he died, where he is
reported to have suffered a pretty hard blow to the head. The article
left the impression that that is the current best explanation for his
death, but of course the autopsy is still pending.
Mortally wounded in a donut shop? Is this reality, or a David Lynch
script?
--
From the catapult of J.D. Baldwin |+| "If anyone disagrees with anything I
_,_ Finger bal...@netcom.com |+| say, I am quite prepared not only to
_|70|___:::)=}- for PGP public |+| retract it, but also to deny under
\ / key information. |+| oath that I ever said it." --T. Lehrer
***~~~~-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Clangneil
As a side note on Kelly Van Dyke-Nance's death....would she already
have had a lot of problems? As I recall reading at the time of her
death, wasn't she an "adult" actress (no doubt a source of anguish for her
father, as well)? I believe Lisa Loring also made some adult films in the
80's, also.
Anyone???
Happy New Year and
Thanx....
Bill Thomas
SHADOW1966
>As a side note on Kelly Van Dyke-Nance's death....would she already
>have had a lot of problems? As I recall reading at the time of her
>death, wasn't she an "adult" actress (no doubt a source of anguish for
her
>father, as well)? I believe Lisa Loring also made some adult films in
the
>80's, also.
Yes. Kelly starred in several pornos (while married to Nance-but unknown
to him) including one called "The Coach's Daughter". She seemed to have
done the pornos as a type of punishment to those who loved her (her father
and Jack) and for money for drugs. Lisa Loring was married to (and is now
divorced from) porn star Jerry Butler. She made several soft core nudie
films with no hard core sex and she and Jerry frequently fought about over
who should be the porn bread winner in the house on Geraldo's show (Jerry
hated her in nude scenes, but justified his sex scenes as fine acting).
Anthony Torres
> shado...@aol.com (SHADOW1966) writes:
> >As a side note on Kelly Van Dyke-Nance's death....would she already
> >have had a lot of problems? As I recall reading at the time of her
> >death, wasn't she an "adult" actress (no doubt a source of anguish for
> >her father, as well)? I believe Lisa Loring also made some adult films in the
> >80's, also.
>
> Yes. Kelly starred in several pornos (while married to Nance-but unknown
> to him) including one called "The Coach's Daughter". She seemed to have
> done the pornos as a type of punishment to those who loved her (her father
Amazing. And sad. Especially the earlier post about how Jack's wife Kelly died.
I never even knew the guy was married, let alone that he had such a starcrossed
life. How do you people know all this stuff, anyway? Thanks for the info.
By the way, have the police announced the cause of death yet? I never heard if
it was a stabbing, a shooting, or what.
Anthony in Michigan
SHADOW1966
Another thing I forgot to mention was that for while (unsure how many
years it was, but it was during the time of Eraserhead) Jack was married
to Catherine Coulson, the Log Lady on Twin Peaks and co-star of
Eraserhead.
Nothing has appeared beyond the basic news reports. His death may have
been caused by several punches to the head he received the day before he
died. Nobody knows who those men were or why they attacked him.
Chris Borg
if someone hits you you and you die...that is murder!!
: in a fight in a donut shop the day before he died, where he is