Lenny Von Dohlen

Leonard Harold Von Dohlen IV (December 22, 1958 – July 5, 2022) was an American television, film, and stage actor. With a 40-year career that primarily featured work in independent films and guest appearances on numerous prominent series, he was probably best known for his performance as architect Miles Harding in the film Electric Dreams (1984), the title role as a steelworker's son opposite Karl Malden in Billy Galvin (1986), and as the orchid-loving agoraphobe Harold Smith in the television series Twin Peaks and its prequel film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me. Early years Von Dohlen was born on December 22, 1958, in Augusta, Georgia, and raised in Goliad, a small town in south Texas. He had German ancestry from his paternal grandfather and French Cajun ancestry from his maternal grandfather. As a child he wished to become a jockey, but grew too tall for his dream. He studied Theater at the University of Texas, and graduated from Loretto Heights College in Denver, Colorado. From there he moved to New York City to pursue a career on the stage, saying in an interview: "I knew I wanted to go to New York City to work in the theater ... so I rid myself of my Texas accent by listening to John Gielgud records. Then, after I got to NYC, the first film I was offered was to play the leader of a country & western band in Texas. Ahh, irony." Film Lenny Von Dohlen's film debut was in the Academy Award-winning 1983 film Tender Mercies, starring Robert Duvall, as a young country musician seeking the advice of a former star living quietly in rural Texas. The following year, Von Dohlen played the lead role in the cult film Electric Dreams, as a shy architect who finds himself competing romantically with his computer for the affection of his neighbor, which Roger Ebert called "perfect casting". Other early movie roles include: Under the Biltmore Clock (1985); the title role in Billy Galvin (1986) opposite Karl Malden; Dracula's Widow (1987); Blind Vision (1992); Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992); Jennifer 8 (1992); and Ed Zwick's Leaving Normal (1992). He appeared in acclaimed independent films such as Tollbooth (1994), Bird of Prey (1996), One Good Turn (1996), Entertaining Angels (1996), Cadillac (1997) and Frontline (1997), and played one of the villains in Home Alone 3 (1997).