Sheryl Lee

Sheryl Lee
Lee at the Fan Expo Canada 2014
Born	Sheryl Lynn Lee (1967-04-22) April 22, 1967 Augsburg, West Germany
Alma mater	University of Colorado Boulder
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1987–present
Spouse(s)	Jesse Diamond (m. 2000; divorced[1])
Children	1
Awards	Spirit of Sundance Award 1995 for her body of work
Website	www.belovednature.com

Sheryl Lynn Lee (born April 22, 1967) is a West German-born American^[2] film, stage, and television actress. She came to international attention for her performances as Laura Palmer and Maddy Ferguson on the 1990 cult TV series Twin Peaks and in the 1992 film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me. She is also known for portraying photographer Astrid Kirchherr in Backbeat (1994) and for her roles in Vampires (1998), Winter's Bone (2010) and Café Society (2016), as well as for her television series roles in LA Doctors, Kingpin, One Tree Hill and Dirty Sexy Money. She has also performed on Broadway in a production of Oscar Wilde's Salome.

Early life

Lee was born in Augsburg, Bavaria, West Germany, the daughter of an artist mother and architect father.^[2] She grew up in Boulder, Colorado, United States, where she was a graduate of Fairview High School (class of 1985). After graduating, Lee moved to Pasadena, California where she studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, and later attended the North Carolina School of the Arts, the National Theatre Conservatory in Denver, and the University of Colorado. After several years of studying, Lee moved to Seattle, Washington where she acted in several stage plays.^[3][4]

Acting career

Lee is known for her appearance as the dead Laura Palmer in the television series Twin Peaks. Creator David Lynch asked Lee to audition for him after seeing a publicity photo of her in Seattle from one of the plays she was starring in at the time.^[5] When the series was picked up, Lee was also given the part of Laura's cousin Maddy Ferguson later in the series (a role which was reportedly written because Lynch, impressed with her abilities, wanted to give her a fuller role on the show). She also starred in the prequel Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me, which elaborated on events leading up to Laura Palmer's death.

Other roles have included playing the role of Astrid Kirchherr in the 1994 movie Backbeat, a bio-pic of the early career of The Beatles opposite Stephen Dorff, the part of Liza in Gary Walkow's 1995 adaptation of Fyodor Dostoyevsky's novella Notes from Underground opposite Henry Czerny, the role of Katrina in John Carpenter's 1998 film Vampires opposite James Woods and Daniel Baldwin, and the role of Marlene Cadena in the 2003 television series Kingpin opposite Yancey Arias and Bobby Cannavale. Sheryl Lee also starred alongside Craig Sheffer in Bliss (1997). Lee starred opposite Anthony Michael Hall as the sweet but vengeful housewife Eve Robbins in the 2001 USA Cable movie Hitched.

In 2004, Lee was the original choice for the role of Mary-Alice Young on Desperate Housewives. It would have been the second time she would have played a dead character on a series; however, the producers ultimately chose to replace her with Brenda Strong.

In 2005, she played the recurring role of Ellie Harp, the biological mother of Peyton Sawyer (played by Hilarie Burton), who battles breast cancer, on the third season of the WB Network series One Tree Hill.

In 2007 and 2008, Lee appeared on the ABC dramedy, Dirty Sexy Money as Andrea Smithson, the mother of Brian Darling's (Glenn Fitzgerald) illegitimate child.

In 2001, she presented the I Love 1990 segment of the BBC's popular I Love 1990s series.

On stage, Lee starred on Broadway in 1992 alongside Al Pacino in Oscar Wilde's Salome as the title role, in the Circle in the Square Theatre, under the direction of Robert Allan Ackerman. The play co-starred Suzanne Bertish, Esai Morales and Arnold Vosloo.

Lee, along with several other Twin Peaks cast members, guest starred in a special Twin Peaks-themed episode of Psych, titled "Dual Spires." Other cast members reunited with Lee included Sherilyn Fenn (Audrey Horne), Dana Ashbrook (Bobby Briggs), Ray Wise (Leland Palmer), Lenny Von Dohlen (Harold Smith), Robyn Lively (Lana Budding Milford), and Catherine E. Coulson (The Log Lady). This episode marked the first time several Twin Peaks cast members had been reunited on television in almost two decades.

In 2010, she appeared in a supporting role as April in Debra Granik's Winter's Bone (which won best picture at the Sundance Film Festival in 2010). The film is about a seventeen-year-old girl (Jennifer Lawrence) in the rural Ozarks, caring for her mentally-ill mother and her younger brother and sister, when she discovers that her father put their house and land up as a bond for a court appearance, at which he failed to appear. Lee won two Awards for Best Ensemble at Detroit Film Critics Society and Gotham Awards, shared with the cast. Lee played Lucie Sliger in the 2011 crime thriller Texas Killing Fields alongside Jessica Chastain, Sam Worthington an Chloë Grace Moretz.

In the art drama thriller White Bird in a Blizzard (2014), written and directed by Gregg Araki, she played May opposite Shailene Woodley and Eva Green. Lee also starred in the lead role in the drama The Makings of You (2014) alongside her former Twin Peaks co-star Grace Zabriskie.

In 2015, at the Twin Peaks UK Festival, Lee confirmed that she would be returning to Twin Peaks for the 2017 limited Showtime run; alongside Kyle MacLachlan and Dana Ashbrook.^[6]

In 2016, she appeared in a supporting role as "Air" in the Netflix production Rebirth, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival, and had a small part as Karen in Café Society, written and directed by Woody Allen. The film had its premiere at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival.

Personal life

Sheryl Lee at 42nd Emmy Awards (1990)

Lee has dated David Duchovny, who was one of her Twin Peaks cast-mates. She was at one time married to Jesse Diamond, a photographer and son of singer and songwriter Neil Diamond. They have a son, Elijah.^[7]

In 2014, she revealed that she had been diagnosed with a rare blood disorder called neutropenia.^[7]

Charitable work and environmental activism

Sheryl Lee is an avid member of PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) and has assertively campaigned against fur and mistreatment of animals.^[8]

On November 15, 2000, she attended the premiere of the public awareness campaign Why Are We Here?, to raise awareness for biodiversity protection.^[9]

On December 3, 2003, Lee attended the UNICEF Goodwill Gala: 50 Years of Celebrity Advocacy, to raise money for the Audrey Hepburn All Children in School Fund. On November 7, 2004, she hosted the fundraiser Get Your Grape On! for UNICEF, a wine testing evening benefiting UNICEF.^[10]

In October 2008, she participated in the 3rd Munchkin's Project Pink annual breast cancer awareness campaign to raise money for breast cancer research.^[11][12][13]

On May 14, 2011, Lee attended the iMatter March in Denver, Colorado to raise awareness about climate change.^[14]

In 2011, Lee supported environmental activist Tom Weis' project Ride for Renewables to promote renewable energy.^[15]

In September 2011, Lee attended along with environmental activist Alec Loorz, the Sustainable Living Association's 3rd Annual Blue & Green Ball fundraiser^[16] and the 12th Sustainable Living Fair in Fort Collins, Colorado.^[17]

In December 2011, Lee advocated the protection of wolves and supported the environmental organization WildEarth Guardians' "Wolves in the American West" campaign.^[18]

In September 2012, Lee signed environmental activist Tom Weis' open letter calling on President Barack Obama and Governor Mitt Romney to withdraw their support for the construction of the southern leg of Keystone XL, a pipeline that would transport tar sands from Montana to Texas. Other signatories included climate scientist James Hansen and actors Daryl Hannah, Mariel Hemingway, and Ed Begley, Jr.^[19]

On December 8, 2012, Lee performed poems written by herself as part of a collaborative performance along with artist Marina DeBris, dancer Maya Gabay, and musician Marla Leigh, for the U.S. National Committee for UN Women's First Annual Special Assembly: Women, Climate Change, and Human Rights.^[20]

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

Stage credits

References

Further reading

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sheryl Lee.

• Sheryl Lee at the Internet Movie Database
• Sheryl Lee at AllMovie