Grace Zabriskie
Encyclopedia
Grace Zabriskie is an American actress. She has appeared in many popular American films but, she is best known for her work in television. She is perhaps best known for her roles in the television series Twin Peaks
, Seinfeld
, and Big Love
.
. Zabriskie has said that her family was visited by Tennessee Williams
, Gore Vidal
and Truman Capote
during her childhood.
, Zabriskie went on to appear in dozens of other works, including the 1981 Roger Corman
horror film, Galaxy of Terror
, 1981 miniseries
adaptation of John Steinbeck
's East of Eden, 1981's The Private Eyes, as the nanny; as Paula's mother in An Officer and A Gentleman
; as Paul Le Mat's mother in 1984's The Burning Bed starring Farrah Fawcett; in 1989's Drugstore Cowboy
; as the ill-fated orphanage owner Grace Poole in Child's Play 2
, the 1991 film adaptation Fried Green Tomatoes
; and in Philip Ridley
's 1995 film The Passion of Darkly Noon
.
Zabriskie is perhaps most familiar, however, for her television work. After appearing in a recurring role on the soap opera
Santa Barbara, she played a major role on the David Lynch
series Twin Peaks
and its spin-off
film, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me as Sarah Palmer, the eerily psychic
mother of the doomed Laura Palmer
. Zabriskie also appeared in Lynch's Wild at Heart
—notably as the twin sister of a character played by Isabella Rossellini
, an actress eleven years her junior. She was also chosen by David Lynch to appear as a sinister Polish neighbour in Inland Empire
in 2006.
Zabriskie may best be remembered, albeit not by name, as Mrs. Ross, a recurring character on the sitcom Seinfeld
. She played the mother of another doomed daughter, Susan Ross—George Costanza
's fiancee—who died after licking closed dozens of cheap envelopes (bought by the tightfisted Costanza) while mailing out her wedding invitations. Zabriskie's character's husband on the show, who also a recurring role, was played by her former Twin Peaks co-star, Warren Frost
.
She also made a brief but memorable appearance on the CBS sitcom The King of Queens
, as the emotionally disturbed and alcoholic mother of Spence Olchin (played by Patton Oswalt
). While the character Veronica Olchin would reappear throughout the series, Zabriskie would not portray her again, having been replaced by Anne Meara
.
She has at times worked in radio, collaborating with radio dramatist/monologist Joe Frank
several times. Zabriskie recently appeared in the American remake The Grudge
, in which she played a senile elderly woman sensitive to the paranormal occurrences in her home. She also stars as Lois Henrickson in Big Love
, an HBO drama series that seriously explores the issue of polygamy
. Zabriskie also appeared in several episodes of Aaron Spelling's series Charmed
as The Crone.
Twin Peaks
Twin Peaks is an American television serial drama created by David Lynch and Mark Frost. The series follows the investigation headed by FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper , of the murder of a popular teenager and homecoming queen, Laura Palmer...
, Seinfeld
Seinfeld
Seinfeld is an American television sitcom that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, lasting nine seasons, and is now in syndication. It was created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld, the latter starring as a fictionalized version of himself...
, and Big Love
Big Love
Big Love is an American television drama that aired on HBO between March 2006 and March 2011. The show is about a fictional fundamentalist Mormon family in Utah that practices polygamy...
.
Early life
Zabriskie was born in New Orleans, LouisianaLouisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
. Zabriskie has said that her family was visited by Tennessee Williams
Tennessee Williams
Thomas Lanier "Tennessee" Williams III was an American writer who worked principally as a playwright in the American theater. He also wrote short stories, novels, poetry, essays, screenplays and a volume of memoirs...
, Gore Vidal
Gore Vidal
Gore Vidal is an American author, playwright, essayist, screenwriter, and political activist. His third novel, The City and the Pillar , outraged mainstream critics as one of the first major American novels to feature unambiguous homosexuality...
and Truman Capote
Truman Capote
Truman Streckfus Persons , known as Truman Capote , was an American author, many of whose short stories, novels, plays, and nonfiction are recognized literary classics, including the novella Breakfast at Tiffany's and the true crime novel In Cold Blood , which he labeled a "nonfiction novel." At...
during her childhood.
Career
After making her major film debut in 1979's Norma RaeNorma Rae
Norma Rae is a 1979 American drama film that tells the story of a factory worker from a small town in North Carolina, who becomes involved in the labor union activities at the textile factory where she works...
, Zabriskie went on to appear in dozens of other works, including the 1981 Roger Corman
Roger Corman
Roger William Corman is an American film producer, director and actor. He has mostly worked on low-budget B movies. Some of Corman's work has an established critical reputation, such as his cycle of films adapted from the tales of Edgar Allan Poe, and in 2009 he won an Honorary Academy Award for...
horror film, Galaxy of Terror
Galaxy of Terror
Galaxy of Terror is a 1981 science fiction/horror film produced by Roger Corman and directed by Bruce D. Clark. It stars Edward Albert, Erin Moran, Robert Englund, Ray Walston, Zalman King, Grace Zabriskie and Sid Haig...
, 1981 miniseries
Miniseries
A miniseries , in a serial storytelling medium, is a television show production which tells a story in a limited number of episodes. The exact number is open to interpretation; however, they are usually limited to fewer than a whole season. The term "miniseries" is generally a North American term...
adaptation of John Steinbeck
John Steinbeck
John Ernst Steinbeck, Jr. was an American writer. He is widely known for the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Grapes of Wrath and East of Eden and the novella Of Mice and Men...
's East of Eden, 1981's The Private Eyes, as the nanny; as Paula's mother in An Officer and A Gentleman
An Officer and a Gentleman
A Officer and a Gentleman is a 1982 American drama film that tells the story of a U.S. Navy aviation officer candidate who comes into conflict with the Marine Corps Gunnery Sergeant who trains him. It was written by Douglas Day Stewart and directed by Taylor Hackford...
; as Paul Le Mat's mother in 1984's The Burning Bed starring Farrah Fawcett; in 1989's Drugstore Cowboy
Drugstore Cowboy
Drugstore Cowboy is a 1989 crime drama directed by Gus Van Sant and written by Van Sant and Daniel Yost, based on a novel by James Fogle. Matt Dillon stars in the title role, and Kelly Lynch, Heather Graham, and William S. Burroughs are also featured. Drugstore Cowboy was filmed mainly around...
; as the ill-fated orphanage owner Grace Poole in Child's Play 2
Child's Play 2
Child's Play 2 is a 1990 American horror film, the sequel to Child's Play, written by Don Mancini and directed by John Lafia . It was released on November 9, 1990. Veteran actors Gerrit Graham and Emmy and BAFTA-winner Jenny Agutter, star as Andy's foster parents...
, the 1991 film adaptation Fried Green Tomatoes
Fried Green Tomatoes (film)
Fried Green Tomatoes is a 1991 comedy-drama film based on the novel Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg. It was released in the UK under the novel's full title. Directed by Jon Avnet and written by Fannie Flagg and Carol Sobieski, it stars Kathy Bates, Jessica Tandy,...
; and in Philip Ridley
Philip Ridley
Philip Ridley is a British artist working with various media.- Biography :Ridley was born in Bethnal Green, in the East End of London, where he still lives and works. He studied painting at St. Martin’s School of Art and his work has been exhibited throughout Europe and Japan...
's 1995 film The Passion of Darkly Noon
The Passion of Darkly Noon
The Passion of Darkly Noon is a 1995 film written and directed by Philip Ridley, starring Brendan Fraser in the title role, and co-starring Ashley Judd and Viggo Mortensen.-Cast:*Brendan Fraser... Darkly Noon*Ashley Judd... Callie...
.
Zabriskie is perhaps most familiar, however, for her television work. After appearing in a recurring role on the soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
Santa Barbara, she played a major role on the David Lynch
David Lynch
David Keith Lynch is an American filmmaker, television director, visual artist, musician and occasional actor. Known for his surrealist films, he has developed his own unique cinematic style, which has been dubbed "Lynchian", and which is characterized by its dream imagery and meticulous sound...
series Twin Peaks
Twin Peaks
Twin Peaks is an American television serial drama created by David Lynch and Mark Frost. The series follows the investigation headed by FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper , of the murder of a popular teenager and homecoming queen, Laura Palmer...
and its spin-off
Spin-off (media)
In media, a spin-off is a radio program, television program, video game, or any narrative work, derived from one or more already existing works, that focuses, in particular, in more detail on one aspect of that original work...
film, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me as Sarah Palmer, the eerily psychic
Psychic
A psychic is a person who professes an ability to perceive information hidden from the normal senses through extrasensory perception , or is said by others to have such abilities. It is also used to describe theatrical performers who use techniques such as prestidigitation, cold reading, and hot...
mother of the doomed Laura Palmer
Laura Palmer
Laura Palmer is a fictional character from the television series Twin Peaks, created by David Lynch and Mark Frost. Her death was the catalyst for the events of the series...
. Zabriskie also appeared in Lynch's Wild at Heart
Wild at Heart (film)
Wild at Heart is a 1990 American film written and directed by David Lynch, and based on Barry Gifford's 1989 novel Wild at Heart: The Story of Sailor and Lula. Both the book and the film revolve around Sailor Ripley and Lula Pace Fortune , a young couple from Cape Fear, North Carolina who go on...
—notably as the twin sister of a character played by Isabella Rossellini
Isabella Rossellini
Isabella Fiorella Elettra Giovanna Rossellini is an Italian actress, filmmaker, author, philanthropist, and model. Rossellini is noted for her 14-year tenure as a Lancôme model, and for her roles in films such as Blue Velvet and Death Becomes Her.-Background and early life:Rossellini is a...
, an actress eleven years her junior. She was also chosen by David Lynch to appear as a sinister Polish neighbour in Inland Empire
Inland Empire (film)
Inland Empire, sometimes styled as INLAND EMPIRE, is a 2006 mystery film written and directed by David Lynch. It was his first feature-length film since 2001's Mulholland Drive, and shares many similarities with that film. It premiered in Italy at the Venice Film Festival on September 6, 2006...
in 2006.
Zabriskie may best be remembered, albeit not by name, as Mrs. Ross, a recurring character on the sitcom Seinfeld
Seinfeld
Seinfeld is an American television sitcom that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, lasting nine seasons, and is now in syndication. It was created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld, the latter starring as a fictionalized version of himself...
. She played the mother of another doomed daughter, Susan Ross—George Costanza
George Costanza
George Louis Costanza is a character in the American television sitcom Seinfeld , played by Jason Alexander. He has variously been described as a "short, stocky, slow-witted, bald man" , "Lord of the Idiots" , and as "the greatest sitcom character of all time"...
's fiancee—who died after licking closed dozens of cheap envelopes (bought by the tightfisted Costanza) while mailing out her wedding invitations. Zabriskie's character's husband on the show, who also a recurring role, was played by her former Twin Peaks co-star, Warren Frost
Warren Frost
Warren Frost is an American actor. His work has mainly been in the theatre, but has worked in movie and television sporadically since 1958. He is known for roles in Twin Peaks, Matlock, The Larry Sanders Show, and Seinfeld. He is the father of novelist, television screenwriter, and producer Mark...
.
She also made a brief but memorable appearance on the CBS sitcom The King of Queens
The King of Queens
The King of Queens is an American sitcom that originally ran on CBS from September 21, 1998, to May 14, 2007.This show was produced by Hanley Productions and CBS Productions , CBS Paramount Television ,and CBS Television Studios in association with Columbia TriStar Television , and Sony Pictures...
, as the emotionally disturbed and alcoholic mother of Spence Olchin (played by Patton Oswalt
Patton Oswalt
Patton Oswalt is an American stand-up comedian, writer, actor and voice actor. He is best known for portraying Spencer Olchin in the popular sitcom The King of Queens, voicing Remy from the film Ratatouille and Thrasher from the Cartoon Network original series Robotomy.-Early life:Oswalt was born...
). While the character Veronica Olchin would reappear throughout the series, Zabriskie would not portray her again, having been replaced by Anne Meara
Anne Meara
Anne Meara is an American actress and comedian. She and Jerry Stiller were a prominent 1960s comedy team, appearing as Stiller and Meara, and are the parents of actor/comedian Ben and actress Amy Stiller.- Personal life :...
.
She has at times worked in radio, collaborating with radio dramatist/monologist Joe Frank
Joe Frank
Joe Frank is an American radio personality, known best for his often philosophical, humorous, surrealist, and sometimes absurd monologues and radio dramas.-Early life:...
several times. Zabriskie recently appeared in the American remake The Grudge
The Grudge
The Grudge is the 2004 American remake of the Japanese film Ju-on: The Grudge, and the first horror film in the Ju-on series, Ju-on 1. The film is the first installment in the American horror film series The Grudge...
, in which she played a senile elderly woman sensitive to the paranormal occurrences in her home. She also stars as Lois Henrickson in Big Love
Big Love
Big Love is an American television drama that aired on HBO between March 2006 and March 2011. The show is about a fictional fundamentalist Mormon family in Utah that practices polygamy...
, an HBO drama series that seriously explores the issue of polygamy
Polygamy
Polygamy is a marriage which includes more than two partners...
. Zabriskie also appeared in several episodes of Aaron Spelling's series Charmed
Charmed
Charmed is an American television series that originally aired from October 7, 1998, until May 21, 2006, on the now defunct The WB Television Network. The series was created in 1998 by writer Constance M...
as The Crone.