Love Letter to Norma Jennings

Promotional photos of Peggy Lipton playing Norma Jennings in Twin Peaks
ABC Promotional Photos of Peggy Lipton as Norma Jennings. Courtesy of TheMauveZone.com

After finishing dinner last night, I retired to my bedroom to get caught up on happenings of the day via Twitter. While scrolling through my timeline, my heart sank upon seeing a tweet from the Los Angeles Times Movie News – “Actress Peggy Lipton, star of ‘The Mod Squad’ and ‘Twin Peaks,’ dies at 72.” For the past 26 years, I’ve watched Peggy play Norma Jennings on Twin Peaks. While I never met her, her warm and inviting on screen presence made me feel like I had spent years ordering damn, fine coffee and two slices of cherry pie from her. So here is my love letter to Norma Jennings, who Peggy played so incredibly well and embodied what her daughters said in a statement about her passing, “Peggy was and will always be our beacon of light, both in this world and beyond … She will always be a part of us.”

Lipton was born on Aug. 30, 1946 in New York. She began her career as a model at age 15 and found her way into television by age 19. One of the most notable roles she played before Twin Peaks was Julie Barnes in The Mod Squad. She co-starred along with Clarance Williams III (who later played Agent Roger Hardy in Season 2 of Twin Peaks) and Michael Cole. Lipton received four Emmy nominations for her role, and a 1971 Golden Globe award for best actress in a TV drama. She even had a brief singing career as seen in this video of her cover of “Wear Your Love Like Heaven”

Lipton married Quincy Jones and had two daughters, Kidada and Rashida. The couple were divorced in 1989, and she returned to the television screen as Norma in Twin Peaks.

The closet I got to meeting here was a brief Twitter exchange on April 16, 2017 between Peggy, fellow Bookhouse Boy Ross Dudle (who runs the outstanding Twin Peaks Soundtrack Design website), and me.

Tweets from me to Peggy Lipton and Ross Dudle

I had shared a tweet about the onscreen chemistry between Everett McGill and Peggy, remarking that my all time favorite scene was “Smash Up” from The Missing Pieces from Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me.

Norma Jennings and Big Ed Hurley in "Smash Up" scene
The Missing Pieces

Seriously, that scene is breathtaking. It made the extremely long wait to see the deleted scene from my favorite David Lynch film so worth it (I’ve watched is so many times since the set was released in 2014).

Much to my surprise, Peggy replied to my tweet saying she loved filming the scene on a cold night at 2:00 a.m. (most likely in Washington state).

Ross chimed in as well as we both adore that scene. Peggy responded again, “thank you Was so happy to see it in the blueray [sic] versionDavid L screened it in LA and told me before I sat down that it was really good.

Norma visits Big Ed at his gas farm
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With all that said, I wanted to share some of my favorite images of Norma Jennings from Twin Peaks. As you will see below, Peggy’s smile lit up a room. Her emotional range as an actress is impressive – I truly believed that she was head over heels for Big Ed Hurley (just look at the way she stares at him – find you someone like that!!). And she was able to do it all again 25 years later.

I will missed you Peggy and will always have a second helping of cherry pie in your honor.

Norma Jennings at the Double R Diner
1001
Norma Jennings at the Double R Diner
1001
Norma Jennings and Big Ed Hurley at the Double R Diner
1002
Norma Jennings at the Double R Diner
1003
Norma Jennings at the Double R Diner
1004
Norma Jennings at the Double R Diner
1005
Norma Jennings at the Double R Diner
1006
Norma Jennings at Calhoun Memorial Hospital
2001
Norma Jennings, Log Lady and Major Briggs at the Double R Diner
2002
Norma Jennings at the Double R Diner
2004
Norma Jennings and Shelly Johnson at the Double R Diner
2007
Norma Jennings at the Double R Diner
2008
Norma Jennings at the Double R Diner
2009
Norma Jennings at the Double R Diner
2010
Norma Jennings at the Double R Diner
2011
Norma Jennings at the Double R Diner
2012
Ed and Norma in the Hurley House Living Room
2013
Norma Jennings at the Double R Diner
2014
Norma Jennings at the Hurley Residence
2015
Norma Jennings and Shelly Johnson at the Double R Diner
2016
Norma Jennings at the Double R Diner
2017
Norma Jennings at the Roadhouse
2021
Norma Jennings dancing with Big Ed Hurley
2022
Big Ed and Norma Jennings at the Double R Diner
The Missing Pieces
Norma Jennings at the Double R Diner.
Part 5
Norma Jennings at the Double R Diner
Part 7
Norma Jennings at the Double R Diner
Part 11
Norma Jennings at the Double R Diner
Part 13
Big Ed and Norma Jennings in Twin Peaks Part 15
Part 15

Peggy’s daughters, Kidada and Rashida,  asked the following:

“In lieu of flowers or gifts, you can make a donation to Seasons Hospicehttps://seasonsfoundation.org/donate/ – the wonderful team who took such great care of our mom. Your donation will be in support all of their services including Camp Kangaroo, a bereveament camp for young children, and their Foundation, which helps grieving families in need by helping to pay for groceries, funeral arrangements, bills, etc.”

Author

  • Steven Miller at Twede's Cafe enjoying cherry pie and coffee

    A "Twin Peaks" fan since October 1993, Steven Miller launched Twin Peaks Blog in February 2018 to document his decades-long fascination with David Lynch and Mark Frost's wonderful and strange show. With his Canon camera in hand, he's visited numerous film locations, attended Twin Peaks events and conducted extensive historical research about this groundbreaking series. Along with fellow Bookhouse Boys, he dreams of creating a complete Twin Peaks Archive of the series and feature film. Steven currently resides in Central Florida.

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