I recently paid tribute to Lori Eschler Fystak as an unsung hero of the Twin Peaks soundtrack. Thanks to an unexpected advertisement I found while researching early news reports about the show, I’m turning the spotlight on David Boushey. He was the “Fall Guy” of David Lynch and Mark Frost’s wonderful and strange world. As it turns out, he is a maestro of the stunt world who continues inspiring generations of performers.
BEHIND THE SCENES AT THE TIMBERLINE
While reviewing articles on Newspapers.com about early production news about “Northwest Passage” (the early production name for what would become Twin Peaks), I found this unexpected behind-the-scenes image from the Timberline. This spot, located at 2015 Boren Avenue in downtown Seattle, served as the interior location for the Roadhouse scenes from the pilot episode. The blurry image of two men fighting appear to be from the fight scene between Bobby Briggs and Mike Nelson after they knock out Big Ed Hurley.
The caption reads, “Stunt men rehearse a fight scene for the ABC Television movie NORTHWEST PASSAGE, directed by David Lynch and filmed on location at the Timberline.” I think that may be Dana Ashbrook throwing a punch at David Boushey.
This advertisement ran in Seattle Gay News on March 17, 1989. The Roadhouse interior scenes were shot on March 8, 1989 which makes this photo one of the earliest production images from that thrilling 90-minute pilot. Wow!
Less than a year later on February 23, 1990, the Timberline ran another advertisement in Seattle Gay News. This time, we get a look at David Lynch behind the giant Panavision camera inside the former country and western-themed bar. I believe the gentleman in white is Cinematographer Ron Garcia. Wow, again!
This image would be released only a few weeks before the show debuted on April 8, 1990 on the ABC Television network. By this time, the film had made it’s way through a number of film festivals including Telluride, Vancouver, Palm Springs and Miami. It had also been shown at the Television Critics Association winter press tour in January 1990.
I kept looking at that first stunt rehearsal image and wondered who were the “stunt men.”
TWIN PEAKS STUNT COORDINATOR DAVID BOUSHEY
David Boushey served as the Stunt Coordinator for the Twin Peaks pilot. He was no stranger to working with David Lynch as he was a stunt performer in Blue Velvet.
He also makes an appearance in the pilot as an uncredited Washington State trooper who interrupts officer G. McMickle speaking with Margaret Honeycutt (Jane Jones) at Twin Peaks High School.
Interesting side note, Greg McMickle served as the property master for the pilot. The officer’s name tag is probably a similar nod to what Twin Peaks season 2 prop master Jeff Moore did for the Great Northern Hotel employee who delivers a letter to John Justice Wheeler in episode 2.019. Greg is seen (above right) carrying Laura Palmer, wrapped in plastic, during scenes shot at Kiana Lodge in March 1989.
Sadly, this means the officer in the episode is still unknown as it’s not the actual McMickle. Thanks to Dugpa and Mr. Reindeer for filling in details about this scene.
WHO IS DAVID BOUSHEY?
Growing up in Everett, Washington, David Boushey moved to Seattle when he was 15. He would later attend Everett Community College before earning double degrees in psychology and parks and recreation from Central Washington University in 1969. While working at Chicken Delight during the 1962 World’s Fair in Seattle, he was cast in his first play.
“I was holding a candelabra and had a big poofy white wig and the darn wig caught fire,” Boushey told Andrea Brown from the HeraldNet.com in a September 20, 2021 interview.
He worked at Boeing in Seattle for two years after graduation. He then studied acting in England which is where he learned stage combat. Upon returning to Washington, he was the fight director for Seattle Repertory Theatre, which included a sword battle in “Hamlet” with a young Christopher Walken in 1974!
He met his wife Kathleen in 1984 when she was serving as a guest artist from the University of Wisconsin during a production of “Macbeth.” They were married in 1988 and have three children. The couple has lived in Everett since 1996.
Boushey has over 400 theatre credits and 60 films in a career that spans decades including Gus Van Sant’s Drugstore Cowboy, Mad Love, The Hand That Rocks the Cradle, and the television series Northern Exposure. He told Brown about his experience working with David Lynch.
“You had to more or less read his mind when working with him,” Boushey continued. “He was different.”
Look carefully at that wall to see a great behind-the-scenes shot with Boushey and Kyle MacLachlan. I’m assuming the image is from Blue Velvet based on Kyle’s haircut.
In 1992, Boushey was inducted into the Hollywood Stuntman’s Hall of Fame. The now defunct nonprofit organization was run by the late John Hagner who passed in 2018.
The award, however, inspired him to start Seattle’s International Stunt School. He also founded the Society of American Fight Directors in 1977 and the United Stuntmen’s Association in 1985. He has trained thousands of students and produced the video series “Combat for the Stage & Screen” and “The Fight Director.”
In May 2021, he published a book, “Lessons from The Maestro: Crafting a Successful Fight/Stunt Career in Theatre and Film,” which shares a story about his life, the history of stage and screen combat and stunt work, and how to enter the entertainment industry.
MORE STUNT WORK IN TWIN PEAKS
Let’s return to that Roadhouse fight scene from the pilot. The newspaper image looks to capture a moment like the image above when Bobby and Mike are fighting. I’m thinking Boushey is seen in the right side of the image starting to approach Mike.
Bobby Briggs and Boushey square off. I never noticed Mike Nelson holding back Joey Paulsen who subsequently escorts Donna out of the chaotic Roadhouse from behind the bar.
The scene cuts to a wider angled shot of the bar.
You can still see the slotted walls inside the former Seattle bar, which is now Raisbeck Performance Hall at the Cornish College of the Arts.
The fighting continues after Joey and Donna leave. The red arrow points to whom I think is Boushey.
I’m thinking it’s Boushey due to the slight mullet haircut seen when he appeared as a Washington state officer earlier in the episode.
David Boushey would return as a stunt player for David Lynch’s 1992 film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (he’s credited as Dave Boushey). Now retired stuntman Jeff Smolek served as the Stunt Coordinator for the film.
In April 2010, David spoke with Matthew Halverson for SeattleMet where he demonstrated how to throw a perfect on screen punch. The entire article has some fascinating insight from the master stuntman.
When I did “Blue Velvet,” No way in hell did I think that was ever going to be a cult classic.
I’ll never forget walking on that set and seeing this man in a yellow jacket. He was shot in the head, and his brain is oozing out. And I’m looking at this going, “What the hell is this? This guy has been shot in the head, his brain is coming out, and he’s walking around, carrying on a conversation? What is this crap?”
You have to be willing to take the punch.
After all, they’re paying you to take the hit. Collect your money and let the coordinator know you got nailed so he’ll feel sorry for you.
Twin Peaks was better because of expert crew members like David.
