While researching a recently acquired Twin Peaks trading card set by photographer Paula K. Shimatsu-U, I fell down a rabbit hole looking at a Twin Peaks cast reunion at the Hollywood Show in October 2010. Thankfully, fellow Bookhouse Boy Brad Dukes attended the event in Burbank, California and recapped his experience for his now defunct blog. I’m resurrecting his articles and photos to archive this special moment for fans of David Lynch and Mark Frost’s wonderful and strange show.
THE HOLLYWOOD SHOW IN OCTOBER 2010
Started in 1979, The Hollywood Show is a well-known pop culture event held quarterly in Southern California and Chicago. Attendees can interact with actors, writers, and performers while collecting autographs and taking photos with the stars. Since 2008, the Hollywood Show is owned by entertainment industry veteran David Elkouby and his wife Ester Elkouby. He was also the owner of the Starworld, Hollywood’s premier destination for movie memorabilia, until it closed in 2018.
In 2010, the Hollywood Show was held from October 9-11 at the Burbank Airport Marriott Hotel & Convention Center in Burbank, California.
WHICH TWIN PEAKS ACTORS AND CREW MEMBERS ATTENDED THE HOLLYWOOD SHOW IN OCTOBER 2010?
The Twin Peaks cast reunion didn’t start out as a reunion as Sherilyn Fenn was the first and only cast member announced on August 8 via Twitter.
Two photos of Fenn were also posted on The Hollywood Show’s Facebook page on the same day.
Weeks later on September 2, 2010, Jerry Horne posted on the former Dugpa.com forum an initial list of Twin Peaks actors and crew planning to attend the event in October. They included Sheryl Lee, Sherilyn Fenn, Peggy Lipton, Russ Tamblyn, Charlotte Stewart, Kimmy Robertson, and James Marshall. Jennifer Lynch, author of “The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer,” and Paula K. Shimatsu-U, on-set photographer and unit publicist for Lynch/Frost Productions, were also planning to attend.
Now it was shaping up to be a cast and crew reunion.
On September 8, The Hollywood Show posted an image of Lenny Von Dohlen (who played Harold Smith) with the caption, “Dreamy!”
On September 9, Jerry Horne added Von Dohlen to the growing list of cast members along with Walter Olkewicz (who played Jacques Renault) as “Possible?”
Connie Woods joined the bunch with a posting by The Hollywood Show on September 11, 2010. She played the new girl at One Eyed Jack’s.
Until this point, there had not been this kind of Twin Peaks gathering at a fan event in years.
The Hollywood Show had four tweets between September 10 through October 4, including announcing on September 16 that Catherine Coulson (The Log Lady) would be attending. The next day, they proclaimed this gathering of stars as a “Twin Peaks reunion.”
The announcements didn’t stop as Michael Parks (Jean Renault) and Eric DeRe (Leo Johnson) were announced on September 21. Dana Ashbrook (Bobby Briggs) would join the party the next day on September 22. By October 5, Ray Wise (Leland Palmer) was announced making the upcoming event truly something spectacular.
BRAD DUKES’ EVENT RECAP FROM THE HOLLYWOOD SHOW
Thanks to the Wayback Machine, I salvaged some of Brad Dukes’ recaps from his experiences at The Hollywood Show. Sadly, Google killed off the Google Cache in March 2024 which limited my ability to find every photo he posted. Nevertheless, it was truly exciting to read his about his interactions with the stars. I highly recommend his book “Reflections: An Oral History of Twin Peaks” from 2014 if you want more stories from Twin Peaks.
OCTOBER 12, 2010 – TWIN PEAKS CAST REUNION – PART 1
[NOTE – Photos are missing from this section including .JPG photos labeled as Log Lady, Hank, Bobby, Jacoby, Esteban. Brad’s first recap is from October 9, 2010]
This last weekend I went to Burbank, CA to witness one of the more unbelievable spectacles my eyes will ever see. There was a huge Twin Peaks cast reunion and it was an honor and privilege to meet so many artists I have so much admiration and respect for. Here are the highlights and some anecdotes to boot.
I stayed at the hotel with a package deal and got to go in early, so I headed in and the first person I talked to was Catherine Coulson, the iconic “Log Lady”. As a child watching the show, I immediately loved her character because she was just so bizarre, and I’d never seen anyone carrying a log around like that. She was really sweet and said she stays very busy with stage acting these days.
Next up I wandered over to talk to Chris Mulkey. We chatted about his appearance on the new HBO series Boardwalk Empire and his guest spot on LOST. Very nice and chatty, and very blunt and to the point! Definitely a guy I’d like to have a beer with and listen to some stories. I’m sure he has a ton of them…
I asked Dana Ashbrook about his appearance on the Twin Peaks themed episode of Psych which will be airing later this fall, and just so everyone has fair warning, he said they shot so much footage that alot of it will have to be cut out but that the full episode would be on the dvd at some point.
Russ Tamblyn was very nice but a little quiet and reserved. We did not chat about much, but it was still cool to meet one of my favorite characters from Twin Peaks, and the man was in freaking West Side Story!
One of the actors I was more nervous to meet was Michael Parks. Aside from playing Jean Renault in Twin Peaks, I am absolutely crazy about his roles as the sheriff and Esteban from Kill Bill. Michael brought his Chihuahuas and seemed to be a very quiet and gentle guy. He was very gracious but not that talkative, but that does not change my perception that he’s a total bad ass.
OCTOBER 13, 2010 – TWIN PEAKS CAST REUNION – PART 2
[NOTE – Brad’s second recap is from October 9, 2010]
I was so excited to hear that Walter Olkewicz (who played Jacques Renault) was a surprise guest. Walter’s performance of the French Canadian drug mule/bartender/party animal was always amusing, and I quote the character on a regular basis. We discussed some of those quotes like “I am the Great Went”, “Bite the Bullet”, and “I am as blank as a fart” and had a few laughs. Walter was also Jerome Clifford in the 1995 film The Client, a freaking awesome performance in its own right. Walter has had some bad luck with his knees and has been in a wheelchair for awhile, but he did tell me that he has an upcoming acting gig as a Russian general. Good luck to you Walter, I think you’re awesome.
When I was in third grade, I remember drawing a cartoon of Lenny Von Dohlen’s character Harold Smith raking a mini garden hoe across his face, trying to shake down Donna Hayward and Maddy into giving Laura Palmer’s secret diary back they had just stolen from him. (I wish I could find all those Twin Peaks cartoons I drew…and you thought YOU had issues!) It was really cool to thank Lenny in person for his performance in Twin Peaks. I’ve always enjoyed it. He said he splits his time between L.A. and Seattle these days. Maybe he will join us for the fest soon!
I was chatting with Charlotte Stewart about Eraserhead and mentioned that I would love to get a shot with her and Catherine Coulson together. They go way back, worked on Eraserhead together and are very good friends. Charlotte said that Catherine is the sweetest woman she’s ever known. So good to see them together again!
I also snapped a quick Bobby and Betty Briggs reunion, which should warm the coldest of hearts for any Twin Peaks fan.
Paula K. Shimatsu-U was also in attendance displaying some of her wonderful photography she took during the filming of Twin Peaks. She also brought her brother Derek who played Tajamora’s assistant early in Season 2. I don’t think he was ready for that pic. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting Paula a few times and she is such a wonderful person. So grateful that she is sharing her work with us.
James Marshall was also in attendance. I chatted with James who said we was mostly working on his own music these days. I told him one of my favorite songs I’ve written (“Oh, Maddy!”) was inspired by his character from Twin Peaks, and it was definitely cool to thank him in person for being such a great muse.
To be completely honest, I was absolutely ECSTATIC about meeting Ray Wise (Leland Palmer) and Sheryl Lee (Laura Palmer and Maddy Ferguson, respectively). Their performances in the series and the feature film FIRE WALK WITH ME are absolutely brilliant and spellbinding. It was truly surreal chatting with them.
I told Sheryl that I watched Twin Peaks as a kid and have been enthralled with it ever since. She seemed delighted but also laughed and apologized if I had been permanently scarred. I totally felt like a kid meeting Santa Claus for the first time. I got her iconic homecoming queen picture autographed and will proudly display it in my living room for the rest of eternity. Apologies to my girlfriend. Ray Wise looked like the dashing movie star that he is, with a dapper suit, wide eyed smile and a welcoming charm about him. Leland would be proud. Ray also mentioned to me that he will have a recurring role in the AMC series Mad Men next season, which is quite exciting. I’ve heard he once sang “Mairzy Doats” to some fans once upon a time but I totally lost my nerve and could not make the request.
One of my favorite characters from Twin Peaks was Norma Jennings, played by the still dreamy as ever Peggy Lipton. Peggy is probably best known from her role on the Mod Squad back in the day. I am also a huge fan of her daughter Rashida Jones whom you might know from The Office, Parks and Recreation and the film I Love You, Man. I will never forget when Peggy paused and looked me in the eyes and asked if I was smiling for the camera before our photo op. I think I almost passed out. Another apology to my girlfriend…(love you Jessica!)
To close out my coverage of the Twin Peaks cast reunion, I’ll share with you a picture I quickly snapped of Sheryl Lee and Walter Olkewicz chatting. The high school sandwich reunited!!
And another bonus, Dana Ashbrook explaining how big it was to Harry Anderson of Night Court fame. P.S.- Eric Da Re was a no show. I wept silently when I got home.
ADDITIONAL PHOTOS FROM THE HOLLYWOOD SHOW
Attendees could also get photos with individual cast members like Sherilyn Fenn and the entire group from Twin Peaks. Solo photos were around $40 each.
MikeIndustry stated on the Dugpa forums that a photo of the entire cast was $150. He also said there was a mixup in the schedule that caused him to miss the group shot – “…and the Peaks cast were scheduled to go at 4:30, yet they moved it earlier, at a time when I stepped out to get lunch.”
It should be noted the Eric DeRe was advertised to attend but was not at the event. On the forum, Dugpa noted that “Harry Goaz, Michael Ontkean, and Eric DeRe have been asked to participate in various DVD documentaries and have always declined. Warren Frost too now that I think of it. Mary Jo Deschanel and Joan Chen were interviewed for the prior box sets but for whatever reason the footage was not used.”
TheArm provided a recap on the Dugpa forum about his experience:
“I don’t have too many actual individual stories other than the whole day wound up being absurdly expensive (most of them were charging $20 for an autograph), and most of them were very nice. Chris Mulkey, Catherine Coulson, Ray Wise and Sheryl Lee in particular I found really, really charming and very happy to talk to the fans.
I also chatted a couple minutes with Ray Wise and asked him about his brief appearance on MAD MEN last week, and he said that this was a set-up for what was going to be a much larger role next season, which I was really excited about! (Chris Mulkey also said that he will return to BOARDWALK EMPIRE next season, as well.)
They were all lovely, though I think Sherilyn Fenn and Peggy Lipton (2 of the most popular ones there) both seemed a little more (in my personal opinion) overwhelmed/anxious about how crazy it was, though I don’t blame ’em. But it’s amazing how great they both still look!
I felt bad for Lenny von Dohlen, who was positioned along the same long table as Sheryl Lee, Sherilyn Fenn and Ray Wise, but clearly wasn’t getting a fraction of the love that they were! Walter Olkewicz and Michael Parks both showed up later in the day; Walter is super nice and Michael Parks seems absolutely off his rocker crazy (but again, very nice).
I was rather shocked by just how tiny and frail/fragile James Marshall looks now, as well as the fact that he’s now blond! And Dana Ashbrook is very grey, but still recognizable.
A few fun props were there, too, as Russ Tamblyn brought his trademark red-and-blue Dr. Jacoby glasses, and Catherine brought the log, which she let people take photos with. Anyway, it was exhausting and a little nuts, but a really fun day all-in-all, and was great to meet a couple of people off the board here. Got my TP season 1 DVD set signed by everybody there, so my wallet hurts, but I’m a very happy camper.”
Peggy Lipton was at the event but in an area with fellow Mod Squad alum Michael Cole.
Here is a gallery of even more images from the event.
I found another event recap from Brad Farrell on his blog, Terrible Catsafterme. The site hasn’t been updated since 2019, but he posted two articles about his experience at the show: Denizens of Twin Peaks – Part 1 and Denizens of Twin Peaks – Part 2.
The Slaughted Lamb Cinema also wrote about the event for his blog: Celebrating 20 years of Twin Peaks
Thank you to Brad Dukes, Dugpa, Jerry Horne (Twin Peaks Archive), TheArm, MikeIndustry, The Hollywood Show and others who shared and photographed their experiences.
Thanks for saving these for posterity! A really interesting read.