Help Twin Peaks Actor Carel Struycken Recover From the Eaton Fire

My heart has been heavy these past few days watching the aftermath of devastating fires in Southern California. There are many ways to help those in need, such as donating to organizations like the American Red Cross or  chef José Andrés’ World Central Kitchen. Tonight, I learned Twin Peaks actor Carel Struycken and his wife Tracey lost their Altadena home of more than 12 years. Thankfully, the couple escaped the flames but they lost everything in the fire. Their son-in-law, Michael Anspach, set up a GoFund Me page to help Carel and Tracey recover from this tragedy.

According to the GoFund Me page, son-in-law Michael has been married to Carel and Tracey’s daughter for 11 years. They had just been visiting their parents in Altadena a few days prior to the fire.

This is the direct link to the DONATE page.

Michael found these photos of the now destroyed home from Los Angeles County’s website documenting the region’s destruction – Recover.Lacounty.gov. This site is a great tool for confirming if other homes in the area were impacted. The loss of these places is unimaginable.

In October 2022, I met Carel for the first time at the Spooky Empire event held in Orlando, Florida.

Before his role in David Lynch and Mark Frost’s show, I recall seeing Carel as Lwaxana Troi’s assistant and valet, Mr. Homn in the Start Trek: The Next Generation episode “Haven” on November 28, 1987, It was an unforgettable episode as I heard my name – Steven Miller – uttered by Captain Jean-Luc Picard. In the episode, Miller was the husband of Victoria Miller, the father of Wyatt Miller and a close personal friend of Ian and Betazoid Ambassador Lwaxana Troi. Struycken would play Homn four more times in the series.

A handful of years later, I was mesmerized by his performance as The Giant in Twin Peaks. The three things he tells Special Agent Dale Cooper still echo in my head more than three decades later.

Standing next to Carel at the event in Florida, I felt very much like Cooper. It’s difficult to put into words Carel’s presence, but I left our encounter feeling moved by such a gentle man.

One thing I’ve learned about this “whole damn town” of Twin Peaks fans is that we take care of our own. If you are able, please consider helping Carel, Tracey or others who have been affected by these fires.

If you can’t donate funds at this time, no worries. Please send your positive energy and good thoughts into the universe as we all need it now more than ever.