Russ Tamblyn is Dr. Jacoby in Twin Peaks Autographed Card

As a Twin Peaks fan of more than three decades, I love finding things I’ve never seen. For example, I acquired this autographed card from Ebay which features Russ Tamblyn as Dr. Lawrence Jacoby in David Lynch and Mark Frost’s wonderful and strange show. It’s a great example of early ephemera from a time before the groundbreaking series debuted on the ABC Television Network in April 1990.

AUTOGRAPHED CARD OF RUSS TAMBLYN IS DR. JACOBY IN TWIN PEAKS

Nearly every day, I scoured online auction sites like Ebay looking for rare treasures from my favorite television show. Imagine my delight upon discovering this printed card featuring Russ Tamblyn as Dr. Jacoby. The paper card measures approximately 5.75-inches wide by 4.25-inches tall and includes a black and white publicity photo of Tamblyn.

The card advertises “the new David Lynch series” airing April 8 on ABC at 9:00 p.m. Tamblyn personalized the card to “Mike” (or at least that is what I think is the name).

The back of the card states it was produced by Aertis Communications once located at 1833 Stanford Avenue in Santa Monica, California. Despite exhaustive research, I found no information about this company and Stanford Avenue doesn’t seem to exist today. There is a Stanford Street in the city which means the name may have been changed at some point.

My gut tells me this company was the agency representing Tamblyn at the time or possibly the actor’s fan club based on the printed message:

“Dear Friends, Be sure to catch Russ in David Lynch’s most talked about new TV series to air: Sunday, April 8, 9:00 p.m. and continuing every Thursday, same time.”

The card asks recipients to “send all future correspondence” to abc/Capital Cities which was once located at 2040 Avenue of the Stars in Los Angeles, California. This was the address of the former ABC Entertainment Center in Century City. This West Coast headquarters for ABC Television opened in 1972. The network continued occupying the building until late 2000 when they relocated to the ABC Building on the Walt Disney Studios lot in Burbank.

PUBLICITY PHOTO OF RUSS TAMBLYN AS DR. JACOBY

The publicity shot is part of a series taken prior to the show’s release, most likely on the set of the Twin Peaks Sheriff’s Department in Van Nuys, California. Tamblyn is seen holding a golf ball which could be a nod to his golf ball trick he shows Agent Cooper in episode 1.004.

Jacoby’s outfit, however, comes from episodes 1.006 and 1.007. He’s seen wearing the turtleneck and tie while sipping a beverage in his office

When he goes to find “Laura Palmer” by Easter Park gazebo in the season one finale, he’s added a long-sleeve Aloha shirt / jacket over his brown-colored shirt.

Other shots in this series show Tamblyn looking in different directions with different facial expressions.

This publicity photo is close to the black and white shot on the printed card except his head is not tilted and he carries a different expression.

WHEN WAS THE RUSS TAMBLYN IS DR. JACOBY CARD PRODUCED?

Most likely, the card was produced after March 2, 1990 as the Associated Press ran a story about upcoming ABC Television programming on that day.

The Los Angeles Times published an article about four new ABC shows debuting in the Spring including Twin Peaks.

“Three of the new series, including ‘Twin Peaks’ are one-hour shows. Each will have a two-hour premiere before the start of its regular weekly run. ‘Twin Peaks,’ a dark-humor series set in a small town in the Northwest, will begin in its regular Thursday time period April 12.”

Dark-humor series … well, that’s one way to describe it.

The Honolulu Star-Bulletin offered a specific airing date for the Twin Peaks pilot in their report. It’s unclear why the Los Angeles Times didn’t include the April 8 date.

Based on these articles, one can assume the card was sent to folks after this announcement was made.

I’ve never seen another card like this one in the wild. It would be neat to find evidence of cards from other celebrities at the time. Perhaps if I wait long enough, they will turn up.