Twin Peaks Publicity – Joan Chen as Josie Packard at the Palmer House

I enjoy finding Twin Peaks publicity photos of things we never see in the series. A great example is this black and white photo of Joan Chen as Josie Packard. She is dressed in an overcoat holding a book on the set of the Palmer House. Throughout the show, we never actually see Josie visit the Palmers. Here’s a closer look at the shot I acquired at auction.

TWIN PEAKS PUBLICITY – JOAN CHEN AS JOSIE PACKARD AT THE PALMER HOUSE

This black and white image featured Joan Chen as Josie Packard on the Palmer house set. The caption reads:

“ENTERTAINMENT NEWS SERVICE (3/25/90 CHEN) Joan Chen from ABC’s upcoming series “Twin Peaks.” Photo courtesy of ABC Television. Distributed by the Los Angeles Times Syndicate.”

This photo was shared via a news The Los Angeles Times Syndicate, which was a print syndication service owned by the Times Mirror Company that operated from 1949 to 2000. This service allowed newspapers across the country pick up and print syndicated features included Pulitzer Prize-winning commentators and columnists, full news and feature services, editorial cartoons and comic strips, online products and photo and graphics packages. The Tribune Company acquired the Times Mirror Company in early 2000 where he L.A. Times Syndicate became a division of Tribune Media Services.

Most likely this photo was shared as part of early publicity for Twin Peaks prior to its network debut on April 8, 1990.

You can still see the crop marks on the 8-inch by 10-inch image. I cropped the shot to show how it would have appeared in a newspaper. I have, however, been unable to locate the publication where it was printed. The headshot probably accompanied some tidbit related to Chen and David Lynch and Mark Frost’s new show. Most folks would have recognized her from Bernardo Bertolucci’s 1987 film, The Last Emperor. She played Wanrong and the film won nine Academy Awards including Best Picture.

The black and white shot is part of a series showing Chen holding a maroon-colored book and wearing a plaid jacket. The full color image above is about the closest pose to the black and white shot.

JOSIE PACKARD AT THE PALMER HOUSE?

The image of Joan Chen is odd as she is sitting on the couch from the Palmer house, best seen in episode 1.001 when Donna Hayward visits a grieving Sarah Palmer.

Even stranger is Chen is wearing the green and blue overcoat seen in episode 1.004 when she is taking photos of Benjamin Horne and Catherine Martell outside the Timber Falls Motel.

The script doesn’t contain any action with Josie at the Palmer’s residence, so one can assume they shot the publicity photo around the time episode 1.004 was being shot (around the week of November 13-17, 1989). That episode opens with the Twin Peaks Sheriff’s Department at the Palmer’s hearing Sarah talk about her visions.

Download a high-resolution copy of this image on my Flickr account: https://www.flickr.com/photos/aloha75/54951906591