Sheryl Lee in ‘Los Angeles Magazine’ From August 1992

When David Lynch’s Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me was released in North American theatres in August 1992, the film’s stars turned up in several newspaper articles and magazines. For example, Sheryl Lee, who gave an outstanding and memorable performance in Lynch’s prequel to Twin Peaks, was featured in the “Peoplescape” section of the August 1992 issue of “Los Angeles Magazine.” Interestingly, the magazine was once owned by ABC Television.

WHAT IS LOS ANGELES MAGAZINE?

Los Angeles is a monthly magazine based in Los Angeles, California. It focuses on regional news, culture, lifestyle, entertainment, and fashion stories from Los Angeles and the broader Southern California area. Founded in 1960 by graduate student Geoff Miller (1936–2011) and advertising executive David Brown, the magazine was originally named Southern California Prompter before a name change in 1961.

It was purchased by CHC in 1973 and by ABC Television in 1977. The Walt Disney Company owned the magazine after purchasing ABC / Capital Cities in 1996. They sold it in January 2000 to Emmis Communications. On December 5, 2022, attorneys Mark Geragos and Ben Meiselas acquired the magazine through Engine Vision Media, LLC. You can still find the publication today at lamag.com.

LOS ANGELES MAGAZINE, AUGUST 1992 | PEOPLESCAPE – PAGE 22

In the August 1992 issue, Sheryl Lee was featured in Los Angeles magazine’s coulmn “Peoplescape.” Journalist Michael Logan wrote a brief article to accompany a photo taken by Diego Uchitel.

Anybody who actually stuck it out till the end of Twin Peaks already knows that poor, pure Laura Palmer, who spent the bulk of the show in a body bag, wasn’t so innocent after all. But when the motion-picture prequel, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me, surfaces this month, Lee’s Laura really gets to do a few cherry-stem tricks of her own, as the film closes in on the seven debauched, drug-filled days leading to her grisly demise.

In fact, not only do we learn more about low-life Laura – “many citizens in this town are on a bum trip,” the press notes tease, but “the beautiful Laura is on the blondest, baddest trip of all” – we see a lot more of her. “I haven’t quite prepared my parents for the nude scenes they’re still trying to get over Salome, winces the 25-year-old, referring to her current Broadway hit, in which she ends her eight-minute, 45-second “dance of the seven veils” buck naked and spread-eagled at the feet of costar Al Pacino.

Yes, the German-born beauty is getting a fair amount of, er, exposure lately. Having parlayed her Peaks pilot performance into a permanent perch in David Lynch’s rep group, the wacko wunderkind also cast her as a witch in his Wild at Heart.

But it’s the new film that’s really got her hyped-though she’s concerned that the R-rater will be off-limits to the youngest Peaks freaks. “Not that I think it was appropriate for kids,” she says. “But somehow they understood it much better than the adults.

I think calling Laura a “low life” is harsh criticism considering the topic of what she endures. The press notes referenced in Logan’s article is found in this Twin Peaks Blog article. The particular passage reads:

“While these first rate investigative minds struggle to stem the tide of evil as it prepares to claim its next victim, we follow the activities of Laura Palmer as she edges ever closer to release from the demons who’ve left their mark on her. Palmer has experienced physical and emotional extremes that make it impossible for her to resume a normal life ever again; moreover, as we observe the private doings of Palmer’s friends and relatives in Twin Peaks, it becomes evident that many citizens in this town are on a bum trip–and that the beautiful Laura is on the blondest, baddest trip of all.”

Al Pacino and Sheryl Lee performed in Salome from June 29 to July 23, 1992 at the Circle in the Square theatre on Broadway at 50th Street in New York.

The photo of Sheryl Lee for the Los Angeles magazine article was taken by Diego Uchitel. Her hair and makeup were done by Susan Houser with styling done by Todd Hartnett.

Uchitel is an Argentine-born  photographer who moved from Buenos Aires to the United States after high school to attend film school. He eventually found his true calling photography and has spent decades “photographing the world’s most beautiful subjects.” You can find plenty of his images on his website and on his Instagram account.

Based on Sheryl’s red hair, the photo used in Los Angeles magazine was captured at the same time as the photos that would appear in the December 1992 issue of Empire magazine. The Mauve Zone contains more of those images seen here.