Biography of Kyle MacLachlan
Millions of viewers know this actor by the name of his most popular character, Agent Dale Cooper from David Lynch’s cult TV series Twin Peaks and its full-length prequel Twin Peaks: Through the Fire.
David Lynch’s Favorite Actor Kyle MacLachlan
Kyle MacLachlan (his surname is sometimes mistakenly translated into Russian as MacLachlan) has an impressive track record, and he has many popular films and TV shows in addition to Twin Peaks.
Interest in the personality of the actor, somewhat forgotten in the post-Soviet space, returned after the revival of the Twin Peaks series in 2017.
Childhood
Kyle MacLachlan was born on February 22, 1959 in the quiet town of Yakima, Washington, to a Kent stockbroker and lawyer and a housewife, Katherine. A little later, the boy had younger brothers Craig and Kent Jr.
There was a sawmill not far from their house, and Kyle was taught manual labor from childhood – in three months of work he learned how to fell wood, process wood and make doors from it.
And today Kyle MacLachlan loves to make things with his own hands.
Mom told little Kyle MacLachlan that Johann Sebastian Bach himself was among his distant ancestors. So the American boy, born in 1959 in the state of Washington, had no chance of being left without a musical education. Until adulthood, Kyle regularly learned to play an instrument that was somewhat unusual for the twentieth century – the organ. A little later, he began taking singing lessons.
It is not known what kind of musician would have come out of Kyle, and what classical music had lost, but in 1977, my mother, who by that time had divorced her husband and raised her sons alone, advised her eldest son to become an actor: during his school years, he played in amateur musicals and quite succeeded in this.
Young Kyle MacLachlan
The son obeyed his parent and entered the University of Washington, in order to graduate with honors in 5 years, receiving a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. Nevertheless, for the first time after graduation, he planned to go into business, simultaneously honing his vocal skills, but in the end he decided to focus on acting.
Cinematic career
McLahan began his acting career on the stage of the theater in Seattle. At one of the theater festivals, a fit young brunette was noticed in those years by a novice director David Lynch, who invited the young actor to play the lead role in his third feature film Dune.
Dune: Kyle MacLachlan’s first film role
And in 1984, the rising star appeared before the audience in the bright image of an alien youth with shining purple eyes, sitting on a huge sand worm.
The actor and director worked together, forming a strong creative duet. They had a lot in common, including a love of handicraft and wildlife.
Kyle MacLachlan and David Lynch on the set of “Blue Barack”
In 1986, Lynch called Kyle to a new project, the thriller Blue Velvet. The role of the young Geoffrey Beaumont, who returned to his hometown due to his father’s stroke, to be embroiled in a string of strange events, made McLahan a real star.
Shot from the film “Blue Velvet”
In 1987, he appeared in Jack Sholder’s horror film The Hidden, appearing before the audience in the form of an eccentric FBI inspector Lloyd Gallagher.
Popular fame fell on McLahan in 1990, after the premiere of the TV series Twin Peaks. The brilliantly performed role of FBI agent Cooper overshadowed the personality of the actor and became his middle name. Another “favorite” of Lynch, Sherilyn Fenn, also participated in the series.
Agent Cooper – the most high-profile role of Kyle MacLachlan
A detective series with elements of mysticism has become a real phenomenon and forever changed the average man’s ideas about serial culture. Every American who considered himself a thinker turned on the TV on Friday and waited for the screensaver with the enchanting soundtrack of Angelo Badalamenti, which anticipated new details in the mystery of the murder of Laura Palmer, the girl from the provincial town of Twin Peaks, whose murder was investigated by Agent Cooper.
About this hero, Lynch spoke like this: “Kyle plays an innocent person who is interested in the secrets of this world. And he inspires enough confidence that the viewer dares to follow him into the unknown.
Sex symbol of the 90s
In 1992, fans saw their favorite hero in the full-length sequel to the TV series Twin Peaks: Through the Fire. True, it is a mistake to call it a continuation – two hours of screen time told about the events that preceded the series.
On the set of Twin Peaks
After filming, McLahan said goodbye to Lynch, the next time their paths crossed only after 25 years. It cannot be said that after that the luck turned away from the actor, but none of his subsequent roles could overshadow the image of Agent Cooper.
Although there are many other interesting projects in his filmography. In 1992, MacLhan appeared in the episode “Tale from the Crypt”. In 1993, he starred in the film adaptation of Franz Kafka’s The Trial. In 1994, the drama “Back to the Wall” saw the light of day, where he, acting together with Samuel L. Jackson, played the guard of the Attica prison, who witnessed the historic prison riot.
In the same year, viewers were able to see the actor in an unusual comedic role for him – he appeared in the film adaptation of the “prehistoric” animated series The Flintstones as the antagonist Clifford Wondercave.
There were also failures: for his role in the sensational film “Showgirls” (1995), the star of “Twin Peaks” was nominated for the “Golden Raspberry” anti-award.
Shot from the movie “Showgirls”
At the end of 1999, he was offered the lead role in the soap opera Passions, but spoiled by the collaboration with Lynch and the high bar set by the director, McLachlan turned down the offer.
Kyle MacLachlan in Sex and the City
Subsequently, Agent Cooper appeared in other well-known TV shows: in Sex and the City he played the husband of Charlotte York, in Law & Order he appeared as a psychotherapist who shot the sociopath who killed his son, and in Desperate Housewives he appeared as the enigmatic dentist Orson Hodge.
Kyle MacLachlan’s personal life
How would agent Dale Cooper look next to an actress or famous model? It was in the life of McLachen and such a hobby. On the set of Twin Peaks, he became interested in his partner Lara Flynn Boyle and dated her for quite some time, but in the end their romance faded and the actors went their separate ways.
Pictured: Kyle MacLachlan and Lara Flynn Boyle
Later, while filming commercials, Kyle met model Linda Evangelista. For the sake of the actor, she left her husband, in 1996 the lovers announced their engagement, but alas, after seven years of relationship, Linda ran away from him to the French football player Fabien Barthez.
Kyle MacLachlan and Linda Evangelista dated for 7 years
But the actor nevertheless met “that one”: in the summer of 1999, fate brought him to TV producer Desri Gruber. In 2002, he led his beloved to the altar. Six years later, the actor became a father, the couple had a son, Callum Lyon.
Kyle MacLachlan with his wife and son
His hobbies are tourism, good wine (the actor owns a winery), golf, sailing and dogs, of which the actor has two.
Kyle MacLachlan now
In 2016, the actor again received a tempting offer to play the already aged Dale Cooper in the third season of Twin Peaks. The world premiere of the series took place in May 2017.
Agent Cooper: 25 years later