Lara Flynn Boyle

Lara Flynn Boyle
Boyle at the 42nd Primetime Emmy Awards Governors Ball in September 1990
Born	(1970-03-24) March 24, 1970 Davenport, Iowa, US
Alma mater	The Chicago Academy for the Arts
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1987–present
Spouse(s)	John Patrick Dee III ​ ​ (m. 1996; div. 1998)​ Donald Ray Thomas II ​ ​ (m. 2006)​

Lara Flynn Boyle (born March 24, 1970) is an American actress. She first became known for her performance as Donna Hayward on the 1990 cult TV series Twin Peaks (1990–1991). She subsequently starred in the films Where the Day Takes You (1992), Wayne's World (1992), Threesome (1994), Men in Black II (2002), and Life Is Hot in Cracktown (2009). Boyle is also known for her role as Assistant District Attorney Helen Gamble in the television series The Practice (1997-2003).

Early life

Boyle was born in Davenport, Iowa, the daughter of Sally, a clerical worker, assistant, and manager, and Michael L. Boyle. Her paternal grandfather was U.S. Representative Charles A. Boyle. She has German, Irish, and Italian ancestry. She is named after a character in Boris Pasternak's novel Doctor Zhivago. She was raised in Chicago, Illinois and Wisconsin. She graduated from The Chicago Academy for the Arts.

Career

Boyle and Kyle MacLachlan arriving at the 43rd Primetime Emmy Awards in August 1991.

Boyle's first film role was a small part in Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986), which earned her a SAG card, though her scenes were deleted from the final cut of the film. She then appeared in the miniseries Amerika (1987) and feature film Poltergeist III (1988). Although she was cast in Dead Poets Society (1989), her scenes were deleted.

Twin Peaks gave me everything I have as an actor. It put me where I am now because it was so beautifully soulful, and I think it just brought out the best of the actors. There was no acting going on – we were living on Twin Peaks. It gave me my career.

—Boyle discussing the impact Twin Peaks had on her career.

Her first major role was as Donna Hayward in the critically acclaimed television series Twin Peaks (1990-1991). However, she was unable to reprise her role as Donna in the prequel film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992) due to scheduling conflicts with roles in other films such as Where the Day Takes You, Wayne's World, and Equinox. In 1993, Boyle was cast as Kris Bolin in The Temp and Suzanne in Red Rock West.

In 1994, Boyle was cast as Alex in the comedy Threesome. In 1997, she portrayed Marianne Byron in the film Afterglow. The following year, Boyle portrayed Helen Jordan in Happiness. In 1997, Boyle auditioned for the title role in David E. Kelley's Ally McBeal. Although she lost out to Calista Flockhart, the actress impressed Kelley enough to create the role of Assistant District Attorney Helen Gamble in his other 1997 series, The Practice, specifically for her. She starred on that show until 2003, when, in a dramatic attempt to revamp the show and cut costs, she was dismissed along with most of the cast. For her performance as Helen Gamble, she received an Emmy nomination as well as several Screen Actors Guild ensemble cast nominations. Boyle also made a crossover appearance in the role of Helen Gamble in an episode of Ally McBeal, and an uncredited guest appearance on the same show in its final season.

In 2002, Boyle played a lead role in the blockbuster feature film Men in Black II as the villainous shapeshifting alien Serleena. She also guest-starred on one of the last episodes of Ally McBeal, this time as Tally Cupp, and had a recurring role on several episodes of Huff. In 2005, Boyle joined the cast of Las Vegas for a seven-episode stint as Monica Mancuso, a new hotel owner. She played Barbara Amiel in the TV true story Shades of Black, about Amiel's controversial husband, Lord Conrad Black. Boyle also guest-starred as an ambitious reporter involved with the suspects in a possible murder in the Law & Order 2008 episode "Submission".

Boyle and Kyle MacLachlan at the Governor's Ball held immediately after the 1990 Emmy Awards.

In 2009, Boyle portrayed Mary in Baby on Board. The same year, Boyle was cast as Betty McBain in the independent film Life Is Hot in Cracktown. In 2010, she starred as Kathy in Cougar Hunting. In 2013, Boyle portrayed Witch Agnes in the horror comedy film Hansel & Gretel Get Baked. In 2014, she portrayed Ms. Donley in the film Lucky Dog.

Personal life

Boyle has been married twice. Her first husband was John Patrick Dee III, whom she married on August 11, 1996, and divorced two years later. Her current husband is Donald Ray Thomas II, a real-estate investor, whom she married on December 18, 2006, in San Antonio, Texas.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1986	Ferris Bueller's Day Off	Heather	Scenes deleted
1988	Poltergeist III	Donna Gardner
1989	How I Got into College	Jessica Kailo
1989	Dead Poets Society	Ginny Danburry	Scenes deleted
1990	The Rookie	Sarah
1991	The Dark Backward	Rosarita
1991	Mobsters	Mara Motes
1991	Eye of the Storm	Sandra Gladstone
1992	Where the Day Takes You	Heather
1992	Wayne's World	Stacy
1992	Equinox	Beverly Franks	Nominated-Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Female
1993	The Temp	Kris Bolin
1993	Red Rock West	Suzanne Brown/Ann McCord
1994	Threesome	Alex
1994	Baby's Day Out	Laraine Cotwell
1994	The Road to Wellville	Ida Muntz
1995	Cafe Society	Pat Ward
1996	The Big Squeeze	Tanya Mulhill
1997	Red Meat	Ruth
1997	Farmer & Chase	Hillary
1997	Afterglow	Marianne Byron
1998	Happiness	Helen Jordan
1998	Susan's Plan	Betty Johnson
2000	Chain of Fools	Karen
2002	Men in Black II	Serleena	Nominated-Razzie Award for Worst Supporting Actress
2003	Speaking of Sex	Dr. Emily Paige
2006	Land of the Blind	First Lady
2006	Fwiends.com	Yuppie girl	Short film
2007	Have Dreams, Will Travel	Ben's Mother
2009	Baby on Board	Mary
2009	Life Is Hot in Cracktown	Betty McBain
2010	Cougar Hunting	Kathy
2013	Hansel & Gretel Get Baked	Witch Agnes	also credited as associate producer
2014	Lucky Dog	Ms. Donley

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1987	Jack and Mike	Leslie	Episode: "Quality of Mercy"
1987	Amerika	Jackie Bradford	5 episodes
1987	Sable	Melanie Waterston	Episode: "Toy Gun"
1989	Terror on Highway 91	Laura Taggart	TV movie
1989	The Preppie Murder	Jennifer Levin	TV movie
1990–1991	Twin Peaks	Donna Hayward	30 episodes
1991	The Hidden Room	Nicole	Episode: "Splinters of Privacy"
1991	May Wine	Cammie	TV movie
1994	Past Tense	Tory Bass/Sabrina James	TV movie
1994	Jacob	Rachel	TV movie
1995	Legend	Theresa Dunleavy	Episode: "Skeletons in the Closet"
1997–2003	The Practice	Helen Gamble	116 episodes Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series (1999–2001)
1998	Ally McBeal	Helen Gamble	Episode: "Making Spirits Bright"
1998	Since You've Been Gone	Grace Williams	TV movie
2002	Ally McBeal	Tally Cupp	Episode: "Tom Dooley"
2004–2005	Huff	Melody Coatar	5 episodes
2005–2006	Las Vegas	Monica Mancuso	8 episodes
2006	The House Next Door	Col Kennedy	TV movie
2006	Shades of Black: The Conrad Black Story	Barbara Amiel	TV movie
2008	Law & Order	Dawn Talley	Episode: "Submission"

External links

• Lara Flynn Boyle at IMDb
• Lara Flynn Boyle at AllMovie