Kyle Merritt MacLachlan (February 22, 1959) is an
American actor.
He graduated from the
University of Washington in 1982 and, shortly afterward, moved to
Hollywood, California to pursue his career. MacLachlan was best known for his roles in
cult films Blue Velvet as Jeffrey Beaumont, in
Showgirls as Zack Carey, and as
Paul Atreides in
Dune, as well as his television series roles as
Orson Hodge in
Desperate Housewives, Trey MacDougal in
Sex and the City and
Special Agent Dale Cooper in
Twin Peaks.
Career
MacLachlan has worked extensively with
David Lynch. He first appeared as
Paul Atreides in the film
Dune (1984), Lynch's adaptation of
Frank Herbert's novel, and as
Jeffrey Beaumont in
Blue Velvet (1986). Later he played
Special Agent Dale Cooper in Lynch's ABC television series
Twin Peaks (1990-1991), reprising that role for Lynch's 1992 prequel
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me. Lynch commented on those roles in a
GQ story about MacLachlan: "Kyle plays innocents who are interested in the mysteries of life. He's the person you trust enough to go into a strange world with."
[frContrechamp.com, Voyages en cinéphilie. L'homme sériel, November 10, 2006.]
In the 1993 film version of
Franz Kafka's The Trial, MacLachlan played the lead role of the persecuted Josef K. He also had a recurring role in the American television series
Sex and the City, portraying
Dr. Trey MacDougal, the one-time husband of
Charlotte York (
Kristin Davis). He portrayed the spirit of
Cary Grant in
Touch of Pink.
[About.com, Kyle MacLachlan Reflects on "Touch of Pink" by Rebecca Murray. Retrieved January 29, 2008.] Noteworthy to critics was his uncanny ability to capture the nuances of Grant's mannerisms, his resemblance to Grant had been previously noted in an episode of
Twin Peaks.
In 1995, MacLachlan starred in
Paul Verhoeven's
Showgirls. The movie was heavily panned by critics
[Metacritic, www.metacritic.com/video/titles/showgirls accessed May 22, 2008] and it collected seven
Golden Raspberry Awards (from a record thirteen nominations). MacLachlan himself was deeply embarrassed with his involvement. Allegedly he walked out of the film's premiere, but he himself contradicted these claims and commented that he "suffered through the whole two hours" of the premiere.
[The Desert Sun. Bob Hope Chrysler Classic celebrity Q&A: Actor Kyle MacLachlan by Leighton Ginn, January 17, 2008.]
MacLachlan has appeared in several plays, including John Kolvenbach's
On an Average Day with
Woody Harrelson, on Broadway in
The Caretaker with
Patrick Stewart, as well as in
Romeo and Juliet, and the Shakespearean history
Henry V.
In recent years, MacLachlan continues to play dark and/or morally ambiguous characters. This included a guest role on
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, in which he played a father who shot and killed a sociopathic child who murdered his son. MacLachlan also lent his voice to nefarious media mogul Donald Love in the video game
Grand Theft Auto III[www.imdb.com/character/ch0019099/]. After starring in the short-lived
In Justice, MacLachlan has become a regular on
Desperate Housewives. His character, the mysterious dentist
Orson Hodge, first appeared during the show's second season, with MacLachlan becoming a full-time cast member with the start of season three.
On July 7, 2007, MacLachlan was one of the presenters at the London leg of
Live Earth.
[Blog: No Rock And Roll Fun, "Kyle MacLachlan introduces Corinne Bailey Rae", Thursday, July 5, 2007.] MacLachlan appeared in the 2008 movie,
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2.
In the 2008
English language DVD re-release of the cult 2006 Norwegian animated film
Free Jimmy, MacLachlan voiced the character of "Marius", a militant animal rights activist. The dialogue was written by
Simon Pegg and other actors included Pegg himself and
Woody Harrelson, amongst others.
MacLachlan was planning to quit
Desperate Housewives, now that he was a father, because he was finding the commute from his home in
New York City to the
Desperate Housewives set in
Los Angeles very difficult.
[MacLachlan to Quit "Desperate Housewives"?, ContactMusic.com, June 11, 2009]
Personal life
MacLachlan was born in
Yakima, Washington and is of
Scottish descent. He has two younger brothers named Craig and Kent, both of whom live in the Pacific Northwest. MacLachlan graduated from
Eisenhower High School.
MacLachlan lives in
Manhattan with his wife, Desiree Gruber, and their son, Callum Lyon MacLachlan, born July 26, 2008, in Los Angeles.
The couple has two small dogs (a
Jack Russell terrier and a
Yorkie/
Chihuahua mix) and out of "probably too much affection" have created a website about their dogs
[www.mookieandsam.com/] as well as a TV series popular on YouTube.
[www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcU_u2EO0L8]
A dedicated
oenophile, Kyle is partners with vintner Eric Dunham in
Pursued By Bear, a winery in Washington's
Columbia Valley. The name, suggested over dinner by
Steve Martin, comes from a stage direction ("Exit, pursued by a bear") in
Shakespeare's
The Winter's Tale.
[www.pursuedbybearwine.com]
Selected filmography
