Lenny Von Dohlen | |
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Born |
Augusta, Georgia, U.S. |
December 22, 1958
Other names | Lenny von Dohlen (different spelling) |
Occupation | Actor |
Years active | 1981–present |
Height | 6 ft 2 in (188 cm) |
Children | Hazel (born 2000) |
Lenny Von Dohlen (born December 22, 1958) is an American film, television and stage actor, known for his performance as architect Miles Harding in the film Electric Dreams and as the orchid-growing agoraphobic Harold Smith in the television series Twin Peaks. Von Dohlen currently resides in New York and Los Angeles.
Von Dohlen was born in Augusta, Georgia, and raised in Goliad, a small town in south Texas. He has German ancestry from his paternal side. As a child he wished to become a jockey, but grew too tall for his dream. He studied Theater at University of Texas, and graduated from Loretto Heights College in Denver, Colorado. From there he moved to New York City to pursue a career on the stage.
Lenny Von Dohlen’s film debut was in Academy Award-winning Tender Mercies, starring Robert Duvall, written by Horton Foote and directed by Bruce Beresford in 1983. In 1984, Von Dohlen played the lead role in the cult film MGM/UA’s Electric Dreams. Other roles include: Under the Biltmore Clock (1985); Dracula's Widow (1987); Blind Vision (1992); Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992); Jennifer 8 (1992); Ed Zwick’s Leaving Normal (1992) and the title role in Billy Galvin (1986) opposite Karl Malden.
He played one of the villains in Twentieth Century Fox’s Home Alone 3 (1997). He has appeared in acclaimed independent films such as Tollbooth (1994), Bird of Prey (1996), One Good Turn (1996), Entertaining Angels (1996), Cadillac (1997) and Frontline (1997). In 2007, he appeared in Beautiful Loser, playing the role of Reggie as an adult, and in Teeth, a Sundance and Berlin Film Festival Dramatic Competition nominee. In 2010, he played Elder Daniel in Downstream and in the same year he played Sheriff Jack Carter in a short film called Night Blind (2010). In 2012/13, he was seen in Camilla Dickinson and White Camellias. In 2015, Lenny Von Dohlen will be seen playing the title role of legendary film director Oskar Knight in Near Myth: The Oskar Knight Story.