Harry Dean Stanton, ‘Big Love,’ ‘Twin Peaks’ Star, Dies at 91
Harry Dean Stanton, the actor with a gaunt, bedraggled look who labored in virtual obscurity for decades until a series of roles increased his visibility, including his breakthrough in Wim Wenders’ “Paris, Texas,” died of natural causes Friday in Los Angeles. He was 91.
The actor was also known for his roles in “Twin Peaks,” “Big Love,” “Pretty in Pink” and “Repo Man.”
He had a high-profile role as manipulative cult leader Roman Grant on HBO polygamy drama “Big Love,” which ran from 2006-11, and recently appeared as Carl Rodd in the “Twin Peaks” revival on Showtime.
His most recent film, “Lucky,” is set to be released by Magnolia on Sept. 29.
Stanton had a good year in 1984, when he turned 58, not only starring in the Wenders pic — his first ever as leading man — but in Alex Cox’s popular cult film “Repo Man.” (That year he also had a small role in John Milius’ “Red Dawn,” shouting “Avenge me! Avenge me!” to his sons, played by Charlie Sheen and Patrick Swayze, after being captured by Soviet troops invading America.)
In 1986, Stanton hit the mainstream when he played Molly Ringwald’s unemployed father in “Pretty in Pink.” Even here, however, his character was still more than a little dazed: When wakened by his daughter, his first words are “Where am I?”
Stanton played a fiery Paul/Saul in Martin Scorsese’s controversial 1988 effort “The Last Temptation of Christ,” but the actor was among those in the film criticized by many as miscast. Later film roles included a pair of David Lynch films in the early 1990s, “Wild at Heart” and “Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me”; Bob Rafelson’s “Man Trouble,” with Nicholson; “The Mighty,” with Gena Rowlands and Sharon Stone; “The Green Mile”; Sean Penn’s “The Pledge”; Nick Cassavetes’ “Alpha Dog”; and Lynch’s “Inland Empire.”
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Actors' IMDB pages always make interesting reading. I knew that Stanton had a small, uncredited part as one of the bad guy's henchmen in How the West Was Won, but I wasn't aware (or had forgotten) that he played a security guard in The Avengers. I will probably always remember him best for playing "Brain" in Escape From New York.