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Born March 24, 1970, in Davenport,
Iowa, Lara Flynn Boyle was named after actress Julie Christie's character
in Doctor Zhivago, foreshadowing the path her life would take. Lara was an
only child, and her parents divorced when she was six years old. Following
the breakup, Lara moved to Chicago with her mother, where they settled
down near Wrigley Field. She would never see nor speak to her father
again.
At a young age, Lara was diagnosed with a learning disability, and was
consequently enrolled in an improvisational workshop to develop ways of
expressing herself. Over the course of the workshop, Lara developed a
strong interest in acting, as well as a knack for it. She was offered, and
accepted, a scholarship to the Chicago Academy for the Arts.
While she was still in her sophomore year, Lara received her first casting
call, for the TV miniseries Amerika. She made her film debut the following
year, in 1988's Poltergeist III, and went on to win a role in the 1989
made-for-TV movie, The Preppie Murder.
Having already gained a lot of television experience while still in her
high-school years, Lara felt that her course was set. On the day after her
graduation from the Chicago Academy, Lara and her mother moved to Los
Angeles, hoping to build on the promising beginning of her career in the
heart of the entertainment industry.
In 1990, Lara landed the part of vixen-next-door Donna Hayward in David
Lynch's cult series, Twin Peaks. This role has often been cited as her big
break, and, while there is no doubt that it spring-boarded her career to
another level, at the time it also served to typecast her to a certain
degree.
Despite the fact that hers was perhaps the most normal of the Twin Peaks
characters, a great number of the roles that followed shared in the same
dark, quirky tone that had marked Lynch's series, such as that of the
psychotic temp in 1993's The Temp.
Another characteristic common to several of Lara's early roles was their
placement within films that can at best be described as box-office
disasters. The Dark Backward (1991), The Road to Wellville (1994) and
Baby's Day Out (1994) all bombed, and Farmer and Chase was the lowest
grossing movie of 1997, raking in a whopping $1,323.
While such a rapid succession of failures might normally put an end to a
career, Lara's talent saved her from such a fate. Her natural acting
abilities secured her several strong supporting roles, and the abundance
of bad projects she was involved in was balanced out by appearances in
movies such as The Rookie (1990) and Wayne's World (1992). Her performance
in Todd Solondz's 1998 film Happiness was received with critical acclaim,
and garnered her the National Board of Review's Ensemble Performance
Award.
Lara returned to the small screen in the late '90s, and after losing out
the title role in Ally McBeal to Calista Flockhart, landed the part of
sultry cutthroat A.D.A. Helen Gamble in David E. Kelley's legal series,
The Practice. The show proved to be an instant hit, and garnered the 1999
Emmy for Best Drama.
After gaining much popularity from The Practice, Lara appeared in Men in
Black 2 also starring Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones.
She had a recurring role on several episodes of Huff, playing Melody
Coatar, an unstable patient with borderline personality disorder and
bipolar disorder.
In 2005, Boyle joined the cast of Las Vegas for a seven episode stint as
Monica, a new hotel owner.
She played Barbara Amiel in the TV-movie "Shades of Black", about Amiel's
husband Conrad Black. |
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(On what happened when she
started out in the film business) "When I used to go to auditions, I
would be told "If Winona Ryder doesn't get it, you will". Hollywood
makes so many movies - surely Winona can't do ALL of them!"
"Look, I love being famous. I'm not one of those people who feels
like, Why won't they leave me alone? If I care only about the craft
of acting, I'd be doing dinner theater in Iowa. But the attention on
you gets to a point where it's beyond invasive - it's scary." Cosmo
Magazine, April 2005 Issue
"I'm Irish Catholic, so a Democrat by blood. But I'm one hundred per
cent for Bush. I want my president to be like my agent - not afraid
of people, but wants my best interest."
Coffee and smoking are the last great addictions.
I had such a great mom and I know that I'd never be that mom. I
wouldn't want to bring a child into this world unless I could be. |
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Life Is Hot in Cracktown
(2008) .... Betty McBain
Have Dreams, Will Travel (2007) .... Ben's Mom
"Insatiable" (2007) TV Series (unknown episodes)
Shades of Black: The Conrad Black Story (2006) (TV) .... Barbara
Amiel
The House Next Door (2006) (TV) .... Col Kennedy
Fwiends.com (2006) .... Yuppy Girl
Land of the Blind (2006) .... First Lady
"Las Vegas" .... Monica Mancuso (8 episodes, 2005-2006)
- And Here's Mike with the Weather (2006) TV Episode .... Monica
Mancuso
- Mothwoman (2005) TV Episode .... Monica Mancuso
- Bold, Beautiful & Blue (2005) TV Episode .... Monica Mancuso
- The Real McCoy (2005) TV Episode .... Monica Mancuso
- Whatever Happened to Seymour Magoon? (2005) TV Episode .... Monica
Mancuso
(3 more)
"Huff" .... Melody Coatar (5 episodes, 2004-2005)
- Crazy Nutz & All Fucked Up (2005) TV Episode .... Melody Coatar
- That Fucking Cabin (2004) TV Episode .... Melody Coatar
- Flashpants (2004) TV Episode .... Melody Coatar
- Control (2004) TV Episode .... Melody Coatar
- Assault & Pepper (2004) TV Episode .... Melody Coatar
Crazy (2005) (TV) .... Sophie
"The Practice" .... Helen Gamble (115 episodes, 1997-2003)
- Goodbye (2003) TV Episode .... Helen Gamble
- Heroes and Villains (2003) TV Episode .... Helen Gamble
- Les Is More (2003) TV Episode .... Helen Gamble
- Capitol Crimes (2003) TV Episode .... Helen Gamble
- Special Deliveries (2003) TV Episode .... Helen Gamble
(110 more)
Men in Black II (2002) .... Serleena
... aka MIB 2 (USA: promotional abbreviation)
... aka MIIB (USA: promotional abbreviation)
"Ally McBeal" .... Helen Gamble / ... (2 episodes, 1998-2002)
- Tom Dooley (2002) TV Episode (uncredited) .... Tally Cupp
- Making Spirits Bright (1998) TV Episode (uncredited) .... Helen
Gamble
Speaking of Sex (2001) .... Dr. Emily Paige
Chain of Fools (2000) .... Karen Kresk
Susan's Plan (1998) .... Betty Johnson
... aka Dying to Get Rich (USA: video title)
Happiness (1998) .... Helen Jordan
Since You've Been Gone (1998) (TV) .... Grace Williams
Afterglow (1997) .... Marianne Byron
Farmer & Chase (1997) .... Hillary
Red Meat (1997) .... Ruth
The Big Squeeze (1996) .... Tanya Mulhill
... aka Body of a Woman
"Legend" .... Theresa Dunleavy (1 episode, 1995)
- Skeletons in the Closet (1995) TV Episode (uncredited) ....
Theresa Dunleavy
Cafe Society (1995) .... Patricia Ward
Jacob (1994) (TV) .... Rachel
... aka Bibel - Jakob, Die (Germany)
... aka Jacob: A TNT Bible Story (USA: promotional title)
The Road to Wellville (1994) .... Ida Muntz
Baby's Day Out (1994) .... Laraine Cotwell
Past Tense (1994) (TV) .... Tory Bass/Sabrina James
Threesome (1994) .... Alex
The Temp (1993) .... Kris Bolin
Equinox (1992) .... Beverly Franks
... aka Isimeria
Where the Day Takes You (1992) .... Heather
Wayne's World (1992) .... Stacy
Red Rock West (1992) .... Suzanne Brown/Ann McCord
May Wine (1991) .... Cammie
... aka Belles américaines, Les (France: TV title)
Eye of the Storm (1991) .... Sandra Gladstone
"The Hidden Room" .... Nicole (1 episode, 1991)
- Splinters of Privacy (1991) TV Episode .... Nicole
Mobsters (1991) .... Mara Motes
... aka The Evil Empire
The Dark Backward (1991) .... Rosarita
... aka The Man with Three Arms (UK)
"Twin Peaks" .... Donna Hayward (30 episodes, 1990-1991)
- Episode #2.21 (1991) TV Episode .... Donna Hayward
- Episode #2.22 (1991) TV Episode .... Donna Hayward
- Episode #2.20 (1991) TV Episode .... Donna Hayward
- Episode #2.19 (1991) TV Episode .... Donna Hayward
- Episode #2.18 (1991) TV Episode .... Donna Hayward
(25 more)
The Rookie (1990) .... Sarah
The Preppie Murder (1989) (TV) .... Jennifer Levin
Dead Poets Society (1989) .... Ginny Danburry
How I Got Into College (1989) .... Jessica Kailo
Terror on Highway 91 (1989) (TV) .... Laura Taggart
Poltergeist III (1988) .... Donna Gardner
... aka Poltergeist III: The Final Chapter (Australia)
"Sable" .... Melanie Waterston (1 episode, 1987)
- Toy Gun (1987) TV Episode .... Melanie Waterston
"Amerika" (1987) (mini) TV Series .... Jacqueline 'Jessie' Bradford |
