Because I’m a David Lynch fan (Mullholland Drive is still one of my favorite films of all time) I’ve been revisiting his series Twin Peaks on Netflix. Twin Peaks is a show I hardly paid any attention when it was current, but then again I was a chubby teenager more interested in the happenings of a set of twins named Brenda and Brandon who resided in a specific California zip code and hung out at a place called the Peach Pit.
Now that I’ve re-discovered Twin Peaks I’ve also discovered a new mantique crush, Michael Ontkean who plays sheriff Harry S. Truman. After IMDBing Ontkean I was surprised to discover he was already in his mid-40s by the time he made the series despite a boyish face that defies age.
(Twin Peaks cast L to R: Joan Chen, Michael Ontkean, Kyle MacLachlan, and Piper Laurie)
Upon further internet research I discovered Ontkean also starred in a 1982 film called Making Love, where he played a doctor married to a beautiful television executive (played by The Kate Jackson) who struggles with his loyalty to his wife and his homosexual tendencies. Making Love also stars a young and yummy Harry Hamlin as Ontkean’s male love interest. So needless to say I’m anxious to see this film.
(Making Love cast: L to R Michael Ontkean, Kate Jackson, and Harry Hamlin)
Ontkean's hay day as a hearththrob seemed to come in the late 70s early 80s given his credits as a leading character during this time. If you're as big of a fan of the 80s as I am then you might recognize him as the hunky chauffer in the 1987 Ally Sheedy film Maid to Order (did I mention I love cheesy 80s movies?)
(Ontkean in still from Made to Order)
Ontkean will turn 66 on January 24th and is still acting today. He can most recently be seen in George Clooney’s The Descendants. Below is a late-2000s image of Ontkean and it looks as though he still defies the test of time.
