LARA FLYNN BOYLE Biography - Actors and Actresses

 
 

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LARA FLYNN BOYLE

Name: Lara Flynn Boyle.                                                               
Born: 24 March 1970 Davenport, Iowa, U.S.                                             
                                                                                       
Lara Flynn Boyle (born March 24, 1970 in Davenport, Iowa) is an American actress       
who was raised in Chicago, Illinois and Wisconsin. Although she is of mostly           
Irish descent, Boyle also has an Italian-American great-grandfather. She is           
named after a character in Boris Pasternak's novel Dr. Zhivago.                       
                                                                                       
Boyle's first film role was a bit part in Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986), which       
earned her a SAG card, though her scene was eliminated from the final cut of the       
film. She then appeared in series Amerika (1987), Poltergeist III (1988) and           
Dead Poets Society (1989), before landing her first major part, and the role           
which made her well known, playing Donna Hayward in the critically acclaimed           
series Twin Peaks. When the series ended in 1991, creator David Lynch produced a       
movie, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me, but - largely due to her rise in fame, and       
increased film offers - Boyle chose not to return. Moira Kelly took over the           
role of Donna for the film.                                                           
                                                                                       
Boyle spent much of the 1990s making a name for herself in films with varying         
degrees of success. Some of her most notable roles during that time were:             
                                                                                       
the obsessive and accident-prone Stacy in Wayne's World (1992)                         
                                                                                       
the fragile, homeless teen Heather in Where The Day Takes You (1992)                   
                                                                                       
psycho secretary-from-hell Kris Bolin in what was geared to be her breakout           
success, but ultimately became a box-office bust, The Temp (1993)                     
                                                                                       
the sultry and manipulative Suzanne of Red Rock West (1993), which solidified         
her status as a premier femme fatale                                                   
                                                                                       
Alex, the sexually assured drama queen in the cult classic Generation X comedy         
Threesome (1994)                                                                       
                                                                                       
flighty, manically repressed housewife Marianne Byron in Afterglow (1997)             
                                                                                       
Finally, in 1997, Boyle auditioned for the title role in David E. Kelley's Ally       
McBeal. Although she lost out to Calista Flockhart, Boyle impressed him enough         
to create the role of Assistant District Attorney Helen Gamble in his other 1997       
series, The Practice, specifically for her. She starred on the show until 2003,       
when - in a dramatic attempt to revamp the show and cut costs - she was               
unceremoniously dismissed along with most of the other main cast. The role of         
Helen earned her an Emmy nomination, as well as household fame and several             
Screen Actors Guild ensemble cast nominations. She also made a crossover               
appearance in the role of Helen in an episode of Ally McBeal.                         
                                                                                       
In 2002, Boyle played a lead role in the blockbuster film Men in Black II as the       
villainous alien Serleena. She also guest starred on one of the last episodes of       
Ally McBeal once again, only this time as Tally Cupp, a completely different           
role from that which she had played before.                                           
                                                                                       
Recently, 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.