Biography for
Jack Nance More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

21 December 1943, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Date of Death

30 December 1996, Pasadena, California, USA (homicide)

Birth Name

Marvin John Nance

Height

5' 6" (1.68 m)

Mini Biography

Jack Nance, best known for his role in David Lynch's TV series "Twin Peaks" (1990), died of possible homicide, Monday 30 December 1996. Nance, a stage actor before working with Lynch in his 1978 cult film Eraserhead (1977), was cast in all of his subsequent films except The Elephant Man (1980).

IMDb Mini Biography By: Carol A. Hubbard

Mini Biography

Born in Boston of Irish ancestry and raised in Dallas, Jack Nance traveled throughout the country doing children's theater. For eight years he performed with the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco. Later he became involved with avant-garde theater. He first met David Lynch in the early 1970s in Philadelphia while he was performing in a local theater, and Lynch decided to cast him as the lead in Eraserhead (1977). Originaly it was to be a six-week shooting project, but due to budget restrictions and technical complications, the production and filming took nearly five years to complete. Nance relocated to Los Angeles in the early 1980s, where he appeared in unusual and widely praised films that were not always considered mainstream Hollywood. He has appeared in almost every movie by Lynch, including the TV series "Twin Peaks" (1990), usually playing secondary characters or quirky supporting parts. Nance died suddenly and unexpectedly in December 1996 from an apparent internal head injury the morning after getting into a physical brawl at a donut shop with some rowdy patrons.

IMDb Mini Biography By: Matthew Patay

Spouse

Nancee Kelly	(21 June 1991 - 17 November 1991) (her death)
Catherine E. Coulson	(20 April 1968 - 1976) (divorced)

Trivia

Got into a fight in December of 1996 with two men in a Winchell's donut shop, and was struck in the head. A friend came and checked up on him at his home the next day only to find him dead.

Appeared in the Suicidal Tendencies video for the song "Institutionalized".

Goes by his middle name John in Eraserhead (1977) and by the stage name Jack for the rest of his career.

Up to the last moment, he was considered for the lead in The Graduate (1967), the part that went to Dustin Hoffman .

Son-in-law of Jerry Van Dyke.

Nephew-in-law of Dick Van Dyke.

Attended South Oak Cliff High School in Dallas, Texas.

Salary

Eraserhead (1977)

$25/week

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