Jack Nance
Nance on the poster for Eraserhead (1977)
Born
Marvin John Nance

(1943-12-21)December 21, 1943
Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
DiedDecember 30, 1996(1996-12-30) (aged 53)
South Pasadena, California, U.S.
Other namesJohn Nance
OccupationActor
Years active1970–1996
Spouses
​
​
(m. 1968; div. 1976)​
[1]
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1991; died 1991)​

    Marvin John Nance (December 21, 1943 – December 30, 1996) was an American actor. A longtime collaborator of filmmaker David Lynch, Nance portrayed the lead in Lynch's directorial film debut Eraserhead (1977). He continued to work with Lynch throughout his career, including as a series regular on the ABC mystery drama Twin Peaks (1990–1991).

    Early life

    Nance was born in Boston, Massachusetts to Hoyt and Agnes Nance and was raised in Dallas, Texas.[2] He graduated from South Oak Cliff High School and attended North Texas State University studying journalism. He took up acting at university and quit studying to concentrate on acting, joining the Dallas Theater Center. In 1964, Nance headed to California and worked for some time with the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco. He had success playing the lead role in a play based on the life of Thomas Paine. David Lindemann, the director of Tom Paine, moved to Los Angeles and began a fellowship at the American Film Institute where he suggested Nance (who had also moved to LA) to AFI fellow David Lynch, who cast Nance as the lead in his student film Eraserhead.[3]

    Later career

    After Eraserhead, he remained on good terms with Lynch, who cast him in nearly all of his projects:

    Hopper, who he worked alongside in Blue Velvet, hired him to appear in Colors (1988).

    Nance guest-starred on a 1995 episode of My So-Called Life entitled "Weekend", in which he played an innkeeper. He appeared with actress Mary Woronov in Suicidal Tendencies' 1983 "Institutionalized" music video.[4]

    Personal life

    Nance married Catherine E. Coulson in 1968. They divorced in 1976.[1]

    During Blue Velvet, Nance asked Hopper for help giving up alcohol and Hopper took him to Studio 12 where Nance sobered up.[3] There he met Kelly Jean Van Dyke, the daughter of Jerry Van Dyke and niece of Dick Van Dyke, who worked in the adult film industry under the name Nancee Kelly. They married in May 1991.

    Second wife's suicide

    Van Dyke died by suicide on November 17, 1991. Nance, who was in Bass Lake, California, filming Meatballs 4 at the time, called his wife to tell her that he was thinking of leaving her due to her drinking and drug-taking and she threatened suicide. He attempted to console her but a lightning storm knocked out the phone line in Bass Lake. Nance and the director, Bobby Logan, found a deputy sheriff who contacted the Los Angeles police department. They broke in and found that she had hanged herself. Nance claimed she was four months pregnant.[3]

    Two years after his wife's death, Nance started drinking again. He also had two strokes. He was cast in the film Joyride (1997) but was sent home after one day of filming due to his being drunk.[3]

    Death

    On December 29, 1996, Nance lunched with friends Leo Bulgarini and Catherine Case. Nance had a visible "crescent-shaped bruise" under his eye; and, when asked about it, he related to them a story about a brawl outside a Winchell's Donuts store that morning after he shouted at two men.[3] He described the incident as, "I guess I got what I deserved."[1] He went home, complaining of a headache.

    The injuries he sustained caused a subdural hematoma, resulting in his death the following morning. His body was discovered on the bathroom floor of his South Pasadena, California, apartment by Bulgarini, on December 30, 1996. An autopsy revealed that his blood alcohol level was 0.24% at the time of his death.[3]

    Legacy

    The song "I Gotta Move" by Frank Black and the Catholics, from their 1997 eponymous debut album, refers to the circumstances of Nance's death, as well as the murder of Peter Ivers, who composed and performed the song "In Heaven, Everything is Fine" from Eraserhead.[5]

    A documentary about Nance funded by Lynch, titled I Don't Know Jack, was released in 2002.

    Part 17 of Twin Peaks: The Return was dedicated to Nance.

    Filmography

    Film

    Television

    Music videos

    References

    1. 1 2 3 Kyle Smith; Lorenzo Benet (February 10, 1997). "The Death of Twins Peak actor Jack Nance was as strange as the characters he played". People. Archived from the original on 2016-03-19. Retrieved 2021-06-25.
    2. ↑ "Jack Nance, 53, An Actor Known For 'Eraserhead'". The New York Times. January 11, 1997.
    3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Potter, Maximillian (August 1997). "Erased – Jack Nance". Premiere. p. 92. Retrieved 2023-04-10.
    4. ↑ "Mary Woronov Interview" by Cynthia Rose
    5. ↑ "The incredible life and mysterious death of Peter Ivers". Entertainment Weekly.
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