Lara Flynn Boyle
Lara Flynn Boyle is an American actress born on March 24, 1970, in Davenport, Iowa. She became well known for playing Donna Hayward in Twin Peaks (1990–1991).
She grew up with her mother, Sally Flynn, after her father, Michael L. Boyle, left when she was six. She has Irish, German, and Italian roots and was named after a character in Doctor Zhivago. Boyle has dyslexia and was educated at The Chicago Academy for the Arts. She spent part of her childhood in Chicago and Wisconsin.
Her screen career began with a small part in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986), though her scenes were cut. She appeared in the miniseries Amerika (1987) and in several films, including Poltergeist III (1988). Twin Peaks helped launch her as a major actress, and she later appeared in other projects while continuing her TV work.
In the early 1990s she acted in Wayne’s World (1992), Red Rock West (1993), The Temp (1993), Threesome (1994), Cafe Society (1995), Happiness (1998), and played the villain Serleena in Men in Black II (2002). Between 1997 and 2003, she starred as Assistant District Attorney Helen Gamble on The Practice, earning an Emmy nomination. She also made a crossover appearance on Ally McBeal.
Her later work includes Las Vegas (2005), Shades of Black, Law & Order (2008), Baby on Board (2009), Life Is Hot in Cracktown (2009), Cougar Hunting (2010), Hansel & Gretel Get Baked (2013), Lucky Dog (2015), and Death in Texas (2020).
Personal life: Boyle dated Kyle MacLachlan (1990–1992). She married John Patrick Dee III (1996–1998) and later dated David Spade, then had a relationship with Jack Nicholson, which became public at the 1999 Emmy Awards. She married Donald Ray Thomas II on December 18, 2006, in San Antonio, Texas.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 15:15 (CET).