Friday, May 17, 2019

Peggy Lipton Passes On

Peggy Lipton, who starred on the classic TV shows The Mod Squad and Twin Peaks, died on May 11 2019 at the age of 72. The cause was colon cancer.

Peggy Lipton was born on August 30 1946 in New York City. She attended Lawrence Junior High School and the Professional Children's School there. She began modelling while she was still young and took acting lessons as well. She was only 15 when she became a model for the Ford Agency. In 1964 her family moved to Los Angeles. She made her television debut in a small guest appearance on Bewitched in 1965. That same year she made guest appearances on Mr. Novak, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, and The John Forsythe Show.

For the remainder of the Sixties Miss Lipton guest starred on such shows as The Virginian, Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Colour, Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre, The F.B.I., The Road West, and The Invaders. It was in 1968 that she began playing Julie Barnes on The Mod Squad. She remained with the show for its entire run, which lasted from 1968 to 1973. She made her film debut in Mosby's Marauders (a compilation of a two part Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Colour episode) in 1967. In the Sixties she appeared in the films Blue (1968) and A Boy...a Girl (1969).

In 1974 Peggy Lipton married music producer Quincy Jones and retired from acting for a time to raise her family. Her only acting appearance until 1988 was in the television reunion movie The Return of the Mod Squad in 1979. In 1988 she appeared in the TV movie Addicted to His Love. She guest starred on the TV show The Hitchhiker in 1990. That same year she began playing Double R Diner owner Norma Jennings on the cult TV show Twin Peaks. She remained with the show until its cancellation in 1991. She reprised her role as Norma in the spin-off feature film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992). In the late Eighties she appeared in the feature films War Party (1988), Purple People Eater (1988), and Kinjite: Forbidden Subjects (1989).

In the Nineties Miss Lipton had the recurring role of Kelly Foster on the short-lived TV show Popular. She guest starred on the shows Angel Falls and Wings. She appeared in the mini-series Secrets and the TV movies The Spider and the Fly, Deadly Vows, and Justice for Annie: A Moment of Truth Movie. She portrayed Gloria Steinem in the TV movie The 70's. She appeared in the films True Identity (1991), The Postman (1997), The Intern (2000), and Skipped Parts (2000).

In the Naughts Peggy Lipton had the recurring role of Olivia Reed on the TV show Alias and a recurring role on the TV show Crash. She guest starred on the TV shows Cuts and Rules of Engagement. She appeared in the films Jackpot (2001) and When in Rome (2010). In the Teens Miss Lipton reprised her role as Norma Jennings in the revival of Twin Peaks. She also appeared as Norma in the film Twin Peaks: The Missing Pieces (2014), which was compiled from unused footage from Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me. She guest starred on the shows House of Lies, Pscyh, Angie Tribeca, and Claws. She appeared in the film A Dog's Purpose (2017).

Peggy Lipton also had a career as a singer. She released a self-titled album in 1968 as well as various singles.

I have to confess I was never a regular viewer of The Mod Squad. Mid-Missouri would not get a dedicated ABC affiliate until 1971 (prior to that KOMU and KRCG divided ABC programming between themselves and aired the shows at odd times). Once our local ABC affiliate went on air it seemed as if The Mod Squad was always opposite something my family regularly watched. That having been said, I did see Peggy Lipton in her guest appearances on reruns of classic TV shows from the Sixties (Bewitched, The Virginian, and so on). I first took notice of Miss Lipton on Twin Peaks. She was wonderful as Norma Jennings. Her roles on TV series following Twin Peaks were very different from Norma: former homecoming queen Kelly Foster on Popular and the villainous Olivia Reed on Alias. Peggy Lipton was quite versatile, and played a variety of roles over the years.

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