# Grace Zabriskie

Grace Zabriskie (née Caplinger; born May 17, 1941) is an American actress. She is known for her roles as Sarah Palmer in Twin Peaks (1990–1991; 2017) and its film prequel Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992), Lois Henrickson in Big Love, as well as in cult films such as two of David Lynch's films: Juana Durango in Wild at Heart (1990) and Visitor #1 in Inland Empire (2006). Other film roles include Norma Rae (1979), An Officer and a Gentleman (1982), Nickel Mountain (1984), The Big Easy (1986), Leonard Part 6 (1987), Drugstore Cowboy (1989), Child's Play 2 (1990), My Own Private Idaho (1991), Fried Green Tomatoes (1991), Even Cowgirls Get the Blues (1993), Armageddon (1998), Gone in 60 Seconds (2000), and The Grudge (2004). She is also known for her recurring roles on such shows as Seinfeld (as George's fiancée Susan's mother), Charmed, and Ray Donovan.

## Early life

Zabriskie was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, the daughter of Marion Grace (née Zabriskie), of Wyckoff, New Jersey, and Roger Thomas "Tom" Caplinger. Her mother had distant Polish and Dutch ancestry, and was a relative of James Zabriskie, a 19th-century railroad industrialist and early pioneer of California. Zabriskie has said that her family was visited by Tennessee Williams, Gore Vidal and Truman Capote during her childhood. Her father owned the famous French quarter gay bar Cafe Lafitte in Exile.
In the early 1960s, Zabriskie was among a circle of the New Orleans friends of author and Discordianism co-founder Kerry Thornley. At one point, Thornley began work on a novel about her titled Can Grace Come Out and Play? Thornley later claimed to have had an "eight-year-long, off-again-on-again, affair/friendship/rivalry/ego-game/karmic unraveling" with her, but Zabriskie described it as "four and a half minutes in bed" after a discussion on the exclusion of sex from their friendship—shared with Zabriskie's then-husband Rob—as being "irrational".
Her sister, Lane Caplinger, worked as a typist in New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison's office. Caplinger is reputed to have covertly produced all five copies of the first edition of the Principia Discordia in 1965.

## Career

After making her major film debut in Norma Rae, Zabriskie went on to appear in dozens of other works, including the 1981 Roger Corman horror film Galaxy of Terror and the 1981 miniseries adaptation of John Steinbeck's East of Eden. She played the nanny in The Private Eyes, Debra Winger's mother in An Officer and a Gentleman, Heather Langenkamp's mother in Nickel Mountain, and Paul Le Mat's mother in The Burning Bed (starring Farrah Fawcett). She had a small but crucial part in the fifth season finale of Knots Landing. In 1988, she played Richard Mulligan's love interest "Eva Barrett" on the hit NBC sitcom Empty Nest.
She appeared in 1989's Drugstore Cowboy and as the ill-fated orphanage owner Grace Poole in Child's Play 2. Other movies include the 1991 film adaptation Fried Green Tomatoes and Philip Ridley's 1995 film The Passion of Darkly Noon.
Zabriskie is perhaps most familiar for her television work. After a recurring role on the soap opera Santa Barbara, she appeared on David Lynch's Twin Peaks and its spin-off film, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me as Sarah Palmer, the eerily psychic mother of the doomed Laura Palmer.
Zabriskie also appeared in Lynch's Wild at Heart—notably as the twin sister of a character played by Isabella Rossellini, an actress eleven years her junior. David Lynch later cast her as a sinister Polish neighbor in Inland Empire in 2006.
Zabriskie may best be remembered as Mrs. Ross, a recurring character on the sitcom Seinfeld. She played the mother of another doomed daughter, Susan Ross—George Costanza's fiancée—who died after licking cheap envelope adhesive when mailing out her wedding invitations. Zabriskie's character's husband on the series, who also appeared in a recurring role, was played by her former Twin Peaks co-star, Warren Frost.
She also made a brief but memorable appearance in the episode "S'ain't Valentine's" on the CBS sitcom The King of Queens, as the emotionally disturbed and alcoholic mother of Spence Olchin (played by Patton Oswalt). While the character Veronica Olchin would reappear throughout the series, Zabriskie would not portray her again, having been replaced by Anne Meara. She also appeared twice in Aaron Spelling's series Charmed as "The Crone".
She has worked in radio, collaborating with radio dramatist/monologist Joe Frank several times. In one episode of Frank's show, "Home (Original)", she talks at length about her childhood in New Orleans, with a focus on her father.
Zabriskie appeared in the 2004 American remake of The Grudge, in which she played a senile elderly woman sensitive to the paranormal occurrences in her home.
From 2006 to 2011, she played "Lois Henrickson" on the hit HBO series Big Love. The drama series seriously explored the issue of polygamy,
In 2013, she played "Mama Dips" on The Killing.
In 2015, she played "Miss Monassian" on the hit Showtime series Ray Donovan. Then in 2016, she played "Mildred" on Outcast.
In 2017, she reprised her role as Sarah Palmer on the Showtime revival of Twin Peaks. Also in 2017, she played the role of "Mrs. Baković" on the Netflix series Santa Clarita Diet.
In 2018, she played "Enid" on the hit HBO series Ballers, opposite Dwayne Johnson. Also in 2018, she played "John's grandmother" on The Alienist.
In 2020, she starred in the music video for Grouplove's "Youth", directed by Christopher Blauvelt.
In 2022, she portrayed "Camille D'Amato" in the Hulu limited series Mike, opposite Trevante Rhodes as Mike Tyson.

## Personal life

In her early 20s, Zabriskie "had an intense friendship” with Kerry Wendell Thornley; this friendship was "centered around an intense shared love for and fascination with the philosophy of Ayn Rand". Although Thornley claimed that he and Zabriskie had an affair that lasted over a decade, Zabriskie denies this and states that their friendship ended due to Thornley's belief that she was involved in a conspiracy.
In May 1963, she married John Dunham MacEachron. Zabriskie has two daughters: Helen, who became an actress and Marion Lane, a painter. In 1993, Helen died of Hodgkin's disease. Marion died in 2019, aged 56, of cancer. In 2006, she told the Los Angeles Times, "You can make your life an absolute bummer out of the inevitability of death. Or you can decide to absorb this blow and figure out a way to exist with as much energy and creativity and lack of fear as you can".

## Filmography

Film :
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1978 | They Went That-A-Way & That-A-Way | Lem's Wife | |
| 1979 | Norma Rae | Linette Odum | |
| 1980 | The Private Eyes | Nanny | |
| 1981 | Galaxy of Terror | Captain Trantor | |
| 1982 | An Officer and a Gentleman | Esther Pokrifki | |
| 1984 | Nickel Mountain | Ellie Wells | |
| 1984 | Body Rock | Chilly's Mother | |
| 1986 | The Big Easy | Mama | |
| 1987 | Rampage | Naomi Reece | |
| 1987 | Leonard Part 6 | Jefferson | |
| 1988 | The Boost | Sheryl | |
| 1989 | Drugstore Cowboy | Bob's Mother | |
| 1990 | Megaville | Mrs. Jessica Palinov | |
| 1990 | Wild at Heart | Juana Durango | |
| 1990 | Child's Play 2 | Grace Poole | |
| 1991 | Ambition | Mrs. Wendy Merrick | |
| 1991 | Servants of Twilight | Grace Spivey | |
| 1991 | My Own Private Idaho | Alena | |
| 1991 | Fried Green Tomatoes | Eva Bates | |
| 1992 | The Waterdance | Pat | |
| 1992 | FernGully: The Last Rainforest | Narrator/Magi Lune (voice) | |
| 1992 | Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me | Sarah Palmer | |
| 1992 | Chain of Desire | Linda Bailey | |
| 1993 | Stone Soup | Olympia | |
| 1993 | Even Cowgirls Get the Blues | Mrs. Maria Hankshaw | |
| 1994 | The Last Laugh | Louise | Short film |
| 1994 | The Crew | Gloria Pierce | |
| 1994 | Drop Zone | Winona | |
| 1995 | Desert Winds | Jackie's Mother | |
| 1995 | The Passion of Darkly Noon | Roxy | |
| 1996 | A Family Thing | Ruby | |
| 1996 | Bastard Out of Carolina | Granny | |
| 1997 | Seed | Mother's Voice | Short film |
| 1997 | Psycho Sushi | Great Aunt | |
| 1997 | George B. | The Mother | |
| 1997 | Dead Men Can't Dance | Brig. Gen. Burke | |
| 1997 | Annie's Garden | Mrs. Felicity Barnes | |
| 1997 | Sparkler | Sherri | |
| 1998 | Armageddon | Dottie | |
| 1998 | Dante's View | Geraldine | |
| 1999 | Trash | Mrs. Wendy DeMarie | |
| 1999 | A Texas Funeral | Murtis | |
| 1999 | Me and Will | Edith | |
| 2000 | Home the Horror Story | Grace Parkinson | |
| 2000 | A Fate Foretold | Olga | Short film |
| 2000 | Puppy Love | Jeanette Foley | Short film |
| 2000 | Gone in 60 Seconds | Helen Raines | |
| 2001 | They Crawl | Mrs. Gage | |
| 2002 | R.S.V.P. | Mary Franklin | |
| 2002 | No Good Deed | Mrs. Karen Quarre | |
| 2003 | The Wind Effect | Allison | Short film |
| 2004 | The Last Letter | Mrs. Stella Allison | |
| 2004 | Chrystal | Gladys | |
| 2004 | The Grudge | Emma Williams | |
| 2004 | Sabine and the Two-Headed Baby | Sabine | Short film |
| 2006 | Inland Empire | Visitor #1 | |
| 2007 | Careless | Adrienne | |
| 2007 | License to Wed | Grandma Jones | |
| 2007 | Alternate Endings | Mom | Short film |
| 2008 | The Brothel | Madam | |
| 2009 | Bob Funk | Mrs. June Funk | |
| 2009 | My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done? | Mrs. Joan McCullum | |
| 2013 | Wrong Cops | Donna | |
| 2013 | Trancers: City of Lost Angels | The Warden | Short film (shot in 1988) |
| 2014 | Blind Malice | Nanna | |
| 2014 | Twin Peaks: The Missing Pieces | Sarah Palmer | Archived footage |
| 2014 | The Judge | Mrs. Anita Blackwell | |
| 2014 | The Makings of You | Margaret | a.k.a. Never My Love |
| 2015 | Only Child | Delores | |
| 2015 | Christmas at Rosemont | Josephine | |
| 2019 | Polaroid | Lena Sable | |
| 2020 | The Grudge: The Untold Chapter | Emma Williams | Archived footage |
| 2021 | Cryptozoo | Joan (voice) | |
Television :
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1978 | The Million Dollar Dixie Deliverance | Widow Cummins | TV movie |
| 1979 | Concrete Cowboys | Mrs. Kate Barnaby | Episode: "Concrete Cowboys" |
| 1979 | Freedom Road | Ruth Lait | TV movie |
| 1980 | CBS Afternoon Playhouse | | Episode: "Lost in Death Valley" |
| 1980 | Blinded by the Light | Emily | TV movie |
| 1981 | East of Eden | Mrs. Catherine Ames | TV miniseries |
| 1981 | Hart to Hart | Ethyl | Episode: "A Couple of Harts" |
| 1982 | The Executioner's Song | Kathryne Baker | TV movie |
| 1983 | Tales of the Gold Monkey | Dr. Clouet | Episode: "Last Chance Louie" |
| 1983 | M.A.D.D.: Mothers Against Drunk Drivers | Silvie Alice Kohler | TV movie |
| 1983 | Cagney & Lacey | Adele | Episode: "Affirmative Action" |
| 1984 | My Mother's Secret Life | Maggie Ryan | TV movie |
| 1984 | Knots Landing | Chambermaid | Episode: "Negotiations" |
| 1984 | The Burning Bed | Flossie Hughes | TV movie |
| 1984 | Paper Dolls | Cathy | Episode: "1.8" |
| 1985 | ABC Afterschool Special | Mrs. Linton | Episode: "One Too Many" |
| 1985 | Santa Barbara | Theda Bassett | 17 episodes |
| 1985 | North Beach and Rawhide | Hearings Officer | TV movie |
| 1985 | Shadow Chasers | Mary Komatar | Episode: "Shadow Chasers: Part 1" |
| 1986 | Hill Street Blues | Terry Sylvestri | Episode: "Das Blues" Episode: "Scales of Justice" |
| 1986 | Cagney & Lacey | Eva Sikorski | Episode: "Model Citizens" |
| 1987 | Falcon Crest | Mabel Burton | Episode: "When the Bough Breaks" Episode: "The Cradle Will Fall" |
| 1987 | Mistress | Deanie | TV movie |
| 1988 | The Bronx Zoo | Mrs. Barris | Episode: "Ties That Bind" |
| 1988 | My Father, My Son | Mouza | TV movie |
| 1988 | Shooter | Sister Marie | TV movie |
| 1988 | Empty Nest | Eva Barrett | Episode: "Pilot" |
| 1989 | The Ryan White Story | Gloria White | TV movie |
| 1989 | Unsub | Alma | Episode: "White Bone Demon" |
| 1989 | A Deadly Silence | Psychologist | TV movie |
| 1989 | Moonlighting | Rita | Episode: "In 'N Outlaws"; uncredited |
| 1990 | Tales from the Crypt | Mrs. Colbert | Episode: "The Secret" |
| 1990 | Hometown Boy Makes Good | Helen Geary | TV movie |
| 1990–1991 | Twin Peaks | Sarah Palmer | 13 episodes |
| 1991 | Prison Stories: Women on the Inside | Genevieve | TV movie |
| 1991 | Blood Ties | The Woman | TV movie |
| 1991 | Intimate Stranger | Dana P. Ashley | TV movie |
| 1992 | Freshman Dorm | | Episode: "Pilot" |
| 1992 | A House of Secrets and Lies | Ruby | TV movie |
| 1992, 1996–1998 | Seinfeld | Mrs. Ross | 5 episodes |
| 1993 | Bonds of Love | Emma | TV movie |
| 1993 | Miracle Child | Adeleine Newberry | TV movie |
| 1993 | Black Widow Murders: The Blanche Taylor Moore Story | Ethel | TV movie |
| 1993 | Banner Times | Momma | TV movie |
| 1993 | Double Deception | Dr. Kester | TV movie |
| 1993 | Sirens | Female Store Owner | Episode: "Keeping the Peace" |
| 1993 | Angel Falls | Cuema | Episode: "Fall from Grace" |
| 1994 | Lifestories: Families in Crisis | Sandy Henry | Episode: "A Body to Die For: The Aaron Henry Story" |
| 1995 | Crazy for a Kiss | Pearl Kinross | TV movie |
| 1995 | Children of the Dust | Rose | TV movie |
| 1995 | Under Suspicion | Lily Cassins | Episode: "Hostage Standoff" Episode: "Wrongful Shooting" |
| 1995 | Empty Nest | Scarlett | Episode: "Life Goes On: Part 1" Episode: "Life Goes On: Part 2" |
| 1995 | Fallen Angels | Virna | Episode: "The Black Bargain" |
| 1995 | NYPD Blue | Wanda Padzik | Episode: "The Bookie and the Kooky Cookie" |
| 1996 | A Promise to Carolyn | Francie Harper | TV movie |
| 1996 | Second Noah | Mrs. Cheval | Episode: "Stormy Weather" |
| 1996 | Murder at My Door | Grandma | TV movie |
| 1996 | The Burning Zone | Retired CIA Agent | Episode: "Touch of the Dead" |
| 1997 | NYPD Blue | Millie Banks | Episode: "A Remington Original" |
| 1997 | High Incident | Mattie | Episode: "Remote Control" |
| 1997 | Over the Top | Dolly | Episode: "The Southern Story" |
| 1997 | The Devil's Child | Rose DeMarco | TV movie |
| 1998 | Dharma & Greg | Naomi | Episode: "It Takes a Village" |
| 1998 | Houdini | Mrs. Weiss | TV movie |
| 1998 | Profiler | Mrs. Boudreaux | Episode: "The Sum of Her Parts" |
| 1999 | The King of Queens | Veronica | Episode: "S'ain't Valentine's" |
| 2000 | Jesse | Grandma Rose | Episode: "Jesse Gives Birth" |
| 2000 | The West Wing | Isobel | Episode: "In the Shadow of Two Gunmen: Part II" |
| 2002 | The Guardian | Judith | Episode: "The Dead" |
| 2002 | The Glow | Sylvia Goodstein | TV movie |
| 2002–2003 | John Doe | Yellow Teeth | 6 episodes |
| 2003 | Charmed | The Crone | Episode: "Baby's First Demon" Episode: "Sense and Sense Ability" |
| 2005 | Medium | Connie Buckley | Episode: "The Other Side of the Tracks" |
| 2006–2011 | Big Love | Lois Henrickson | 52 episodes |
| 2013 | The Killing | Mama Dips | 3 episodes |
| 2015 | Ray Donovan | Miss Monassian | 6 episodes |
| 2016 | Outcast | Mildred | 4 episodes |
| 2017 | Santa Clarita Diet | Mrs. Baković | 2 episodes |
| 2017 | Twin Peaks: The Return | Sarah Palmer | 6 episodes |
| 2018 | The Alienist | John's Grandmother | 4 episodes |
| 2018 | Ballers | Enid | 2 episodes |
| 2019 | Hot Streets | Senkah (voice) | Episode: "Super Agent 2" |
| 2022 | Mike | Camille D'Amato | 3 episodes |
Video games :
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1993 | Voyeur | Margaret Hawke | Actress (FMV) |
| 2022 | The Quarry | Eliza Vorez | Voice, motion capture and likeness |