Carel Struycken

Carel Struycken (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈkaːrəl ˈstrœy̯kə(n)]; born 30 July 1948) is a Dutch film, television, and stage actor. He is known for playing the Giant/Fireman in Twin Peaks (1990–1991, 2017), Mr. Homn in Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987–1992), and Lurch in the films The Addams Family (1991), Addams Family Values (1993) and Addams Family Reunion (1998). He also appeared in the films Gerald's Game (2017) and Doctor Sleep (2019).

Carel Struycken
Struycken at the March 2016 Brussels Comic-Con
Born (1948-07-30) 30 July 1948
OccupationActor
Years active1978–present
Height7 ft (213 cm)
Children2
Websitecarelstruycken.com

Early life

Struycken was born in The Hague, Netherlands. When he was four years old, his family moved to Curaçao in the Netherlands Antilles. There, at age 15, he composed several Caribbean waltzes. At 16, he returned to his home country, where he finished secondary school. He graduated from the directing program at the film school in Amsterdam. After that, he spent a year at the American Film Institute, in Los Angeles. His distinctive facial features and height—he is 7 feet tall—are due to acromegaly.[1]

Career

In 1978, Struycken was "discovered" as an actor at the corner of Hollywood and Vine in Los Angeles by a woman who had abandoned her car in the middle of the street, calling after him: "We need you for a movie!".[2] The film was Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.

Struycken played Terak in the 1985 TV film Ewoks: The Battle for Endor, a spin-off to the original Star Wars trilogy.

Struycken appeared as Fidel, Jack Nicholson's manservant, in the 1987 film The Witches of Eastwick. That same year, he appeared as Mr. Homn in "Haven", an episode of the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation, a role he would reprise in four more episodes until 1992.

In 1991, he starred as butler Lurch in the feature film The Addams Family. He reprised the role in the 1993 sequel, Addams Family Values, and the TV movie Addams Family Reunion. Director Barry Sonnenfeld also picked Struycken for a small role in Men in Black.

He portrayed the mystical guide-character "The Giant" in David Lynch and Mark Frost's hit 1990–91 ABC television series Twin Peaks. He also appears in the 2017 sequel series, Twin Peaks: The Return. He appears as the “Moonlight Man” in the 2017 Netflix original movie Gerald’s Game.

Struycken collaborated on several projects with writer and director Rene Daalder, including the 1986 punk rock musical Population: 1, which featured Tomata du Plenty, of The Screamers, and which was released on DVD in October 2008.[3]

Personal life

Struycken is a vegetarian and likes gardening. He is married to an American woman and has two children. He lives in the Los Angeles area. His brother Peter Struycken, a noted Dutch artist, won the 2012 Heineken Prize for Arts of the Royal Netherlands Academy for Sciences.[4]

Struycken is also an avid photographer. He maintains a website devoted to his spherical panoramas[5] and shares a photography blog with Josh Korwin.[6]

Filmography

Year Title Role Notes
1978[7] Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band The Brute
1980 Die Laughing Gregor the Giant
1980 Go West, Young Man Dr. Struycken
1984 The Prey The Monster
1985 Ewoks: The Battle for Endor Terak (TV Movie)
1987 The Witches of Eastwick Fidel
1988 Night of the Kickfighters Ponti
1990 Framed Jinx (TV Movie)
1991 Servants of Twilight Kyle Barlow
1991 The Addams Family Lurch
1993 Journey to the Center of the Earth Dallas (TV Movie)
1993 Addams Family Values Lurch
1994 Oblivion Gaunt
1995 Under the Hula Moon Clyde
1995 Out There Mr. Burke (TV Movie)
1996 Oblivion 2: Backlash Gaunt
1997 Men in Black Arquillian
1998 I Woke Up Early The Day I Died Undertaker
1998 Addams Family Reunion Lurch (TV Movie)
1999 Enemy Action Eyepatch
2000 Tinnef Kran (Video short)
2001 The Vampire Hunters Club Host Vampire (Video short)
2002 Science Fiction Strange man
2002 Fatal Kiss Mortician (TV Movie)
2003 The War of the Starfighters (voice)
2004 Agavé J.C / Cowboy
2005 The Fallen Ones High Priest #1 (TV Movie)
2008 Sinterklaas en het Geheim van het Grote Boek Dr. Ferdinand
2014 Trophy Heads Brother Humphrey
2016 Another Brick in the Wall Roy
2017 Gerald's Game Moonlight Man
2019 Doctor Sleep Grandpa Flick

Television series

Year Title Role Notes
1987 Hunter Occult Store Owner Season 4, Episodes "City of Passion: Part 1'
"City of Passion: Part 2"
1988 St. Elsewhere The Giant Season 6, Episode "Fairytale Theater"
1990–1991 Twin Peaks The Giant
1987–1992 Star Trek: The Next Generation Mr. Homn 5 episodes
1994 Babylon 5 Trader Season 2, Episode "Soul Mates"
1996 Star Trek: Voyager Spectre Season 2, Episode "The Thaw"
2002 Charmed Tall Man Season 4, Episode "Womb Raider"
2006 My Name Is Earl Paul Season 2, Episode "Sticks & Stones"
2010 Cold Case Lester "Gargantuan" Smith Season 7, Episode 14 "Metamorphisis"
2014 The Blacklist Matthew Kincaid Season 2, Episode 6 "The Mombasa Cartel (No. 114)"
2017 Twin Peaks: The Return The Fireman

Music videos

References

  1. Dennis McLellan for the Los Angeles Times. December 27, 1992 Shedding Light on a Rare Disease : Woman Hopes O.C. Group Will Increase Awareness of Life-Threatening Effects of Excessive-Growth Illness
  2. Carel Struycken tells the anecdote about his discovery as an actor in an interview on the daily Dutch TV show De Wereld Draait Door Archived 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine, October 2, 2006 (at 41:08 min.)
  3. "Population: 1". population1movie.com. Retrieved 22 December 2016.
  4. KNAW Dr. A.H. Heineken Prize for the Arts: Peter Struycken. Retrieved July 31, 2014
  5. Struycken, Carel.Spherical Panoramas. Retrieved July 21, 2012.
  6. Picture Bubbles Blog. Retrieved July 21, 2012.
  7. Source for filmography: Carel Struycken, accessed on October 3, 2006

Further reading

  • Carel Struycken: Leaning Toward the Paleolithic, by Christopher Nyerges, The Backwoodsman Magazine, July/August 2013, Vol.34 No. 4, published by Backwoodsman Magazine, Fulton, Texas. Pages 26–27
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