Carel Struycken (; born 30 July 1948) is a

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

actor. He is known for playing the Giant/Fireman in the television series ''

Twin Peaks ''Twin Peaks'' is an American Mystery fiction, mystery serial drama television series created by Mark Frost and David Lynch. It premiered on American Broadcasting Company, ABC on April 8, 1990, and originally ran for two seasons until its cance ...

'' (1990–1991, 2017), the occasional guest role of

Mr. Homn This is a list of characters from the science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and t ...

in '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'' (1987–1992), and the household butler Lurch in the three 1990s ''Addams Family'' films. He also appeared in the films ''

Gerald's Game ''Gerald's Game'' is a 1992 suspense novel by American writer Stephen King. The story is about a woman whose husband dies of a heart attack while she is handcuffed to a bed, and, following the subsequent realization that she is trapped with litt ...

'' (2017) and '' Doctor Sleep'' (2019).

Early life

Struycken was born on 30 July 1948 in

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. When he was 4 years old, his family moved to

Curaçao Curaçao ( ; ; pap, Kòrsou, ), officially the Country of Curaçao ( nl, Land Curaçao; pap, Pais Kòrsou), is a Lesser Antilles island country in the southern Caribbean Sea and the Dutch Caribbean region, about north of the Venezuela coast ...

in the

Netherlands Antilles nl, In vrijheid verenigd"Unified by freedom" , national_anthem = , common_languages = Dutch English Papiamento , demonym = Netherlands Antillean , capital = Willemstad , year_start = 1954 , year_end = 2010 , date_start = 15 December , ...

. There, at age 15, he composed several Caribbean

waltz The waltz ( ), meaning "to roll or revolve") is a ballroom and folk dance, normally in triple ( time), performed primarily in closed position. History There are many references to a sliding or gliding dance that would evolve into the wa ...

es. 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 Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

. After that, he spent a year at the

American Film Institute The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private funding and public membership fees. Leade ...

, in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

Career

In 1978, Struycken was discovered as an actor at the corner of

Hollywood and Vine Hollywood and Vine, the intersection of Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street in Hollywood, a district of Los Angeles, became known in the 1920s for its concentration of radio and movie-related businesses. The Hollywood Walk of Fame is centered ...

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!". 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 John Joseph Nicholson (born April 22, 1937) is an American retired actor and filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest actors of all time. In many of his films, he played rebels against the social structure. He received numerous ...

's manservant, in the 1987 film ''

The Witches of Eastwick ''The Witches of Eastwick'' is a 1984 novel by American writer John Updike. A sequel, '' The Widows of Eastwick'', was published in 2008. Plot The story, set in the fictional Rhode Island town of Eastwick in the early 1970s, follows the witc ...

''. That same year, he appeared as

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 ''The Addams Family'' is a fictional family created by American cartoonist Charles Addams. They originally appeared in a series of 150 unrelated single-panel cartoons, about half of which were originally published in ''The New Yorker'' over ...

''. He reprised the role in the 1993 sequel, ''

Addams Family Values ''Addams Family Values'' is a 1993 American supernatural black comedy film directed by Barry Sonnenfeld and written by Paul Rudnick, based on the characters created by Charles Addams. It is the sequel to '' The Addams Family'' (1991). The fil ...

'', and the TV film '' Addams Family Reunion''. Director

Barry Sonnenfeld Barry Sonnenfeld (born April 1, 1953) is an American filmmaker and television director. He originally worked as a cinematographer for the Coen brothers before directing films such as ''The Addams Family'' (1991) and its sequel ''Addams Family Va ...

also picked Struycken for a small role in ''

Men in Black In popular culture and UFO conspiracy theories, men in black (MIB) are purported men dressed in black suits who claim to be quasi- government agents, who harass, threaten, or sometimes even assassinate unidentified flying object (UFO) witnesse ...

''. He portrayed the mystical guide-character "The Giant" in

David Lynch David Keith Lynch (born January 20, 1946) is an American filmmaker, visual artist and actor. A recipient of an Academy Honorary Award in 2019, Lynch has received three Academy Award nominations for Best Director, and the César Award for Be ...

and

Mark Frost Mark Frost (born November 25, 1953) is an American novelist, screenwriter, film-and-television producer and director. He is the co-creator of the mystery television series ''Twin Peaks'' (1990–1991; 2017) and was a writer and executive story ...

's hit 1990–91

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

television series ''

''. He also appears in the 2017 sequel series, '' Twin Peaks: The Return''. He appears as the "Moonlight Man" in the 2017 film ''Gerald's Game''. Struycken collaborated on several projects with writer and director

Rene Daalder Rene Daalder (born René Daalder 3 March 1944 in Texel, North Holland, died December 31, 2019, sometimes credited as Renee Daalder) was a Dutch writer and director. He lived in Los Angeles. Originally a protégé of Russ Meyer, Daalder has worked ...

, including the 1986 punk rock musical '' Population: 1'', which featured Tomata du Plenty, of

The Screamers The Screamers were an American electropunk group founded in 1975. They were among the first wave of the L.A. punk rock scene. The Los Angeles Times applied the label "techno-punk" to the band in 1978. In the documentary '' Punk: Attitude'' ( ...

, and which was released on DVD in October 2008.

Personal life

Struycken is a vegetarian and likes gardening. His distinctive facial features and height—he is tall—are due to acromegaly. He and his American wife have two children. They reside in the

area. His brother Peter Struycken won the 2012 Heineken Prize for Arts of the Royal Netherlands Academy for Sciences. Struycken is an avid

photographer A photographer (the Greek language, Greek φῶς (''phos''), meaning "light", and γραφή (''graphê''), meaning "drawing, writing", together meaning "drawing with light") is a person who makes photographs. Duties and types of photographe ...

. He maintains a website devoted to his spherical panoramas and shares a photography blog with Josh Korwin.

Filmography

Television series

Music videos

* 1983 " Mexican Radio" by

Wall of Voodoo Wall of Voodoo was an American rock band from Los Angeles, California, United States. Though largely an underground act for the majority of its existence, the band came to prominence when its 1982 single "Mexican Radio" became a hit on MTV an ...

* 1996 " A.D.I.D.A.S." by

Korn Korn (stylized as KoЯn, or occasionally KoRn) is an American nu metal band from Bakersfield, California, formed in 1993. The band is notable for pioneering the nu metal genre and bringing it into the mainstream. Originally formed in 1993 ...

References

External links

Carel Struycken Website
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Struycken, Carel 1948 births Living people 20th-century Dutch male actors 21st-century Dutch male actors Dutch composers Dutch emigrants to the United States Dutch male film actors Dutch male television actors Male actors from The Hague People with acromegaly