Al Strobel

Albert Michael Strobel (January 28, 1940^[1]– December 2, 2022) was an American actor best known for his recurring role on David Lynch and Mark Frost's Twin Peaks as Phillip Michael Gerard, also known as Mike.

Al Strobel
Born	Albert Michael Strobel January 28, 1940 Madison, Wisconsin, U.S.
Died	December 2, 2022 (aged 82) Eugene, Oregon, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1960s–2005 2015–2017
Notable work	Twin Peaks

Early life

Strobel was born in Madison, Wisconsin. Strobel lost his left arm at the shoulder as a result of a car accident when he was 17 years old. While living in Oregon in the early 1970s he did theatrical work at the University of Oregon and co-founded the Church of the Creative. At the Grateful Dead's August 27, 1972, concert in Veneta he shot video which ended up in the film Sunshine Daydream.^[2][3]

Career

Strobel starred in "scores" of local productions in Eugene, Oregon from the late 1960s right up to the early 80's.^[4] He was the star, producer and overall "moving force" behind a television dramatization of Anton Chekhov's Swansong, which aired on OEPBS and was called "a first for Oregon educational television."^[5]

Strobel was cast in Twin Peaks, the series which made him a star, without an audition or even meeting David Lynch.^[4]

Strobel appeared in the Twin Peaks series as well as Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me, and had roles in the films Shadow Play, Megaville, and Ricochet River (starring Kate Hudson). He appeared in productions of Romeo and Juliet, Oklahoma! and Richard III. He also appeared in the television movie Child of Darkness, Child of Light. As early as 2005 he had retired and was living in Eugene, Oregon.^[6][7]

In 2015, Strobel appeared in a video supporting David Lynch following his departure from the Twin Peaks revival slated for 2016, along with numerous other Twin Peaks cast members. David Lynch later returned to the revival and Strobel came out of retirement to reprise his role as Philip Gerard. The new series aired on Showtime in 2017.^[8]

Personal life and death

Strobel died in Eugene, Oregon, on December 2, 2022, at age 82.^{[1][9][10][11]}

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1986	Shadow Play	Byron	[12][13]
1990	Sitting Target	Man in Dreams	Direct-to-video[14]
1990	Megaville	Speaker	[15]
1992	Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me	Phillip Michael Gerard, aka Mike	[12][13]
2001	Ricochet River	One-Armed Man	[12]
2014	Twin Peaks: The Missing Pieces	Phillip Michael Gerard	[16][17]

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1989–1991	Twin Peaks	Phillip Michael Gerard, aka Mike / One-Armed Man	10 episodes[13]
1991	Child of Darkness, Child of Light	Dr. Seville	Television film[12]
2017	Twin Peaks	Phillip Gerard/Mike	9 episodes[18][19][20]