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Carel Struycken
Dutch actor (born 1948) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Carel Struycken (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈkaːrəl ˈstrœykə(n)]; born 30 July 1948) is a Dutch actor. He is known for playing the Giant/Fireman in the television series Twin Peaks (1990–1991, 2017), the occasional guest role of Mr. Homn in Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987–1992), and the household butler Lurch in the Addams Family films of 1991, 1993 and 1998. He also appeared in the films Men in Black (1997), Gerald's Game (2017) and Doctor Sleep (2019).
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Early life
Struycken was born on 30 July 1948 in The Hague. When he was 4 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.
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Career
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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 film 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 film Gerald's Game and “Grandpa Flick” in Doctor Sleep, the 2019 sequel to Stephen King’s The Shining.
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]
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Personal life
At age 20, he was diagnosed with acromegaly, which explains his tall height of 2.14 m (7 feet) and distinctive facial features.[1]
Struycken is an avid photographer. He maintains a website devoted to his spherical panoramas[4] and shares a photography blog with Josh Korwin.[5]
He and his wife have two children. They reside in the Los Angeles area.
His brother Peter Struycken won the 2012 Heineken Prize for Arts of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences.[6]
In January 2025, his home was destroyed by the Eaton Fire.[7]
Filmography
Film
Television
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Music videos
- 1983 "Mexican Radio" by Wall of Voodoo
- 1996 "A.D.I.D.A.S." by Korn
References
Further reading
External links
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