Annette McCarthy
McCarthy in Twin Peaks (1990)
Born(1958-04-12)April 12, 1958
DiedJanuary 6, 2023(2023-01-06) (aged 64)
Years active
  • 1978–2005 (musician, actress)
  • 2005–2023 (chef, director at sound studio)
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1984, separated)​
Children2
RelativesJoan Hackett (aunt)

Annette McCarthy (April 12, 1958 – January 6, 2023) was an American film, television and stage actress, musician, and later director at a sound studio and executive chef, best known for her role as Evelyn Marsh in the second season of Twin Peaks, and as Dr. Wendy Oliver in the cult film Creature (1985). She also appeared in several television films and series, including Baywatch and noted episodes of Night Court and Riptide.[1][2][3][4]

Career

McCarthy was stage trained in both New York City and Los Angeles and continued to work in theater. She also acted in several commercials.[4] Earlier in her career, she was also a rock musician, opening for Twisted Sister.[5] She began acting in 1978.[6]

Film

McCarthy made her feature film debut in Second Thoughts (1983). She would later play Dr. Wendy Oliver in Creature (1985), considered to be her breakout role.[7][3][8][9][10][11]

Television

Under contract to ABC, McCarthy starred in several made-for-TV movies, including her debut A Cry For Love (1980), Crazy Times (1981), and Fugitive Among Us (1992).[12][13][14]

McCarthy had roles in a variety of major television shows, including: St. Elsewhere, The Twilight Zone, Happy Days, Beauty and the Beast, Magnum, P.I., The Fall Guy, and played a lesbian character in an episode of Night Court called "Passion Plundered" that has been noted by critics.[14][15]

A notable role came in Riptide. McCarthy also played "Rosalind Grant", the name derived from Rosalind Russell and Cary Grant but the character itself a parody of Cybill Shepherd's character Maddie Hayes in Moonlighting, in the penultimate episode of the series called "If You Can't Beat Em, Join Em." The episode aired shortly before the series' cancellation, in part due to it being beaten in the ratings by Moonlighting.[2][16] This episode drew a lot of press attention at the time, with both Entertainment Tonight and the Los Angeles Times running features on it.[17][2]

She also played wealthy heiress Kathleen Huntington on a few episodes of Baywatch, which was her final on-screen role.[4]

Twin Peaks

One of her most notable roles was in Twin Peaks. McCarthy had been introduced to the show by Steven Soderbergh, a friend of her husband's, sound editor Mark Mangini, who showed her the pilot.[18] She had a casting meeting with Johanna Ray and was later personally hired by David Lynch.[19][20][21][22] Her character Evelyn Marsh[23] was a controversial addition, appearing in a string of episodes in a storyline that was meant to emulate film noir[24] during a weak stretch of the show's second season,[25] shortly after the conclusion of its main plotline (the reveal of Laura Palmer's killer) when the writers were struggling to come up with new storylines. One episode was one of the rare directorial projects of actress Diane Keaton, which McCarthy found memorable.[26][27][28][29][1] McCarthy commented on her role in a later interview, saying "my scenes with James (Marshall) were a little overdramatic and some of the lines were pretty silly, but it was cute, what can I say?"[19][5] Marshall also commented on working with McCarthy, saying, "It was totally fun working with Annette though, she was really cool. She was really fun and a really good actress."[19][5]

Personal life

McCarthy was born on April 12, 1958,[30] and was the niece of Oscar-nominated actress Joan Hackett.[19][8]

McCarthy majored in theater in the early 1980s.[31] She married sound editor Mark Mangini in 1984, and they had two sons. They separated or divorced some time later.[32][33][34][35]

McCarthy was a babysitter for both Sofia Coppola and Zooey Deschanel.[19][5]

After her role in Baywatch in 1995, she semi-retired from acting, though she continued to appear in theater and commercials for at least another decade, until 2005.[6] She later became an executive chef, specializing in Italian cuisine,[5][6] and a director of client services at Mercury Sound Studios.[6]

Death

McCarthy died on January 6, 2023, at the age of 64.[36][37][8][35][38] Film historian Steve Lee, a friend of McCarthy, paid tribute to her, referencing how much time they spent together and their picnics at Hollywood Forever, where they would "talk for hours about everything".[35] James Marshall said on Instagram, "It was so great working with her. She brought life to a plotline that was unappealing."[39]

References

  1. ^ a b Murray, Noel (May 11, 2017). "'Twin Peaks' Season 2, Episodes 8–21: The Mumbo Jumbo (Published 2017)". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on January 13, 2021. Retrieved February 6, 2021.
  2. ^ a b c "SPOOFING AROUND ON 'RIPTIDE'". Los Angeles Times. April 16, 1986. Archived from the original on January 12, 2021. Retrieved January 27, 2021.
  3. ^ a b "Creature". Horror Movie Database. Retrieved February 10, 2021.[permanent dead link]
  4. ^ a b c "Annette McCarthy". TV Guide. Archived from the original on February 1, 2021. Retrieved January 27, 2021.
  5. ^ a b c d e "Lost in the Movies: Evelyn Marsh (TWIN PEAKS Character Series #46)". lostinthemovies.com. Retrieved January 14, 2023.
  6. ^ a b c d "Annette McCarthy LinkedIn page".
  7. ^ Maltin, Leonard (September 2, 2014). Leonard Maltin's 2015 Movie Guide. Penguin. ISBN 978-0-698-18361-2.
  8. ^ a b c "Nie żyje Annette McCarthy. Aktorka miała 64 lata" [Annette McCarthy is dead. The actress was 64 years old] (in Polish). WP Film. January 10, 2023. Archived from the original on January 10, 2023. Retrieved January 10, 2023.
  9. ^ Fischer, Dennis (June 17, 2011). Science Fiction Film Directors, 1895-1998. McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-6091-5.
  10. ^ Barsanti, Chris (September 22, 2014). The Sci-Fi Movie Guide: The Universe of Film from Alien to Zardoz. Visible Ink Press. ISBN 978-1-57859-534-1.
  11. ^ Lentz, Harris M. (2001). Science Fiction, Horror & Fantasy Film and Television Credits: Filmography. McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-0951-8.
  12. ^ O'Connor, John J. (February 3, 1992). "Review/Television; A Father and His Son In 'The Broken Cord' (Published 1992)". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on January 15, 2018. Retrieved February 6, 2021.
  13. ^ Prouty (1994). Variety TV REV 1991–92 17. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-0-8240-3796-3.
  14. ^ a b Tropiano, Stephen (May 1, 2002). The Prime Time Closet: A History of Gays and Lesbians on TV. Hal Leonard Corporation. ISBN 978-1-4768-4798-6.
  15. ^ "Annette McCarthy". LezWatch.TV. Archived from the original on February 1, 2021. Retrieved January 27, 2021.
  16. ^ Abbott, Jon (September 12, 2009). Stephen J. Cannell Television Productions: A History of All Series and Pilots. McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-5401-3.
  17. ^ "The Moonlighting Parody Episode of Riptide". davidandmaddie.com. Archived from the original on May 7, 2021. Retrieved February 1, 2021.
  18. ^ Ro, April Salud, Crystal. "99 Things You Might Not Have Known About 'Twin Peaks'". BuzzFeed. Retrieved January 14, 2023.((cite web)): CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  19. ^ a b c d e "Reflections: An Oral History of Twin Peaks" by Brad Dukes|Dukes, Brad (June 24, 2014). Reflections: An Oral History of Twin Peaks. Short/Tall Press. ISBN 978-0615968834.
  20. ^ Muir, John Kenneth (February 25, 2013). Terror Television: American Series, 1970-1999. McFarland. ISBN 978-1-4766-0416-9.
  21. ^ Clarke, James; Hughes, David; Smith, Jim (2001). The Complete Lynch. Virgin. ISBN 978-0-7535-0598-4.
  22. ^ Lavery, David (1995). Full of Secrets: Critical Approaches to Twin Peaks. Wayne State University Press. ISBN 978-0-8143-2506-3.
  23. ^ "Lost in the Movies: Evelyn Marsh (TWIN PEAKS Character Series #46)". lostinthemovies.com. Archived from the original on January 28, 2021. Retrieved February 25, 2021.
  24. ^ "The Surprising (Other) Reason for the Sunset Boulevard Allusion in Twin Peaks". 25YL. August 26, 2017. Archived from the original on January 21, 2021. Retrieved February 25, 2021.
  25. ^ Evans, Charles (May 18, 2017). "Twin Peaks, The Second Season: A look back, and why you don't have to hate it just because…". Medium. Archived from the original on January 7, 2021. Retrieved February 25, 2021.
  26. ^ Wilkins, Budd (May 13, 2017). "Twin Peaks: Every Episode Ranked". Slant Magazine. Archived from the original on February 6, 2021. Retrieved January 27, 2021.
  27. ^ Weinstock, Jeffrey Andrew; Spooner, Catherine (November 17, 2015). Return to Twin Peaks: New Approaches to Materiality, Theory, and Genre on Television. Springer. ISBN 978-1-137-55695-0.
  28. ^ Nochimson, Martha P. (November 1, 1997). The Passion of David Lynch: Wild at Heart in Hollywood. University of Texas Press. ISBN 978-0-292-75566-6.
  29. ^ Video Watchdog. Tim & Donna Lucas. 1990.
  30. ^ "Nie żyje Annette McCarthy. Była gwiazdą "Miasteczka Twin Peaks"". Świat Seriali. January 10, 2023. Archived from the original on January 10, 2023. Retrieved January 12, 2023.
  31. ^ "Atriz Annette McCarthy, de Twin Peaks e A Criatura, morre aos 64 anos de idade". Retrieved January 14, 2023.
  32. ^ "MyHeritage". myheritage.com. Retrieved January 14, 2023.
  33. ^ "Annette McCarthy on Twitter". Retrieved January 14, 2023 – via Twitter.
  34. ^ "Annette McCarthy on Instagram: "My boys, Matt and Joe Mangini, getting ready with their dad."". Instagram. Retrieved January 14, 2023.
  35. ^ a b c "Annette McCarthy unexpectedly passed away recently. I loved her dearly. She was one of my best friends. We spent a lot of time together... I especially loved our picnics at Hollywood Forever where we'd talk for hours about everything". Steve Lee on Facebook. Archived from the original on January 10, 2023. Retrieved January 10, 2023.
  36. ^ "Special Issue 2024 Magazine". SAG-AFTRA. p. 107. Retrieved January 26, 2024.
  37. ^ "Spring 2023 magazine". SAG-AFTRA. p. 87. Retrieved May 16, 2023.
  38. ^ "Annette McCarthy". Aveleyman. Archived from the original on January 12, 2023. Retrieved January 12, 2023.
  39. ^ "Annette McCarthy left us. It was so great working with her. She brought life to a plotline that was unappealing. Condolences to her family". James Marshall on Instagram. Archived from the original on January 13, 2023. Retrieved January 13, 2023.

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