Actress Catherine Coulson has died. She was an Oregon Shakespeare Festival company member, appearing in shows over 22 seasons.
Clara Stepaneck in The Magic Fire (1997 at OSF, 1998 at the Kennedy Center, and Big Mama in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (2010).
Courtesy of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival
Millions of Americans got to know her through her work with David Lynch. Coulson appeared in his breakthrough film,"Eraserhead", and created the role of Margaret The Log Lady for Lynch's series "Twin Peaks"
Coulson told Oregon Art Beat in 2010 the germ of the idea came up during production for "Eraserhead".
"He wanted to do a TV Series called, 'I'll Test My Log With Every Branch of Knowledge,'" Coulson remembered. "It would be a young woman with a plaid skirt and glasses who'd carry a log, ponderosa pine, and she'd go to various experts and get their opinion about the log."
When the role emerged during "Twin Peaks," The Log Lady would reveal hidden truths to those with the patience to listen to her log. In one typical scene, Coulson's Margaret imparts a characteristically opaque clue.
"We don't know," The Log Lady intones, "what will happen or when, but there are owls in the roadhouse."
"The roadhouse…" whispers Kyle McLachlan's agent Dale Cooper.
Coulson's delightfully weird characterization became a cult favorite.
OSF's artistic director, Bill Rauch said Coulson was in the first play that he directed at OSF. He described her as a generous and vibrant person to work with.
Coulson was 71. She died at home following a battle with cancer.