Michael Ontkean makes the sensible man worth watching. We rate his unforced steadiness, especially in Twin Peaks, where playing Harry S. Truman without fuss helps the stranger people around him remain believable.
Fi1m perspective
In Twin Peaks (1990), watch Harry S. Truman alongside Dale Cooper: Michael Ontkean gives the partnership someone we can take at face value. Kyle MacLachlan's solemn delivery can make Cooper funny, then unsettling, while Ontkean offers more straightforward reassurance. We value the way he supports that partnership without asking to be its centre. Truman need not become another eccentric to justify the attention, and Ontkean does not push him towards it.
Law enforcement had already given him a breakthrough in The Rookies (1972), as Officer Willie Gillis, before film leads offered different demands. Playing Ned Braden in Slap Shot (1977), he drew on his hockey background and performed his own skating and shots. That practical physical skill is worth remembering alongside the calm manner. Making Love (1982) cast him as Zach, a married man coming to terms with his homosexuality, but leading film roles did not become the settled pattern. Supporting parts in film and television occupied much of the career that followed.
His work with MacLachlan in David Lynch's Twin Peaks is the stronger reason to seek him out, because their different kinds of seriousness work so well together. We found Ontkean reassuring when Cooper's composure became unsettling; Truman's steadiness gave us someone we could still trust. In a programme that makes soap-opera jealousy funny, frightening and sad, there is a use for an actor who can keep the feelings believable without insisting on their importance. MacLachlan is the central attraction, but his partnership with Ontkean is part of what makes that performance work.
His reputation rests on a handful of parts, so we would be wary of claiming an overlooked leading man behind every supporting appearance. Nor does Truman need to be the most memorable person in the programme for the performance to count. Ontkean is particularly good company for an actor doing something stranger, and MacLachlan gives him plenty to accommodate. Begin with Twin Peaks, allowing for its occasional drift, and watch the partnership rather than Cooper alone.
Biography
Michael Ontkean is a Canadian retired actor. Born on 24 January 1946 in Vancouver, British Columbia, he attended the University of New Hampshire on a hockey scholarship before beginning his acting career in the early 1970s.
He first gained prominence as Officer Willie Gillis in the series The Rookies (1972–1974). His film roles include Ned Braden in Slap Shot (1977), Willie Kaufman in Willie & Phil (1980) and Zach in Making Love (1982). He is best known for playing Sheriff Harry S. Truman in David Lynch's Twin Peaks (1990–1991). Later credits include Clara's Heart (1988), Postcards from the Edge (1990) and The Descendants (2011). He retired from acting after 2011.
