Acting your age

My mind was a bit blown yesterday when I discovered Jack Nance was only 47 when he played Pete Martell on Twin Peaks.

I thought he was OLD.

He’s the one who drawled the iconic “wrapped in plastic” line in the first episode.

And I didn’t realise he was also the lead character in Eraserhead.

He seemed like such a sweet old bloke on Twin Peaks, but apparently he was a cranky bugger in real life.

He died in 2006 at age 53 after being punched in the head during a fight with two men at a donut shop.

“Sometimes people irritated Jack, so he’d be verbally abusive,” director David Lynch told reporters at the time.

In the show, he was married to a woman called Catherine Martell, played by Piper Laurie. I Googled her age – she was 58 at the time the series was first released. That seemed more spot on, although the eldest reckons he’d have pegged Piper as being in her 60s.

It reminded me of The Golden Girls, which was another mind fark show. Blanche Devereaux, Rose Nylund and Dorothy Zbornak were meant to be four “young-at-heart housemates in their mid-50s living together in Miami”.

Blanche was supposedly 53, the age I am now.

Did people look and dress older in the 90s, or am I just in denial about my appearance?

Mind you, it must have been very relaxing to settle into old age in comfy, elastic-waisted pastel pants suits in your 50s.

These days if you’re in your mid-50s, you’re expected to look like this:

That’s Liz Hurley. She’s 56. Crikey.

Where does she find the energy to look like that? Maybe mine will return after daylight savings kicks in. Waking up at 5am every morning is exhausting.

OK, I’d better get cracking. I have a mad day of freelancing ahead, plus a dash to Homebush for the eldest’s second Pfizer jab. Catch you tomorrow!

PS The 2017 season of Twin Peaks is seriously whacked. It’s like an 18-hour, crazy art house movie, sliced into one-hour episodes. Last night I watched someone meticulously sweep the floor for five full minutes. I’m still trying to work out what was happening in the other 55 minutes; it was something to do with atom bombs and evil and Laura Palmer as a golden orb. The eldest is loving it.

Song of the day: Cher “If I could turn back time”