Michael Ontkean

Michael Ontkean (born January 24, 1946) is a Canadian retired actor.

Ontkean relocated to the United States to attend the University of New Hampshire on a hockey scholarship before pursuing a career in acting in the early 1970s. He initially came to prominence portraying Officer Willie Gillis on the crime drama series The Rookies from 1972 to 1974, followed by lead roles in the hockey sports comedy film Slap Shot (1977) and the romantic comedy Willie & Phil (1980). In 1982, he had a starring role opposite Harry Hamlin and Kate Jackson in the drama Making Love, in which he portrayed a married man who comes to terms with his homosexuality. In 1984, he starred opposite Kristy McNichol in Just the Way You Are. Ontkean continued to appear in films, such as Clara's Heart (1988) and Postcards from the Edge (1990) before being cast as Sheriff Harry S. Truman on David Lynch's Twin Peaks (1990–1991).

Early life Ontkean was born and raised in Vancouver, British Columbia, the son of Muriel (née Cooper), an actress, and Leonard Ontkean, a boxer and actor. He was a child actor in Vancouver. Before turning 12, he had appeared on three or four dozen Canadian TV and radio shows plus fifty-eight (58) episodes as a chorus and background singer on Cross-Canada Hit Parade (a weekly TV show which ran from 1955-59, in which the top ten most popular US and Canadian songs were performed). He appeared in one episode of the television series Hudson's Bay (1959).

His family later relocated to Toronto, where he attended Holy Rosary Catholic School and St. Michael's Choir School before attending St. Michael's College School. He grew up playing hockey and he earned a hockey scholarship to the University of New Hampshire, a Division I program playing in the ECAC. In his three years on the varsity program, Ontkean scored 63 goals and 111 points in 85 games played. He led the team in goal scoring his junior year with 30 goals, and was second behind fellow Canadian Louis Frigon his senior year.

Career Ontkean began in Hollywood with an appearance on The Partridge Family in 1971. He later had guest roles on Ironside and Longstreet, but his break was in the ABC series The Rookies (1972–1976), His hockey skills helped him land the role of Ned Braden in Slap Shot (1977),

Making Love Making Love (1982) was about a married man who discovers his homosexuality. Ontkean was not the director's first choice for the film: Arthur Hiller had previously approached Tom Berenger, Michael Douglas, Harrison Ford, William Hurt and Peter Strauss to play the lead, before finally approaching Ontkean. According to Hiller, the reaction of most actors was to tell him not to even consider them for the role. The film reunited Ontkean with Kate Jackson; the two had previously co-starred together in The Rookies. Many years later, Ontkean tried to prevent clips from the film from being included in The Celluloid Closet, a 1995 documentary about LGBTQ characters in film, but he was unsuccessful.

Twin Peaks Ontkean appeared as Sheriff Harry S. Truman in David Lynch and Mark Frost's Twin Peaks (1990–1991). He filmed scenes for Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me but, like many others from the original TV series, his scenes were deleted from the final film.

After Twin Peaks Ontkean subsequently appeared in many film and television productions including In Defense of a Married Man (1990); In a Child's Name (1991) with Valerie Bertinelli; Legacy of Lies (1992); Rapture and Vendetta II: The New Mafia (both 1993); Swann: A Mystery and The Stepford Husbands (both 1996); Summer of the Monkeys and A Chance of Snow (both 1998; the latter again with JoBeth Williams); Bear with Me (2000), and Mrs. Ashboro's Cat (2003).

Ontkean had a recurring role on Fox's short-lived series North Shore in 2004, and also appeared in the 2008 comedy TV show Sophie.

The Descendants and retirement He had a small role in the 2011 film The Descendants, which was his last role to date before he decided to retire from acting. The movie was filmed in Hawaii, where he lives.

Ontkean was approached to reprise his role as Sheriff Truman for the 2017 revival of Twin Peaks. At first, Ontkean was reportedly excited about returning to the role, and enlisted Twin Peaks authority Brad Dukes to help him find the jacket which his character once wore on the show. Dukes located a suitable replica, bought it and sent it to Ontkean. However, in 2015, Ontkean dropped out of the Twin Peaks revival, for reasons which were never made public. Dukes recalled: "We last spoke in August and he informed me he wasn't going to Washington after all. I told him I was heartbroken to hear that. Aside from being heartbroken, I am puzzled. Twin Peaks is not Twin Peaks without Michael Ontkean as Sheriff Harry S. Truman." He was replaced by Robert Forster, playing Sheriff Truman's brother Frank. Forster was initially David Lynch's first choice to play Harry Truman in 1990.

Personal life Ontkean was first married to Frances E. Knight; the union ended in divorce. He married, secondly, to Jamie Smith-Jackson, an actress/design director and owner of Jamie Jackson Design. The couple later divorced; they have two daughters, Jenna Millman and Sadie Sapphire Ontkean. Ontkean later married Susan Sennett; they live in Kauai. He is a fan of the NHL's Vancouver Canucks.

Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes 1971 The Peace Killers Jeff 1972 Necromancy Frank Brandon 1972 Pickup on 101 Chuck 1972 Hot Summer Week Will 1977 Slap Shot Ned Braden 1979 Voices Drew Rothman 1980 Willie & Phil Willie Kaufman 1982 Making Love Zach 1984 The Blood of Others Jean 1984 Just the Way You Are Peter Nichols 1987 The Allnighter Mickey 1987 Maid to Order Nick McGuire 1987 Street Justice Curt Flynn 1988 Clara's Heart Bill Hart 1989 Bye Bye Blues Teddy Harper 1989 Cold Front Derek McKenzie 1990 Postcards from the Edge Robert Munch 1992 Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me Sheriff Harry S. Truman Scenes deleted. Later featured in Twin Peaks: The Missing Pieces. 1996 Swann Stephen 1998 Summer of the Monkeys John Lee 1998 Nico the Unicorn Tom Gentry 1999 Just a Little Harmless Sex Jeff 2011 The Descendants Cousin Milo Final film role

Television Year Title Role Notes1956Hawkeye and the Last of the MohicansCocheaEpisode: "The Wild One" 1959 Hudson's Bay Jeremy Warrant Episode: "Pierre's Three Evils" 1970 Ironside Man Episode: "Noel's Gonna Fly" 1970 Dan August Mike Foschke Episode: "The Soldier" 1971 Disneyland Alcide 2 episodes 1971 The Partridge Family Lester Braddock Episode: "Not With My Sister, You Don't!" 1971 Longstreet David De Carie Episode: "So, Who's Fred Hornbeck?" 1972–1974 The Rookies Officer Willie Gillis 47 episodes 1979 Tales of the Unexpected Tommy Episode: "The Man from the South" 1985 Kids Don't Tell John Ryan Television film 1986 The Right of the People Christopher Wells Television film 1989 The Hitchhiker Gordon Brooks Episode: "Square Deal" 1990–1991 Twin Peaks Harry S. Truman 30 episodes 1990 In Defense of a Married Man Robert Television film 1991 In a Child's Name Ken Taylor Miniseries 1992 Legacy of Lies Zach Resnick Television film 1993 Rapture Jeff Lisker Television film 1993 Whose Child Is This? The War for Baby Jessica Jan DeBoer Television film 1993 Bride of Violence 2 Hank Parnell Television film 1994 Family Album Ward Thayer Miniseries 1999 PSI Factor: Chronicles of the Paranormal John Doe / Wesley Addison Episode: "John Doe" 1996 The Man Next Door Eli Cooley Television film 1996 The Stepford Husbands Mick Davison Television film 1997–2000 The Outer Limits Dr. Field / Dr. Charles McCamber 2 episodes 1998 A Chance of Snow Matthew Parker Television film 2000 Green Sails John Scott Television film 2002 A Killing Spring Tom Keaton Television film 2004 Ghost Cat Wes Merritt Television film 2004–2005 North Shore Gordon Matthews 4 episodes 2008 Sophie Victor Hearst 3 episodes (final television role to date)

Awards and nominations