John Boylan

John Boylan

Born: January 31, 1912
Died: November 16, 1994
in Canton, Ohio, USA
​From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

John J. Boylan (January 31, 1912 – November 16, 1994) was an American film, television, and theatrical actor. One of three children born in Canton, Ohio to an Irish-American immigrant family, he began acting in 1932 when he helped found the Players' Guild for a local community theater.His working life was spent in the Ohio and Pennsylvania steel industries, but he continued acting whenever the opportunity arose, often travelling to Greenwich Village in New York City the 1930s and 1940s when regular employment was scarce. It was during these periods spent in New York that he performed on Broadway, becoming acquainted with fellow actors Burgess Meredith and John Ireland while there.

After over 40 years working in the steel industry, he retired in 1975, with his last job being the works manager at the Milton Manufacturing Company in Pennsylvania. Three years later he moved to Washington state, where he quickly established himself in the local repertory circuit, acting with the Seattle Repertory Theatre, the Bathhouse Theater, The Empty Space, and the Tacoma Actors Guild.

With more time to devote to his craft Boylan's acting career enjoyed an Indian summer, as he began carving out a successful niche in film and television with his silver-haired, moustached appearance. He played opposite John Travolta in The Experts (1989),opposite Jeff Bridges in American Heart (1992), and most notably in Twin Peaks, where he was cast as the mayor of the titular town in David Lynch's award-winning television series. He had been working in a repertory production of Much Ado About Nothing when he was spotted for the role, but was unwilling to quit just for the show. Instead, the 79-year old Boylan would fly to Los Angeles every Sunday night after the final stage performance of the evening, spend all day Monday filming his part, before returning to Seattle in time for the Tuesday matinee, as if he had never been away.

His final film role was in 1993's Sleepless in Seattle, as an elevator operator at the Empire State Building, a role that took his life full circle; it was at the Empire State Building sixty years before that he had met his wife Jeanne.

A lifelong smoker, he died of lung cancer and pneumonia in Bellevue, Washington, leaving behind his wife, son John, daughter Kathy, and two grandchildren. Ironically, his "signature" performance, for which he had won a Best of Festival award at New City Theater's annual directors' festival in 1986, was in Anton Chekhov's one-man comedy On the Harmful Effects of Tobacco. His son later admitted that even while performing in this play, he had been "smoking on the sly".

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Movies for John Boylan...

Sleepless in Seattle
Title: Sleepless in Seattle
Character: Elevator Man
Released: June 24, 1993
Type: Movie
When Sam Baldwin's wife dies, he is left to bring up his eight-year-old son Jonah alone, and decides to move to Seattle to make a new start. On Christmas Eve, Jonah rings a radio phone-in with his Christmas wish to find a new wife for his dad. Meanwhile in Baltimore, journalist Annie Reed, who is having doubts about her own relationship, is listening in.
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American Heart
Title: American Heart
Character: Janitor
Released: December 19, 1992
Type: Movie
An ex-convict is tracked down by his estranged teenage son, and the pair try to build a relationship and life together in Seattle.
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Waiting for the Light
Title: Waiting for the Light
Character: Old Man at Diner
Released: June 14, 1990
Type: Movie
When single mom Kay Harris inherits a failing small-town diner, her eccentric Aunt Zena attempts to liven things up with a 'ghostly' practical joke. But when Zena suddenly suffers a stroke and her spirited prank is mistaken by the townspeople for a spiritual vision, Kay soon discovers that it'll take a real miracle to bring her community and her family back together!
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Title: Twin Peaks
Character: Dwayne Milford
Released: April 8, 1990
Type: TV
The body of Laura Palmer is washed up on a beach near the small Washington state town of Twin Peaks. FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper is called in to investigate her strange demise only to uncover a web of mystery that ultimately leads him deep into the heart of the surrounding woodland and his very own soul.
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Twin Peaks
Title: Twin Peaks
Character: Dwayne Milford
Released: September 3, 1989
Type: Movie
An idiosyncratic FBI agent investigates the murder of a young woman in the even more idiosyncratic town of Twin Peaks. (This standalone version of the series pilot was produced for the European VHS market and has an alternate, closed ending.)
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The Experts
Title: The Experts
Character: Old Timer
Released: January 13, 1989
Type: Movie
Travis and Wendell are two down-on-their-luck New Yorkers who think they're relocating to a small town in Nebraska to open a nightclub. What they don't know is they've actually been abducted by a KGB operative and flown to the Soviet Union, where they'll unwittingly serve as "experts" on all things cool in America. The town, created expressly for KGB spies-in-training, is meant to serve as a training ground for Soviet agents. What can these two hapless Americans possibly teach the Soviet spies, and will they ever learn they are not actually in Nebraska?