Marvin John Nance (December 21, 1943 – December 30, 1996), known professionally as Jack Nance and occasionally credited as John Nance, was an American actor of stage and screen, primarily starring in offbeat or avant-garde productions. He was known for his work with director David Lynch, particularly for his roles in Eraserhead, Blue Velvet, and Twin Peaks.
Despite already being a well-established and busy mainstream actor, for some reason he appeared in Old Fashioned Spankings (1991), hardcore "spanking video". As of 2016 he's allegedly the only mainstream actor to do so.
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His second wife, Kelly Van Dyke, aka Nancee Kelly, committed suicide by hanging on November 17, 1991. According to his younger brother Richard Nance, Jack, who was in Bass Lake, California, filming Meatballs 4 at the time, attempted to console her on the phone as she threatened suicide. A lightning storm knocked out the phones in Oregon, subsequently taking over 45 minutes for Nance and the director, Bobby Logan, to find a deputy sheriff who contacted Los Angeles police and the apartment manager. They broke into the cabin and found that she had hanged herself.
His death was the result of a brawl in a parking lot outside a Winchell's Donuts store in South Pasadena during the early morning hours of December 29, 1996. Later that day at around 12 noon, he lunched with friends Leo Bulgarini and Catherine Case at a local restaurant. According to them, Nance had a visible "crescent shaped bruise" under his right eye and when they asked him how he got it, he told them the story about the fight. Nance claimed that at around 5:00 am, he got into a fistfight with two men who he referred to as "long-haired hippies" or "homeless crack-heads" in the parking lot outside the donut store while waiting for it to open. According to Nance, "two homeless bums" walked up to him asking for spare change. Nance refused by mouthing off to them and saying: "get a job and a haircut", and a brawl ensued where Nance received several punches (and possible kicks) to his face during the fight. There were no witnesses to the incident and it remains unclear if Nance had been drinking during that morning or who threw the first punch. He soon went home from the restaurant, complaining of a headache. However, the head injuries he received caused a subdural hematoma, resulting in his death the following morning over 24 hours later after receiving the injuries. Nance died alone in his apartment. His body was discovered on the bathroom floor by Bulgarini who checked up at around noon on December 30. An autopsy revealed that the actor's blood alcohol level was .24 percent at the time of his death.
Actor
Title
Year
Status
Character
Twin Peaks: The Missing Pieces
2014
Pete Martell
Lost Highway
1997
Phil
Little Witches
1996
Father Michael
Assault on Dome 4
1996
TV Movie
Mellow, Dome 4 Oldtimer
The Secret Agent Club
1996
Doc
Fallen Angels
1995
TV Series
Sheriff
Voodoo
1995
Lewis
Across the Moon
1995
Old Cowboy
The Demolitionist
1995
Father McKenzie
My So-Called Life
1995
TV Series
Warren
Love and a .45
1994
Justice Thurman
Another Midnight Run
1994
TV Movie
Reilly
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me
1992
Pete Martell (scenes deleted)
Meatballs 4
1992
Neil Peterson
Old Fashioned Spankings
1991
Video as Jack Weber
Motorama
1991
Motel Clerk
Whore
1991
Man Who Helps Liz
Twin Peaks
1990-1991
TV Series
Pete Martell
The Hot Spot
1990
Julian Ward
Wild at Heart
1990
00 Spool
Tricks of the Trade
1988
TV Movie
Al
The Blob
1988
Doctor
Colors
1988
Officer Samuels
Les Français vus par
1988
TV Mini-Series
Pete
Crime Story
1987
TV Series
Charlie Green
Barfly
1987
Detective
Blue Velvet
1986
Paul
Weekend
1984
TV Short
Johnny Dangerously
1984
Priest
City Heat
1984
Aram Strossell, the Bookkeeper
Dune
1984
Nefud
Ghoulies
1984
Wolfgang
Suicidal Tendencies: Institutionalized
1984
Video short
Father
Hammett
1982
Gary Salt
Breaker! Breaker!
1977
Burton
Eraserhead
1977
Henry Spencer (as John Nance)
Columbo
1971
TV Series
Gardener
Jump
1971
Ace
Fools
1970
Hippie
Thanks
Title
Year
Status
Character
Edición Especial Coleccionista
2014
TV Series in memory of - 1 episode
Mysteries of Love
2002
Video documentary in memory of
Self
Title
Year
Status
Character
I Don't Know Jack
2002
Documentary
Himself
Pretty as a Picture: The Art of David Lynch
1997
TV Movie documentary
Himself
Cinéma, de notre temps
1993
TV Series documentary
Himself
Jonathan Ross Presents for One Week Only: David Lynch
1990
TV Movie documentary
Himself
Bushman
1971
Documentary
Archive Footage
Title
Year
Status
Character
Midnight Movies: From the Margin to the Mainstream
$1.4 Million
