• Lara Flynn Boyle is an American actress born in Davenport, Iowa USA, on 24 March 1970.
• She has had roles in nearly 60 films and TV series, and is perhaps best known for playing Helen Jordan in "Happiness" in 1998.
• She has had roles in films such as "Poltergeist III", "Baby's Day Out", "Red Rock West", and "Hansel & Gretel Get Baked".
• She has won two awards out of her 16 nominations, and is currently married to her second husband, American real estate investor Donald Ray Thomas II.
• She has been rumored to have undergone plastic surgery in the first half of the 2000s, as well as having an estimated net worth of more than $12 million as of December 2020.

Who is Lara Flynn Boyle?

American actress Lara Flynn Boyle was born in Davenport, Iowa USA, on 24 March 1970, meaning that her zodiac sign’s Aries. She’s had roles in nearly 60 movies and TV series, and is perhaps still best known for playing Helen Jordan in the 1998 comedy movie “Happiness”, written and directed by Todd Solondz, and which starred Jane Adams, Jon Lovitz and Philip Seymour Hoffman. It follows several individuals whose lives intertwine while they’re looking for human connection; the film won 12 of its 38 award nominations.

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Education and early life

Lara was raised in Davenport an only child, by her father Michael L. Boyle whose profession remains undisclosed, and her mother Sally Flynn who was a clerical worker; Michael abandoned Sally and Lara when she was six years old; she was diagnosed with dyslexia not long afterwards.

Sally and Lara eventually moved to Wisconsin, then after some years to Chicago, Illinois where Lara attended The Chicago Academy of the Arts. She was 17 when she made her debut TV series appearance, playing Jackie Bradford in five episodes of the 1987 action mini-series “Amerika”, which was nominated for eight awards, including three Primetime Emmys.

Lara matriculated in the following year, and then went on to focus on acting, rather than to enroll at college.

Roles in TV series

Lara played Melanie Waterston in the 1987 episode “Toy Gun” of the adventure “Sable”; her only other TV series role in the ‘80s was in the 1987 episode “Quality of Mercy” of the comedy “Jack and Mike”.

From 1997 to 2003, she starred as A. D. A. Helen Gamble in the popular crime mystery “The Practice”, which David E. Kelley created, and which also starred Kelli Williams and Dylan McDermott. It follows a group of defense attorneys working for a Boston law company, and the series won 73 of its 190 award nominations, including 15 Primetime Emmy wins.

In 2004 and 2005, Lara portrayed Melody Coatar in five episodes of the comedy “Huff”, and was then cast to play Monica Mancuso in eight episodes of the crime drama “Las Vegas”, which Gary Scott Thompson created, and which starred James Lesure, James Caan and Josh Duhamel. It follows Ed Deline’s surveillance team, as they’re working at Montecito Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, the series aired from 2003 to 2008 and won five of its 16 award nominations.

Lara’s since been focused on appearing in movies, and has had only a single TV series role: she played Dawn Talley in the 2008 episode “Submission” of the crime mystery “Law & Order”.

Roles in movies

Lara’s debut film appearance was playing Donna Gardner in the 1988 horror thriller “Poltergeist III”, written and directed by Gary Sherman, and which starred Heather O’Rourke, Tom Skerritt and Nancy Alle. It tells the story of Carol Anne and her aunt who’ve found themselves in a tall building, while supernatural forces have returned to haunt Carol; the film was nominated for two awards.

Some of Lara’s roles in the remainder of the ‘80s were in the drama “Terror on Highway 91”, the romantic comedy “How I Got Into College” and the comedy “Dead Poets Society”, all released in 1989.

1993 saw her play one of the main characters. Suzanne in the crime thriller “Red Rock West”, written and directed by John Dahl, and which also starred Dennis Hopper and Nicolas Cage. It follows a drifter who’s just arrived to a small town, and has been mistaken for a hitman; the movie was nominated for three awards. Lara could then have been seen appearing in a couple of hit movies, including the 1994 adventure crime comedy “Baby’s Day Out”, and in 1998 the romantic comedy “Since You’ve Been Gone” and the crime comedy “Susan’s Plan”.

What marked the 2000s for her was perhaps her playing Ben’s Mother in the 2007 romantic drama “A West Texas Children’s Story”, written and directed by Brad Isaacs, and in which Lara starred alongside Cayden Boyd and Matthew Modine. It follows two 12 year-olds who’ve run away from home in search of new and cool parents.

Lara’s since had only a couple of film roles, with her three most recent having been in the 2013 horror comedy “Hansel & Gretel Get Baked”, the 2015 family drama “Lucky Dog”, and the 2020 action “Death in Texas”.

Other credits

Lara sang the song “Just You and I” in the 1990 episode “Coma” of the crime mystery “Twin Peaks”.

She co-produced the 2007 romantic movie “A West Texas Children’s Story”, and the 2013 horror comedy film “Hansel & Gretel Get Baked”.

Some of the talk-shows in which Lara’s recently made a guest appearance include “The Tony Danza Show”, “Gylne Tider”, and “Reunited Apart”.

Awards and nominations

Lara’s won two of her 16 award nominations: a Jury Award for Best Ensemble Cast at the 1997 Ft. Lauderdale International Film Festival, for her and her colleagues’ performance in “Afterglow”, and similarly a 1998 National Board of Review Award for Best Acting by an Ensemble, for “Happiness”.

She was also nominated for a 1999 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series, for “The Practice”.

Love life and husband

Lara’s married twice, and has been in several relationships. In 1990, she began dating American actor Kyle Merritt MacLachlan, having met him on the set of the series “Twin Peaks”; the two broke up in 1992.

On 11 August 1996, she married non-celebrity American John Patrick Dee III, but they divorced in 1998 without explanation. Lara then went on to date American actor David Spade, and while still dating him, she also began dating famous American actor Jack Nicholson. David only found out about it after Lara and Jack were involved in a car crash; Lara remained with Jack until 2000.

Since 18 December 2006, she’s been married to her second husband, American real estate investor Donald Ray Thomas II; they don’t have children.

Interesting facts and hobbies

Lara auditioned for the lead role in the critically acclaimed fantasy comedy series “Ally McBeal”, who was eventually played by Calista Flockhart.

Two of Lara’s closest friends are American actress Nina Siemaszko and American musician Chris Isaak.

In October 1990, she and her fellow actresses Madchen Amick and Sherilyn Fenn were featured on the cover page of the magazine “Rolling Stone”.

Lara doesn’t have an Instagram account, but there’s a fan page which is today followed by over 1,300 people, and there are 27 pictures and videos uploaded onto the account.

Some of her favorite actresses are Jennifer Lawrence, Brie Larson and Renee Zellweger, and a couple of her favorite movies include “Causeway”, “Red Sparrow” and “Joy”.

Plastic surgery

Although Lara hasn’t openly spoken about having undergone plastic surgery, some of her fans have noticed that she’s had rhinoplasty, browlift and facelift, facial fillers, botox and lip augmentation.

They’ve noted that these surgery happened in the first half of the 2000s, and that they’ve apparently severely damaged her career, as she’s since had only a couple of roles.

Height, eyes and wealth

Lara’s age is 52. Her eyes are light blue and she has brown hair, weighs about 115lbs (52kgs) and is 5ft 4ins (1.63m) tall.

Lara’s net worth’s been estimated at more than $12 million, as of December 2022.

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