Peggy Lipton, ‘Twin Peaks’ and ‘The Mod Squad’ Actress, Dead at 72
Peggy Lipton, the model and actress who starred on The Mod Squad and Twin Peaks, has died at the age of 72 after a battle with cancer.
Rashida and Kidida Jones, Lipton’s daughters from her marriage to music producer Quincy Jones, confirmed their mother’s death in a statement to the Los Angeles Times.
“She made her journey peacefully with her daughters and nieces by her side,” Lipton’s daughters. “We feel so lucky for every moment we spent with her.”
Lipton, who as a 15-year-old became a Ford Agency model, rose to fame as one of the “hippie cops” on the late-Sixties TV series The Mod Squad, with Lipton’s Julie Barnes becoming an “it” girl thanks to her fashion choices and look on the show. During Lipton’s five-year run on The Mod Squad from 1968 to 1973, she won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress on a Television Series.
Soon after The Mod Squad, Lipton married Jones and took an extended break from acting to concentrate on her family life, with Lipton only appearing in one TV movie – 1979’s The Return of the Mod Squad – between 1973 and 1990.
In 1990, Lipton returned to acting in what became her most enduring role: As waitress Norma Jennings in David Lynch and Mark Frost’s cult TV series Twin Peaks.
“I read the script and I thought it was amazing, and I went to [Lynch’s] office and he cast me right there. It was what he saw in me for that part at the time,” Lipton told ScreenSlam of the role in 2014. “It was most fun acting job I’ve ever done.”
Lipton reprised the role in both 1992’s Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me and the 2017 series Twin Peaks: The Return.
Following her return to acting, Lipton had reoccurring roles on TV shows like Popular, Alias and Crash, and recently appeared on her daughter Rashida’s comedy Angie Tribeca, playing the title character’s mother Peggy Tribeca. Her last credited role is a 2017 appearance on the TNT drama Claws.
In addition to her acting roles, Lipton also released a self-titled album in 1968, featuring covers of songs by Laura Nyro, Carole King and Donovan.
Madchen Amick, who played Shelly Briggs alongside Lipton’s Norma Jennings on Twin Peaks, paid tribute to the actress on Instagram, “I lost a sister today. She was a true angel on earth. Always the coolest in the room. You couldn’t fit anymore love into that gorgeous soul of hers and she shared her heart generously with everyone around her. She was such a proud mother. Loved her girls more than anything in the world. I will always love you Peggy. I hope to dance with you again in the stars one day.”