Biografie

Director David Lynch was so impressed by Lee in Das Geheimnis von Twin Peaks (1990)' pilot episode (especially the picnic scene where Laura dances and laughs with Donna) that he wrote the role of Maddy Ferguson for her, in order to bring her back in the series.

Actress Grace Zabriskie said on her performance in Twin Peaks - Der Film: Die letzten 7 Tage im Leben der Laura Palmer (1992): "She gave everything she had, she gave more than she could afford to give, and she spent years coming back".

Gregg Araki, who directed Sheryl Lee in Wie ein weißer Vogel im Schneesturm (2014), called her performance in Twin Peaks - Der Film: Die letzten 7 Tage im Leben der Laura Palmer (1992) "one of the greatest performances in the history of cinema".

Hit cult status and will be forever known as the beautiful blonde corpse and resultant object of mystery in the series Das Geheimnis von Twin Peaks (1990). People were so fascinated with Sheryl and the Laura Palmer phenomenon, that they brought Sheryl back to life on the TV series in the form of another character, Madeleine Ferguson.

While working in Dirty Sexy Money (2007) she began getting sick often with difficult time recovering and was diagnosed with neutropenia. Following her recovery she became more involved with environmental causes.

[on playing Laura Palmer] I have had many people, victims of incest, approach me since the film [Twin Peaks - Fire Walk With Me] was released, so glad that it had been made because it helped them to release a lot. And so for me, it doesn't matter what the critics say - if one person walks away having released something, then it's worth seeing.

• (Empire, December 1992)

[on playing Laura Palmer in Twin Peaks - Der Film: Die letzten 7 Tage im Leben der Laura Palmer (1992)] I felt really great about the decision because I never felt complete with Laura. I never got to be Laura alive, just in flashbacks, so it allowed me to come full circle with the character. Laura always had a tremendous amount of life, because everybody talked about her, yet I didn't get to do those things and be her.

• (Wrapped in Plastic, April 1995)

[on working with David Lynch on Das Geheimnis von Twin Peaks (1990) and Wild at Heart: Die Geschichte von Sailor und Lula (1990)] I've been wrapped in plastic on a beach, I've imitated a bird [Waldo], I've come back as my lookalike cousin, and for Wild at Heart: Die Geschichte von Sailor und Lula (1990) I hung 60 feet above the ground by piano wire to play a good witch who floats down the sky. All I can think is 'What's next?'

• (TV Guide, November 10, 1990)

[on playing Katrina in John Carpenters Vampire (1998)] I've always had a fascination with vampires. It's not that I'm exactly fascinated with the dark side. It's the human struggle with it. How we deal with those two aspects of who we are. We all have those elements. It's almost as if we each have a vampire inside us. Controlling that beast, that dark side, is what fascinates me.

• (Cinefantastique Magazine, November 1998)

I've often said that in acting school they teach you how to develop a character and how to bring in a character. But nobody teaches you how to let go.

• (Twin Peaks Archive interview, 2013)