Lance Henriksen

My mate Doc is a bit of a nutter at the best of times. He always carries enough hash to get him done for possesion with intent to supply. He's famous in some circles for his Australian zombie impression. He's a funny guy.

It all started quite innocuously. He was thinking about the film Aliens, and trying to remember who played Bishop, the android. For the life of him, he couldn't remember the actor's name.

It bothered him all day. He went out that night, met up with his mates and his girlfriend and went drinking. None of them knew who played Bishop either.

Later than night, Doc and his girlfriend were getting down and dirty. They were going hard at it, and Doc felt himself reach the, er, moment of truth. He was almost there, right on the brink, when suddenly the heavens opened and a bolt of inspiration hit him.

You can imagine his girlfriends displeasure as her boyfriend came inside her, threw his arms back and screamed at the top of his lungs:

"Lance Henriksen!!!!!"

True story.

Lance Henriksen was born on May 5, 1940 in New York City, where he also grew up, and found a love of acting. He studied briefly at the Actor's Studio, but was hit by wanderlust, and set sail on a Swedish freighter, staying on it for a trip around the world. Eventually he returned to New York, and his desire to act returned. He went on various casting calls while practicing, and continued working with clay, which had even predated his acting interest.

He landed the lead in Eugene O'Neill's play "Three Plays of the Sea", and soon after, landed his first film role in It Ain't Easy. Two years later, he landed what could truly be considered his debut in film, as an FBI agent in Dog Day Afternoon.

Lance kept busy acting in many movies. Many of them were not very well known, but he did managed a few high profile movies, such as The Right Stuff and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. His friendship with James Cameron got him a role in Cameron's first film, Piranha II: The Spawning, then later on in The Terminator, and then in his big role as the android ('artificial person') Bishop in Aliens. His success in science fiction with that role made it tougher to land good parts in mainstream movies, however. He eventually landed in bigger known movies again such as Jennifer 8 and The Quick and the Dead.

He also scored the leading role in Chris Carter's series Millennium, a rather important role, as the show was the pet project of Carter. He played agent Frank Black, who had a somewhat supernatural ability to see inside a killer's mind. His gaunt appearance and voice fit well with the really dark and creepy theme of the show, and he earned several Golden Globe nominations, though he never won before the series was eventually cancelled.

In 1995, Lance got married to Jane Pollack. The couple had a daughter, Sage Ariel, born on October 12, 1999. Lance also has a daughter from a previous marriage, Alcamy, born in 1987.

Even before he started acting, he found himself with an interest in pottery. He has since become a master potter, and his pottery is available for viewing and purchase at the web site http://www.bylancehenriksen.com. He experiments a lot with stoneware and porcelains, trying new concepts in glazing and designs. His own personal kiln is rather unique - there are only 3 others like it in the world. It has the ability to fire pieces at up to 2380 degrees Fahrenheit, hot enough to melt steel and glass.

Also has been credited as either 'Lance Hendrickson' or 'Lance Henricksen'.

Sources:
The Internet Movie Database, http://www.imdb.com/
Lance Henriksen, the Actor - http://www.bylancehenriksen.com/actor.htm