Al Strobel

The One Armed Man has died. Al Strobel played the character of Philip Gerard/"Mike" on Twin Peaks and had one of the most consistent presences on the show. He had one arm, an unusual feature, but he also had a great voice and was a decent actor, two more things you don't run across every day. He's one of the few actors who appeared in the original 1990-1991 run of Twin Peaks, 1992's Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, and the 2017 relaunch of the series.

One of the things director David Lynch is renowned for is sound design and Strobel's voice fits so perfectly in Lynch's soundscape.

Often it sounded as though there were an echo effect on his voice and I often thought of the talking skull in the Pirates of the Caribbean ride.

He starred in one of the most lauded scenes in the film, Fire Walk With Me, in which he confronts Laura and Leland on a busy street and Lynch ratcheted up the tension with car horns and engines (I'm not posting the video because it has spoilers).

And he returned with the series in 2017, becoming a kind of ambassador for the dream realm called The Black Lodge.

And now he really has left this world. May he guide us all to cherry pies and winning slot machines.