Peggy Lipton

Margaret Ann "Peggy" Lipton (August 30, 1946 – May 11, 2019) was an American actress, singer, and model. She became an overnight success and is best known for her role as flower child Julie Barnes in the counterculture television show The Mod Squad (1968–73). She appeared in numerous TV series afterward, e.g., in the notable role of Norma Jennings in David Lynch's surreal Twin Peaks. Lipton has had a more than 40-year career in TV, film, and stage.

Lipton was married to the musician/producer Quincy Jones and is the mother to their two daughters, Rashida Jones and Kidada Jones, who also went on to become actresses.

Early life

Peggy Lipton was born as Margaret Ann Lipton on August 30, 1946, in New York, to Harold Lipton (1911–1999) and Rita Benson (1912–1986). Her father was a corporate lawyer and her mother was an artist. Her paternal grandparents (surnamed Lipschitz) were Russian Jews, and her mother was born in Dublin, Ireland to Jewish parents who had immigrated from Eastern Europe.

Lipton was raised on Long Island with her brothers, Robert Lipton, who became an actor, and Kenneth. She attended Lawrence Junior High School and the Professional Children's School.

Sexually abused by an uncle, Lipton was a nervous, withdrawn child. She had a stutter that at times prevented her from saying her own name.

In 1964, the family moved to Los Angeles, where Lipton became what she described as a "Topanga Canyon hippie", exploring meditation and yoga, and subsisting on rice cakes and cottage cheese.

Career

Modeling

Lipton's father arranged her first modeling jobs in New York, while her mother encouraged her to take acting lessons. At 15, Lipton became a Ford Agency model and enjoyed a successful early career.

Acting

As an actress, she was highly influenced by Tige Andrews.

After she and her family moved to Los Angeles in 1964, Lipton signed a contract with Universal Pictures. She made her television debut at age 19 in the NBC sitcom The John Forsythe Show (1965). Between 1965 and 1968, she appeared in episodes of the following series: Bewitched, The Virginian, The Invaders, The Road West, The F.B.I., Walt Disney's Willie and the Yank, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, and Mr. Novack.

Lipton's star rose on Mod Squad, in which she played the character of Julie Barnes in 123 episodes. Appearing waiflike and vulnerable, as David Hutchings wrote, her performance as "canary with a broken wing" Julie Barnes earned her four Emmy nominations and four Golden Globe nominations during her tenure. In 1971, she won a Golden Globe Award for Best TV Actress in a Drama. Thin with long, straight, ash blonde hair, clad in mini-skirts, bell bottoms, and love beads, Lipton's Julie Barnes became a fashion icon and the hip "it" girl of her time.

After Mod Squad, Lipton did no full-time acting for 15 years. In March 1988, she returned to television as the star of Arthur Allan Seidelman's ABC movie, Addicted to His Love, starring Barry Bostwick, Polly Bergen, and Colleen Camp.

She eventually regained major attention for her performance as Norma Jennings in David Lynch's TV series Twin Peaks (1990–1991) and subsequently appeared in many TV shows, including recurring roles in Crash and Popular. In 2017, she reprised her character of Norma Jennings in the Twin Peaks revival. Also in 2017, she appeared in an episode of Angie Tribeca as the mother of the title character played by her daughter Rashida Jones.

Her last television appearance was in the role of Evelyn Greenfield in "Owed to Joy" episode (aired 16 November 2017) of the TV series There's... Johnny!

Singing

As a singer she enjoyed some success, with three of her singles landing on the Billboard charts: "Stoney End" (No. 121 Bubbling Under Hot 100, 1968, later a hit for Barbra Streisand in 1970) and "Lu" (1970), both written by Laura Nyro. Her "Wear Your Love Like Heaven" (1970) was written by Donovan. "Stoney End" is included in her 1968 album Peggy Lipton (Ode Records), which was released on CD on July 29, 2014, by RealGone Music, along with other singles and previously unreleased material (nineteen tracks in all). 

Lipton is listed as one of several co-writers (along with her husband Quincy Jones) of the Frank Sinatra 1984 hit, "L.A. Is My Lady".

Personal life

During the late 1960s and the early 1970s, Lipton had relationships with a series of alcoholic, abusive, and/or married men. During this time, she also used drugs.

Lipton covered some of this period in her memoir Breathing Out (2005), co-written by David Dalton and Coco Dalton. She revealed that she had been diagnosed with colon cancer in 2004 and treated for it.

Starting in 2003, Jack Chartier, who at the time was chief of staff of Alan Hevesi, the then New York State Comptroller, quietly funneled pension fund money of up to $90,000 to Lipton to help her with rent and hospital bills. He also invested another $44,000 in pension-fund money in a business venture in which one of Lipton's daughters was involved.

Marriage and family

Lipton was briefly linked with Paul McCartney (the Beatles) and Elvis Presley.

On September 14, 1974, she married musician/producer Quincy Jones, following which she took a hiatus from acting in order to concentrate on her family (with a notable exception of appearing in the TV movie The Return of the Mod Squad in 1979). They had two daughters, Rashida Jones and Kidada Jones, who became actresses.

Lipton separated from Jones in 1986, and they divorced on October 10, 1989.

Death

Lipton died of colon cancer in Los Angeles on May 11, 2019, after being diagnosed in 2004.

Discography

• 1968 Peggy Lipton (Ode Records)
• 2013 Peggy Lipton: The Complete Ode Recordings (Vivid Sound)

Singles

• 1968 "Wear Your Love Like Heaven" b/w "Honey Won't Let Me" (45 rpm) (Record World AC #40)
• 1968 "Stoney End" b/w "San Francisco Glide" (45 rpm) (Billboard #121)
• 1969 "Red Clay County Line" b/w "Just A Little Lovin' (Early In The Morning)" (45 rpm)
• 1970 "Lu" / "Let Me Pass By" (45 rpm) (#45 Canada, February 1970)
• 1970 "Let Me Pass By" b/w "Hands Off the Man (Flim Flam Man)" (45 rpm)

Filmography

Film

Television