Background

Ethnicity: Lipton was bown to a Jewish family. Both branches of her family were from either Russian or Latvian background.

Margaret Ann "Peggy" Lipton was born on August 30, 1946, in New York City to the family of artist Rita Benson (born Rita Hetty Rosenberg; 1912–1986) and corporate lawyer Harold Lipton (1911–1999). Lipton grew up as the middle child in an upper-middle-class Jewish family. She also has distant Russian and Latvian roots.

While she had many advantages growing up, Lipton also faced some difficult challenges. She developed a stutter around the age of 7. Lipton wrote in her memoir that the condition was likely connected to being sexually abused by a relative around this time.

Education

Lipton studied at Lawrence Junior High School and the Professional Children's School. In 1964, the family moved to Los Angeles, where Lipton became what she called a "Topanga Canyon hippie" who explored meditation and yoga.

Career

Lipton started modeling at 15, signing with Eileen Ford's agency. In her later teens, Lipton moved with her family to California. There her acting career began to take off. One of her first television appearances was a guest spot on Bewitched. Lipton then landed a role on the short-lived series The John Forsythe Show, which ran from 1965 to 1966. In 1968, she appeared with her brother Robert in the 1968 western Blue starring Terence Stamp, Joanna Pettet and Karl Malden.

Lipton became an instant celebrity in 1968 with the debut of The Mod Squad. She, Michael Cole and Clarence Williams III played a trio of young people recruited to work undercover for the police after running into trouble with the law. The show proved to be a huge hit with viewers, and Lipton quickly became a popular celebrity. She even tried to launch a singing career, releasing an album in 1968.

Lipton went on to win a Golden Globe for her portrayal of Julie Barnes on The Mod Squad. She also received four Emmy Award nominations. Despite her success, Lipton struggled emotionally. She told the Philadelphia Inquirer that "when I started the series, I had no confidence. I was 18 and insecure."

At the height of her fame, Lipton began her singing career. She released a self-titled album and went on to enjoy chart success for her covers of "Stoney End" by Laura Nyro and "Wear Your Love Like Heaven" by Donovan.

After The Mod Squad ended in 1973, Lipton soon settled down with composer Quincy Jones. Lipton largely left Hollywood behind to focus on her family. She reprised her role as Julie Barnes for the 1979 TV movie The Return of Mod Squad, but she otherwise stayed out of the spotlight until her marriage ended in 1986.

Lipton returned to acting after her split from Jones, appearing in the 1988 TV movie Addicted to His Love. She then landed the role of Norma Jennings on David Lynch's offbeat drama Twin Peaks, which aired from 1990 to 1991. In 1992, Lipton played Norma Jennings in the feature film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me. She also appeared in 1997's The Postman starring Kevin Costner.

In 2017 she reprised her character of Norma Jennings in the Twin Peaks revival. More recently, Lipton has enjoyed recurring roles on such shows as Popular, Alias and Crash. She also reunites with her ex-husband Quincy Jones to play the parents of their real-life daughter Rashida Jones on the upcoming TV series Angie Tribeca.

Achievements

• 

  Peggy Lipton is best-known for playing Julie Barnes in ABC’s The Mod Squad and Norma Jennings in Twin Peaks directed by David Lynch. As of her singing career, her highest achievement came in 1970, when Peggy hit the Billboard singles chart when two of her singles ‘Wear Your Love Like Heaven’ and ‘Lu’ charted at number 108 and 102, respectively.
  
  Lipton was nominated for four Golden Globe Awards during her career. All four of them were nominations for Best TV Actress, and they were all for her work on The Mod Squad. Of those nominations, Lipton won the award in 1971.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Breathing Out

    (Breathing Out is full of fresh stories of life with the p...)

    2005

• movie

  • Fatal Charm

    (He may have been convicted of raping and murdering six yo...)

    1990
  • Jackpot

    (An aspiring country singer and his manager make a tour of...)

    2001
  • A Dog's Purpose

    (A dog looks to discover his purpose in life by showing hu...)

    2017
  • Intern

    (With host of top fashion models and designers, "Intern" l...)

    2000
  • The Postman

    (Academy Award-winner Kevin Costner directs and stars in t...)

    1997
  • When in Rome

    (Beth is a young, ambitious New Yorker who is completely u...)

    2010
  • True Identity

    (Concealing his true identity, a struggling actor hides fr...)

    1991
  • Blue

    (In Blue, a Mexican bandit goes on a raid into the U.S. Wh...)

    1968
  • Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me

    (Meet Laura Palmer...In a town where nothing is as it seem...)

    1992
  • Purple People Eater 1988
  • Skipped Parts 2000

• music

  • Peggy Lipton 1968
  • The Complete Ode Recordings 2013

• TV series

  • Mr. Novak

    (James Franciscus stars as John Novak, an idealistic, novi...)

    1965
  • Twin Peaks - The First Season

    (Twin Peaks devotees, who have kept the mystery alive on m...)

    1991
  • Rules of Engagement

    (Follows the unique friendship between a married couple; a...)

    2007
  • Crash

    (Crash takes an in depth, up-close and deeply personal loo...)

    2009
  • Mod Squad

    (The Mod Squad involved three hipper-than-hip undercover c...)

    1973
  • Bewitched

    (Bewitched stars Elizabeth Montgomery as Samantha, an aver...)

    1965
  • The Virginian

    (A mysterious man enforces law and order in the 1890s Wyom...)

    1966
  • The Alfred Hitchcock Hour 1965
  • The Invaders 1967
  • Deadly Vows 2007
  • Twin Peaks 3 season 2017

• TV show

  • Dick Cavett Show

    (Dick Cavett has been host of his own talk show, in a vari...)

    1971

Religion

Peggy Lipton was raised in a Jewish family. But being such a child of the 60s/70s, Lipton veered outside Judaism: she was an early follower of Scientology. But Lipton left the cult and raised her two daughters Jewish.

Views

Lipton admitted in her autobiography that it was hard to enjoy the success of The Mod Squad due to feelings of deep insecurity. She still saw herself as an awkward Long Island teenager with a stutter and crippling shyness. But that never hindered her performance.

Of all the roles that Lipton acted during her life, she listed her role as Norma Jennings in Twin Peaks as being the most fun.

Peggy has meditated for decades and has found the practice "a life-saver for clearing the wanderings of your mind - it gives you insight, compassion, and empathy." She took a course in CPR because "it’s important to learn a new skill," and she’s also working on becoming tech-proficient and joining a book club. All of these things - new plans, new projects - she says are essential to staying vital. As is "being around young people," which she does by spending time with her daughters’ younger half-sister and her own nieces and nephews.

One of the things that also gave Lipton strength is being inspired by other women who have conquered ageism and done well in other ways. Her biggest role model was her close friend Jane Fonda. "I adore everything about Jane," Peggy says. "Her sensitivity, her kindness, her beauty - and she’s fun as hell. She’s just a fantastic woman. I’ve known her for 45 years but we’ve become friends now and I look up to the energy" of this woman who, at age 80, looks fabulous, is the star of a hit TV series, and has taken part in every major change in American culture for 50 years. “I also admire Meryl Streep, Cynthia Nixon - she’s got balls - and certainly Gloria Steinem and Michelle Obama."

Quotations: "Young girls need to go out into the world with confidence and a strong sense of self."

"When I start getting negative, I realize I need to put grace and joy and self-appreciation in my life."

"I had a wall around me and a lot of fantasy locked inside."

"My love affairs were more often about the fantasy than the actual person I was involved with."

Personality

Lipton grew up on Long Island with conservative parents and two brothers, so their move to California might have overwhelmed a less adaptable person. But Peggy had no problem fitting into her new lifestyle. She described her California self as a typical "Topanga Canyon hippie." She got into meditation and yoga, and lived on rice cakes and cottage cheese.

Quotes from others about the person

• "I had the opportunity to work with Peggy for a few days on a film. I absolutely fell in love with her. I’ve honestly always thought of Peggy as ... perfect. Honest, funny, nurturing, oh and loved some good, juicy, gossip." - Kathy Griffin

Interests

• yoga

• Writers

  Timothy Leary, Aldous Huxley

Connections

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.

In 1974, Lipton married the famous musician and music producer Quincy Jones. At that time interracial marriage was still considered taboo. He was the father to both of Lipton’s daughters, and they would be married for 12 years. In 1986, Lipton separated from Quincy Jones. The two would finalize their divorce in 1990. Despite citing “irreconcilable differences” as the reason for their breakup, Lipton never stopped being friends with Jones for the rest of her life.

Father:

Harold Lipton

Mother:

Rita Benson

ex-boyfriend:

Paul McCartney

Lipton was briefly linked with Sir Paul McCartney.

ex-boyfriend:

Elvis Presley

Peggy had a short affair with Elvis Presley.

Ex-husband:

Jones Quincy Jr.

Peggy and Jones were a harmonious couple and remained friends after their divorce.

Daughter:

Kidada Jones

Kidada Ann Jones is an American actress, model, and fashion designer.

Daughter:

Rashida Jones

Rashida Leah Jones is an American actress, writer, and producer.

colleague:

David Lynch

David Lynch is the director of the Twin Peaks series.

colleague:

Kyle MacLachlan

Kyle MacLachlan and Peggy Lipton appeared together in the Twin Peaks series.

colleague:

Sherilyn Fenn

Sherilyn Fenn and Peggy Lipton appeared together in the Twin Peaks series.

Friend:

Jane Fonda

Jane Fonda and Peggy Lipton were close friends.

colleague:

Clarence Williams III

Clarence Williams III and Peggy Lipton were colleagues on the set of The Mod Squad.

References

• I Played the White Guy
  2018
• TV Top Stars 1971
  1971
• Focus On: 30 Most Popular Jewish Female Models