Bio
Mädchen (pronounced MAY-chen) Amick is an American actress best known for her role as Shelly Johnson on the cult television series Twin Peaks (1990-1991) and its 1992 prequel film, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me.
Amick was born in Reno, Nevada, the daughter of Judy, a medical office manager, and Bill Amick, a musician. Amick's parents are German; the name Mädchen, which means "girl" in German, was chosen by her parents because they wanted an unusual name.
As a girl, Amick was encouraged by her parents to follow her creative instincts. She learned to play the piano, bass, violin and guitar and took lessons in tap, ballet, jazz and modern dance.
In 1987, at the age of 16, she moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in acting.
After moving to L.A., Amick appeared on Star Trek: The Next Generation as well as in The Borrower (1991).
Amick got her first break when director David Lynch chose her to play waitress Shelly Johnson on the TV series Twin Peaks. Amick's character endured terrible abuse at the hands of her husband, Leo, and was one of the most popular characters, ensuring her return in the feature film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me.
In 1992, Amick appeared in the Stephen King horror movie Sleepwalkers. A highlight of Amick's film career is the 1994 feature film Dream Lover, a thriller in which she co-starred with James Spader.
Amick also appeared in the romantic comedy French Exit (1995) and the sci-fi thriller Bombshell (1996).
Amick's return to network TV came in the fall of 1995 with the much-publicised CBS dramatic series Central Park West. In 1998, Amick starred in the updated edition of Fantasy Island. Both shows only lasted one season.
After a decade of roles that failed to ignite the publicity Twin Peaks had, Amick gradually became a noticeable face in television with recurring roles on Gilmore Girls (2002-2003), ER (2004-2005), Jake in Progress (2005) and Joey (2005).
In 2006, Amick was a regular in the sitcom Freddie which was subsequently cancelled.
She guest starred in three episodes of the serial thriller Kidnapped in 2006/7, playing a strange and deadly assassin. She also had a recurring role in the second series of Dawson's Creek as the lead character's substitute film studies teacher.
She made a guest appearance on Queens Supreme in 2007, and in the same year was cast as one of the leads in the musical television series Viva Laughlin, adapted from the British series Blackpool.
The series only lasted two episodes before it was cancelled by CBS. It was also cancelled in Canada after two episodes and after just one episode in Australia.
Amick has been married to David Alexis since 1992. The couple have two children.