Dr. Lawrence Jacoby

“The problems of our entire society are of a sexual nature.”

Screenshot of Russ Tamblyn as Dr. Lawrence Jacoby, from David Lynch’s Twin Peaks.
© Lynch/Frost & Twin Peaks Productions.

Dr. Lawrence Jacoby, Twin Peaks’ psychiatrist

Lawrence Jacoby is Twin Peaks’ highly eccentric psychiatrist. Born January 30, 1934, Jacoby grew up in Hawaii. He observes his surroundings through glasses of which one lens is blue, the other red. His unique clothing style features a wide range of Hawaiian shirts, ties, suspenders and vests.

Dr. Jacoby is married to a Hawaiian woman. He keeps cocktail umbrellas marked with dates of influential events that affected him.

Lawrence Jacoby’s Story

Laura was a patient. Her parents didn’t know

Laura Palmer was Jacoby’s patient. Because of their professional relationship, Doctor Jacoby has a unique insight into Laura’s personality.

Jacoby confesses to agent Cooper he really doesn’t care about his patients who see him as their friend. Laura changed all that. Laura changed him.

At the start of Cooper’s investigation into the Laura Palmer murder, Dr. Lawrence Jacoby pleads doctor-patient confidentiality to keep Laura’s confessions secret.

It was her, you see, the necklace: A divided heart. Laura was… – was in fact, well she was leading a double life. Two people.

Doctor Jacoby takes the half-hart necklace after having witnessed James Hurley and Donna Hayward burry and hide it from the police. James and Donna later retrieve this necklace when breaking into Doctor Jacoby’s house.

Laura’s audio tapes to Dr. Jacoby

James Hurley, Donna Hayward and Maddy Ferguson discover that Laura made a series of audiotapes to Dr. Jacoby. She tells him some of her dreams and nightmares.

James, Donna and Maddy hatch a plan to lure him away from his office. They dress up Maddy to look like Laura, film her and send Doctor Jacoby the video tape. Their plan works. Dr. Jacoby leaves his house and drives to the gazebo that he recognized on the video.

At Dr. Jacoby, James and Donna find a new audio tape and the half hearth necklace that disappeared after they burried it.

Doctor Jacoby nearly dies of a heart attack

While watching Maddy dressed up to look like Laura at the gazebo, Doctor Jacoby is attacked and beaten by a masked figure provoking a heart attack.

At the hospital in intensive care, heavily sedated, Doctor Jacoby witnesses Jacques Renault, the suspected murderer of Laura Palmer, being strangled. Dr. Jacoby recovers and returns to Twin Peaks to help out patients.

Dr. Jacoby’s patients

Laura Palmer had secrets

Laura had secrets and around those secrets she built the fortress that, well that in my six months with her, I was not able to penetrate and for which I consider myself an abject failure.

In her audio tapes to Dr. Jacoby Laura Palmer talks about a “mystery man” who can really light her F-I-R-E. Dr. Jacoby never found out who that man is.

Sarah palmer, Laura’s mother

Dr. Jacoby helps out Sarah Palmer, who suffers a lot from her loss.

Bobby Briggs, Laura’s boyfriend

Dr. Jacoby organised family therapy to discuss Bobby Briggs’ problems.

When he sees Bobby separately, he questions him about his relationship and first sexual encounter with Laura.

Johnny Horne, he’s got emotional problems – it runs in the family

Lawrence Jacoby helps out with preparing Johnny Horne to go to Laura’s funeral.

Nadine Hurley: Silent drape runners and cheerleader try outs

Nadine’s husband is having an affair with another woman. After a suicide attempt Nadine Hurley is counselled by Dr. Jacoby.

Benjamin Horne needs help after misfortunes

Some time after Laura got killed, Benjamin slips into a severe depression. He has a nervous breakdown and his behaviour becomes particularly bizarre. He thinks that he is a Civil War general, leading the South in a victorious campaign against the North.

Dr. Lawrence Jacoby, theorizes that Benjamin Horne is at least partially aware of reality, and that his fantasy is an attempt to reverse his recent misfortunes.

Who attacked Doctor Jacoby at the gazebo?

It’s unclear who attacked Lawrence Jacoby at the gazebo. The attacker was a masked figure that wore gloves. Was it Laura’s killer? Or did it have nothing to do with Laura’s murder? And what were the reasons for this attack?

The Twin Peaks’ Sheriff’s department were unable to come up with a satisfying answer to these questions. It’s possible the attacker was not after Doctor Jacoby but wanted to get to Maddy, who had the luck to be picked up by James Hurley before the attacker could get to her.

Lawrence Jacoby – Quotes

“Gary Cooper?”

“The problems of our entire society are of a sexual nature.”

“Laura had secrets and around those secrets she built the fortress that, well that in my six months with her, I was not able to penetrate and for which I consider myself an abject failure.”

“I’m a terrible person agent Cooper.

“Let’s not talk about you or your parents anymore. Let’s talk about Laura.”

“It was her, you see, the necklace: A divided heart. Laura was… – was in fact, well she was leading a double life. Two people.”

“It’s like a… like a dream. There was a smell. Yeah there was a peculiar smell… This was a smell like… like Oil. Scorched engine oil.”