Twin Peaks star Sheryl Lee has revealed that she had to sell all her possessions to survive after illness made it almost impossible for her to work.

The American actress, who played Laura Palmer and her cousin Maddy Ferguson in the cult Nineties TV series, is due in London this weekend as a special guest at the 2014 Twin Peaks UK Festival in Whitechapel.

The event comes after David Lynch, the show’s creator, last month announced that it will return with a third series in 2016.

But Lee, 47, says she is still struggling with her health and finances after developing rare blood disorder neutropenia, in 2007. It makes her more susceptible to bacterial infections.

She said: “I’ve had to sell everything for financial reasons. From the age of 40, I went through illness for four and a half years. I tried to keep working through it as much as I could, but I was physically not able to do it as much and if you look sick it's hard to get a job.

“I did a few independent films, but there’s no money in them. So everything was taken away — my health, my career, my finances. I had a little house, and I sold that and moved into a condo, then sold the condo … I kept downsizing and downsizing.” She even had to part with her Twin Peaks souvenirs: “I wish I still had them but I had to sell them too. I now live a very, very quiet, simple life in a tiny little guest house on somebody else’s ranch.”

Twin Peaks centred on the mystery of the murder of Laura Palmer and Lynch picked Lee to play both Laura and Maddy in the international hit. She also starred in the prequel film Fire Walk With Me and a string of TV series and movies, including British film Backbeat, about the early days of The Beatles.

However, she is still paying off her debts. “People always assume that, if you’re an actor who’s been on anything from which you’re recognisable, that you’re making all this money, and it’s just not true,” she said.

“There’s a very small number of actors who make that kind of money. Most actors I’m in touch with are struggling financially.”

Lee has a son Elijah, 14, and, she says, despite her problems, she remains positive. “I want to watch my son grow up. I want to spend time with my family. There’s a lot of the world that I want to see and experience.”

Lee has not been asked to be involved in the new series of Twin Peaks. She would, however, be tempted to perform in the West End and said all it would take “is an invitation”.