Catherine Coulson, Log Lady on 'Twin Peaks,' Dies at 71

"Today, I lost one of my dearest friends," said director David Lynch, who also worked with Coulson on 'Eraserhead.'

Actress Catherine Coulson, best known for playing the Log Lady on David Lynch's Twin Peaks, died Monday, The Hollywood Reporter has learned. She was 71.

Mary Dangerfield, Coulson's agent and friend, told THR that Coulson died Monday morning. Coulson was a longtime participant in the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, Ore., and her acting troupe with the festival said in a statement that she died after battling cancer.

"We are all deeply sad — she meant so much to so many," Dangerfield said.

Lynch released a statement to The Hollywood Reporter to express his grief about the news.

"Today, I lost one of my dearest friends, Catherine Coulson," Lynch wrote. "Catherine was solid gold. She was always there for her friends — she was filled with love for all people, for her family, for her work. She was a tireless worker."

"She had a great sense of humor — she loved to laugh and make people laugh," Lynch continued. "She was a spiritual person — a longtime TM meditator. She was the Log Lady."

Coulson appeared in Lynch's 1974 short film The Amputee and worked as a crewmember on his 1977 film Eraserhead before playing the Log Lady on both seasons of Twin Peaks and in the prequel film, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (1992).

Email: Ryan.Gajewski@THR.com

Twitter: @_RyanGajewski