Famous as Bobby:
“Dallas” star Patrick Duffy celebrates his 75th birthday
Millions of viewers know Patrick Duffy in his role as black curly-haired Bobby Ewing, alongside his wife Pamela (Victoria Principal), in a clinch with his unscrupulous brother J.R. Ewing (Larry Hagman). The cult series "Dallas" about the intrigues and love dramas of an oil clan from the 1980s was one of the biggest successes in television history.
US actor Duffy, who turned 75 on Sunday, March 17, can now often be seen wearing a kitchen apron at an oven.
His latest passion is a business with sourdough. The actor has been selling sourdough starter kits with the apt name "Duffy's Dough" for two years, following an old family tradition. His mother baked with it back in the 1950s, Duffy told People magazine.
In this Instagram video, Patrick Duffy shows how he "boxes" his sourdough:
Girlfriend met in chat group
The impetus to turn it into a business came from his actress colleague Linda Purl (68), who once enjoyed success with TV series such as "Happy Days" and "Matlock". The two are not only business partners, but have also been a couple for a long time. During the coronavirus pandemic, they got to know each other through a chat group.
Duffy was previously married to dancer Carlyn Rosser for 43 years, until her death from cancer in 2017. According to People, the father of two never thought he would fall in love again after that, after his relationship with Purl became public.
First major role in science fiction series
Duffy, who lived away from Hollywood in rural Oregon for many years, comes from the US state of Montana. In his first major television role at the end of the 1970s, he was mostly seen in swimming trunks. In the science fiction series "The Man from Atlantis", he played the last survivor of the legendary island of Atlantis who could breathe underwater.
The series was canceled after one season, but an offer for a mini-series promptly followed. He was to play the nice, good-looking but modest Bobby in a project called "Dallas". A stroke of luck: the TV series about the feuding Texan oil clan Ewing was a hit in the 1980s, captivating millions of people around the world. Everyone knew why Sue Ellen reached for the whiskey when Pam and Bobby were arguing and the creep J.R., with his cowboy hat and ice-cold smile, was unscrupulously dishing it out. In the USA, the family drama about money, power and intrigue ran uninterrupted for 14 years (until 1991), with 357 episodes translated into over 60 languages and broadcast in 90 countries.
Mourned, buried, resurrected
But in the meantime, Duffy had had enough. The series writers came up with an exit plan - in 1985, Bobby left the soap opera in a car accident. He dies at the end of the eighth season in episode 191. He is mourned and buried, but is suddenly alive again in episode 222. His wife Pamela finds him in the shower. It was all just a nightmare, he explains to viewers.
"Dallas" made Duffy an international star. In 1983, he recorded the song "Together we are strong" with French singer Mireille Mathieu, which made it into the German singles charts. In 1987, the actor and his "Dallas" co-star Charlene Tilton were celebrated with a "Bambi". The year before, Duffy had suffered a serious loss. His parents, who ran a bar in Montana, were shot dead by two youths during a robbery. Duffy, a practicing Buddhist, later said that he had no thoughts of revenge against the murderers.
"Dallas" remake
After the end of "Dallas", Duffy played the head of the family Frank alongside Suzanne Somers in the sitcom "A Strong Family" until 1998. From 2006, he appeared in the soap "Rich and Beautiful" for three years. And then he returned as Bobby in a "Dallas" remake. The sequel to the Texas saga from 2012 to 2014 featured a prominent cast including Duffy, Hagman and Linda Gray. Hagman plays the aged J.R, who still takes advantage of his nice brother Bobby, but now their sons (Josh Henderson and Jesse Metcalfe) take center stage. While filming for the second season was still underway, Hagman died of cancer in November 2012 at the age of 81.
Duffy still occasionally appears in front of the camera or on the theater stage. In February, he starred in the two-person play "Love Letters" by Albert R. Gurney in California. The story revolves around two people who write letters to each other for 50 years and yet never find each other. Duffy was joined on stage by his new love, Linda Purl.
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