20160904

TELEVISION

"I don't know if I feel drawn to Ireland because I’m Irish or because I know I'm Irish," Patrick Duffy had said. Born in Montana, Patrick Duffy studied drama for 4 years at the University of Washington and also at the Seattle Repertory Company. In 1974, Patrick left Seattle to come to Hollywood to become a journeyman actor after his agent Joan Scott from New York had opened up offices in Los Angeles. Patrick told David Houston in 1977, "For 3 years after I got here I didn't work. I didn't do anything. I have been on film on 5 separate occasions. Small parts. A commercial. 

"So, in the 4 years I've been here I haven't exactly set the world on fire. But they (Joan Scott and Grace Smith) kept me busy mowing their lawns, rebuilding their kitchens, putting new roofs on their houses – anything to keep the rent paid so I would stay here and not give up." Patrick also told 'United Press International', "For 2 years I delivered flowers and did the heavy carrying for the florist's big hotel decorating jobs for parties. 

"I kept a suitcase packed with good clothes in the truck. I’d rush in, audition and run back to the truck to change before the flowers wilted. I was also making contacts to do some carpentry. I’m very good with tools and gave up truck driving to build room additions and install bathrooms in houses." Linda Gray told the press, "I wanted to break into the business but I didn’t know how to – and I didn’t know how to tell my somewhat strict parents that I was going to be an actress. But the matter was taken out of my hands when a photographer spotted me at a fashion show and got my mother’s permission to make me a model." 

"I was looking for a slow rise," Patrick acknowledged. "I was young and inexperienced and figured I had to pay my dues. I anticipated playing a lot of small roles for 10 or 15 years until I became a mature leading man. I expected eventual success after building up confidence in my ability at the networks and studios. So it was crazy when I found myself starring in a series of my own. I’m still not sure it's really happening." It did happen and that series was 'Man From Atlantis', about the last survivor from the lost city of Atlantis. Patrick was 28 years old at the time. 

Raised in Santa Monica, Heather Thomas' mother was a special education administrator, her father had a PhD in psychology and was in charge of institutional research for the California State University, while her sister Carol was a university teacher studying for her PhD. Heather told the press in 1982, "I felt that if I told them (her parents) I wanted to become an actress they would look down on my choice. So I went to UCLA and took courses in writing, film editing and film documentary." 

Between 1981 and 1986, Heather co-starred in the TV series, 'The Fall Guy'. Heather told Allan Webster in 1984, "People have said that if I did a bikini poster then certain directors wouldn’t give me parts in their movies. And you have to be careful that the commercialization doesn't get out of control. Sure it's a bit frustrating, but I believe what I'm doing now (in 1984) might open doors later. But I don't mind these things as long as I don't look ridiculous. It's money and I can't turn it down because I don't know when I'll get another job. I've been in series that have been canceled so I know what it's like to make no money for months at a time. I'm making hay while the sun shines."  

Except for the 1985-86 season, Patrick Duffy could be seen playing Bobby Ewing on the TV series 'Dallas' which ran from 1978 to 1991. Patrick spoke to June Walton in 1981, "I think the show is well-acted and has good plots and a good storyline. I really think that 'Dallas' could go on for as long as something like 'Bonanza'." Of his character, Patrick remarked, "Bobby Ewing had become so glossy in terms of his purity. I've had several arguments with the network chiefs about (playing Bobby) but they insist that Bobby has to be lily white.

"I told them that he (Bobby) should at least be allowed to be tempted to commit adultery – even Jimmy Carter has confessed to that in his mind. But they remind me that Bobby is the symbol of everything that is good and decent about American manhood … The most they will allow Bobby is to be tempted in the big, dirty business world. Power corrupts and even Bobby Ewing can be tempted by that, it seems."

Of her character, Linda Gray observed, "I just love playing Sue Ellen. I think it's just about the best part for a woman on television today (in 1981). There is nothing at all of me in Sue Ellen – except that like her I love to wear pretty clothes. I used to feel nervous about creating a fictional character who could make such a tremendous impression on people. But I feel very proud of the fact that I have created a believable lady who through all her conflicts still receives so much empathy from the public.

"I mean, she is drinking and she has affairs and does all the things that are totally unacceptable for a woman in society today (back in the 1980s). So I feel that to get all that empathy from women around the world I must be doing something right. I soon realized the potential of the character and luckily our writers welcome a lot of input, so my ideas get incorporated into scripts."

"I found Sue Ellen's involvement with the younger boy, played by Christopher Atkins, just badly executed," Patrick told Marilyn Murray Willison in 1984. "It simply wasn't executed properly. It could have been handled better, but I don't object to the tackiness of it. Good God, our show, by definition, epitomizes in various forms, certain amounts of tackiness. So do most of the serialized productions on television these days.

"'Dallas' executes most of them, unfailingly, with more taste than other episodic serials do. That time I think we just missed the mark. It was just an unfortunate bit of construction. But 'Dallas' had been on the air for 6 years up to that point and if I made a list of all the 'tacky' things that our characters have done it would be very touchy to be moralistic about one episode."

Christopher Atkins maintained, "They had to handle our romance delicately. We were friends before I landed the part of Peter in 'Dallas', so that made it easier for me to slip into the role. I first met Linda with her daughter at Studio 54 a few years ago (before 1984), and since then we've remained friends. There's no love affair happening between us in real life, we're just friends."

Patrick pointed out, "In essence, television does pander to the wants of society, and when you're in that business you have to accept the fact that you're in it and do the best you can under the circumstances rather than don the cloak of righteousness. I am not privy to future scripts – none of us is. We generally get scripts about 2 episodes ahead of what we're filming. About every 7 days we get a new script."

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