In the 1980s and 1990s, “Dallas” and “Step by Step” maintained Patrick Duffy on television. He’s earned 80 more acting credits and has directed many films since then.
Duffy revealed his relationship with “Happy Days” actress Linda Purl in November. Duffy, who was filming “Once Upon a Main Street” for Lifetime, said they had been casual friends for years before going the next step while everyone was locked in their homes in 2020. We’ll discuss their growing romance further, but the actor stated, “We’re extremely thrilled. This was not anything I expected.” Duffy had lost several of his closest friends before discovering love.
Patrick Duffy’s acting career met a snag before college. “I was about to graduate from the University of Washington when I ruptured my vocal cords from a lack of judgment, vocal abuse, no rest, and too much drinking,” Duffy told Deseret News in 1991, describing how he lost his voice two decades previously. “That was the end of my career.”
According to his IMDb page, the future star adapted by teaching mime and movement workshops. After that, Duffy interpreted ballet and opera performances by visiting ensembles in Washington. As a Buddhist, he only restored his vocal cords by singing daily. According to Deseret News, he healed in five months.
Duffy would come to rely on the woman who introduced him to Buddhism.
Patrick Duffy and Carlyn Rosser, one of Hollywood’s longest-lasting couples, had an interesting first date. After graduating, Duffy began touring with a group of entertainers, according to Closer Weekly. “I was an immature college graduate touring as a narrator with this dance show, and she was a wonderful dancer ten years older,” he recalled his first encounter with Rosser. “We met on the tour bus and became lifelong friends.” Her abilities enchanted the young actor. “My wife had a terrific pitch, concert piano, was a dancer, and lived a creative life,” he explained. “I was drawn to that.”
The dancer had gotten married. They left together when Rosser persuaded Duffy to Buddhism. “I wrote, “Dear Mom and Dad: I’m relocating to New York with a married woman ten years my senior, and I’m a Buddhist.” What would I do as a parent if my son sent a similar letter?” Duffy made a joke on Deseret News. “I’d fall.”
Rosser died more than 40 years after their marriage in 1974.
Patrick Duffy rose to prominence in the late 1970s as the star of “Dallas,” a film about the Ewing family’s struggle to dominate a big oil company. His career outside of his iconic role, however, failed.
“I thought if there was ever a time at the peak of that show’s popularity when I might be able to launch into something more of a single, starring venue, that would be the time to do it,” Duffy told HuffPost in 2014, recalling how Bobby Ewing was killed off so he could pursue other projects. “Typical Patrick Duffy business choice disaster,” he remarked.
When Duffy couldn’t find his ideal star vehicle, he returned to his previous soap, pushing the writers to improvise. They mistook the previous season for a nightmare, including his dying moment. Duffy reprised the role in 2012 and told TV Insider that he would return in April 2021. “I tried putting Bobby Ewing behind me twice, and it didn’t work,” he explained. “I never say the words “never again.” If it was an incredible next step in those characters’ stories, I’d do it.”
Patrick Duffy’s performance of Bobby Ewing in “Dallas” in 1986 was his career high. Then his parents were murdered. Duffy’s parents were murdered to death at their Montana tavern by two 19-year-old gunmen.
The actor described his parents as “quite average, decent people” and “sociable” in Closer Weekly. As a result, Kenneth Miller and Sean Wentz’s heinous murder of them was a devastating shock. “Later that evening, my father evicted these two young men from the tavern. They drank somewhere else before returning to the bar to kick his a**. The actor described their heartbreaking encounter. “He was shot in the bar. Because the tavern was empty, they shot my parents.”
Kenneth Miller and Sean Wentz were quickly apprehended after murdering Patrick Duffy’s parents, startling everyone who knew them. According to the Associated Press, the boys were convicted and sentenced to 75 years in prison for murder and 30 years for robbery and assault in 1987 (Wentz later earned an additional ten years, claiming that “the Miller jury delivered a message that Sean Wentz was the triggerman.”)
Joanne, Duffy’s sister, and a police officer expressed disappointment that they were not executed. The famous actor found peace. “My sister immediately began on a campaign, seeking punishment,” Patrick Duffy told The New York Times in 2012. “They have already been punished. They led them to suffer in the future.” Miller’s parole in 2007 didn’t shake the “Step by Step” alum after Wentz acknowledged being the sole gunman.
“OK. “My sister isn’t a master criminal,” Duffy added. “Stupid, dumb young men.”
According to Patrick Duffy, Buddhism, which his wife, Carlyn Rosser, introduced him to, helped him cope with his parents’ murders.
“I just converted because I wanted to sleep with her,” he explained their chance meeting on the tour bus. “And now I do it because it’s such an important part of my life,” Duffy said. Nichiren Buddhism aided both his vocal cords and his attitude. “I’m immune to suffering,” the celebrity stated while still grieving his parents’ deaths. “Pain isn’t in pain. Self-inflicted.”
“When my parents were murdered, I went through all the emotions of the tragedy of shock and wrath and everything,” the actor recalled, “but I never felt estranged from them.” His faith assisted him in comprehending life and death. “There is no immediate loss. I had no idea why, but 15 years of Buddhism had.” In an interview with the Guardian, Duffy stated that he was “totally responsible for his pain.” “If I’m suffering due to that, it’s my karma manifesting in this incarnation under these conditions.”
Patrick Duffy pays tribute to his on-screen mother, Barbara Bel Geddes, after her death from lung cancer in 2005.
“When Barbara joined the cast of ‘Dallas’ as Miss Ellie, I thought of her as a real ‘name’ in American theater, like Helen Hayes, Katherine Cornell, and Ethel Barrymore,” he told Entertainment Weekly, recalling Bel Geddes’ first trepidation. “You wouldn’t have guessed. Despite her pedigree, she was outstanding.” “Dallas” cast and staff referred to Duffy as “BBG” on set, she revealed. “She was mama,” he explained.
Duffy stated that the 2012 revival was not the same without Bel Geddes. “Barbara is a significant part of our history,” he told TV Week. “Seeing Ellie Southworth Ewing Farlow on the gravestone with Linda Gray as Sue Ellen and Larry Hagman in his J.R. hat made me understand, ‘Oh, that’s right—gone,’” she says.
Patrick Duffy found peace in Carlyn Rosser, but she also gave him pain. Rosser died of cancer in 2017 at the age of 77. “She died suddenly. “There’s no sign,” Duffy told Closer Weekly. “As you become older, you realize the road ahead is much shorter than the road behind.”
He said his wife would be with him “eternally” after she died. “My heart stopped six months ago today,” Duffy wrote in June. “I live according to her wants.” The former “Step by Step” star thanked fans for their “love and care” and assured them that he would be well.
“There are no mistakes in life. “I can mend every fence and make my labor meaningful if given enough time,” Duffy told Closer Weekly. “I’m all right.”
Patrick Duffy broke fans’ hearts in 2019 when he revealed that he still considered Carlyn Rosser, his wife. “I’m hearing her. “I saw her,” said the actor to Closer Weekly. “I try to live up to her expectations.” Duffy, on the other hand, admitted to missing Rosser on occasion. “I miss her touch,” he said. “I’m still married.”
The actor also revealed how important his children Padraic and Conor were to him during his grief. According to Closer Weekly, Padraic Duffy, Duffy’s older son, has written and directed plays, while Conor (pictured above), his younger son, has acted in “Arrested Development” and “Good Girls.”
“My lads were rock solid,” Duffy remarked. “I also realized that, as much as they were attempting to cheer up old Dad, I’m probably more tuned in to this set of circumstances than they are.”
People reported in late 2020 that Patrick Duffy was dating “Happy Days” actress Linda Purl. “I never thought it would happen again,” Duffy said of their “really joyous relationship.”
Closer Weekly reported in June 2021 that “Doomsday Mom” co-stars became closer during the COVID-19 nationwide lockdown by conversing on Zoom every night. “We dug deep into our pasts, loves, and histories. Throughout our months of dating, we listened to music and covered the customary material,” Duffy observed. “Without extraneous influences, we got to know each other.” Linda described their early connection as “very Victorian” and life as “full of shocks.”
“Neither Patrick nor I wanted this. Our paths unexpectedly crossed. “Never give up,” he encouraged. “Every time this great woman loves me, I’m astonished,” Duffy said to the site. Amazing!”
Patrick Duffy has no regrets about his life’s tragedy. “I’ve worked hard to make the best of life,” he told Closer Weekly.
