Linda Purl

At 68 years old, Linda Purl has this physical status:

Linda Purl (born September 2, 1955) is an American actress and singer best known for her appearances in the 1982 horror film Visiting Hours, Pam Beesley's mother Helene in The Office, and Ben Matlock's daughter Charlene Matlock in the first season of the television series Matlock.

Early life

Purl was born in Greenwich, Connecticut, on September 2, 1955, to Jewish parents, chemical-industry executive Raymond Arthur Purl, and Marshelline "Marshie" Purl. Mara is her sister. Beatrice Saville, the girls' grandmother, was a member of the Actors' Equity Association. Purl and her family migrated to Japan, where her father worked with Nippon Unicar at age five. She spent her childhood and trained at Toho Geino Academy in acting. Purl appeared in many productions, including Louis in The King and I, Bet in Oliver, and Helen Keller in The Miracle Worker, while at the Imperial Theatre in Tokyo. In addition, she was discovered by Toho and appeared in a number of films.

Purl returned to the United States at the age of 15. She attended high school in Washington, Connecticut, at Wykeham Rise School, a private boarding school for girls specializing in creative and performing arts. She appeared in The Secret Storm, a soap opera, while still in high school. Purl followed Finch College to England to study under Marguerite Beale before returning to the United States to study at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute and later with Robert Lewis.

Personal life

Purl has been married four times. Desi Arnaz Jr., son of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, was her first marriage in 1979. Purl filed for divorce on January 3, 1980, which was later that year. She married screenwriter William Broyles Jr. on November 5, 1988, who later divorced. Purl married British screenwriter and producer Alexander Cary, the Queen of Falkland, with whom she has a son named Lucius, who was born on February 6, 1995. They then divorced. She married James Vinson Adams on July 15, 2006, and it was the first time she met him. They divorced. She has been in a relationship with Patrick Duffy since 2020.

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Acting career

Purl's first big film appearance came in Jonathan Demme's 1975 comedy Crazy Mama, after appearing in a small role in Jory (1973). W.C. Fields and Me (1976), Young Pioneers' Christmas (1976), Leo and Loree (1981), The Great Country (1984), Viper (1988), The Perfect Tenant (2000), Fear of the Dark (2006).

Linda Purl has appeared in several television series, beginning with The Secret Storm, a daytime "soap opera" drama (1973–1974). Molly Beaton, a newlywed woman in ABC western drama series The Young Pioneers, set in the Dakota Territory of the 1870s and based on Rose Wilder Lane's books, appeared in 1978. She appeared alongside Shaun Cassidy in the 1979 television film Like Normal People. She appeared in "Women at West Point" earlier in 1979. She appeared on Happy Days in two ways: Richie's occasional girlfriend Gloria in season two (1974) and Fonzie's faithful girlfriend Ashley eight seasons later (1982–1983). Kate Del'Amico appeared in the short-lived series Undercover and played Brett Robin in the 1994-1995 series Robin's Hoods.

Testimony of Two Men, The Night of Two Men, Little Ladies of the Night, and Spies, Lies & Naked Thighs are among the television films she has appeared in. In a 1985 direct-to-video episode of The Greatest Adventure: Stories From the Bible, she appeared Delilah.

In 1976, Purl appeared in an all-star cast in the well-known historical-biographical TV mini-series Eleanor and Franklin, which was broadcast on the American Broadcasting Company's (ABC) television network. Alice Roosevelt Longworth, President Theodore Roosevelt's daughter, is depicted here.

Purl appeared in a 1975 episode of the long-running Hawaiian-locale "The Hostage" as a teenage babysitter "Ruth" held captive by a deranged veteran. Vanessa performed two different roles on The Waltons, including Alicia in the season three episode "The Spoilers" (1974), and later in the season five episode "The Heartbreaker" (1977), when she played Mary Ellen's sister-in-law (and Jason's love interest) Vanessa and sang a few songs. She appeared in Manions of America in 1981. In 1984, she appeared in Nydia, the blind flower girl in the miniseries "The Last Days of Pompeii." "Murder at the Oasis" was her first appearance in a Murder, She Wrote episode in 1985. She Wrote in the episode "Mourning Among The Wisterias" in 1988, and in 1993, she appeared in "Dead Eye" for the third time. Purl played Charlene, Ben Matlock's lawyer daughter, in the first season of Matlock (1986–1987) (starring long-time comedy actor Andy Griffith, now in a more dramatic role). Sarah Novelli, a real estate agent and Justice Joseph Novelli's wife, was cast in the series First Monday (2002).

Purl appeared on NBC's The Office TV series, beginning with season six's "Niagara" in 2009-2010. Purl appeared in several other episodes in the series as well as a romantic fascination with Steve Carell's character. She made a guest appearance on Desperate Housewives in May 2010. Purl made guest appearances on Showtime's Homeland in 2011, starring Elizabeth Gaines. In two episodes of HBO's True Blood in 2012, Barbara Pelt, the mother of Debbie Pelt, appeared. In 2017, Purl appeared in one episode of Designated Survivor, playing an old college boss of President Kirkman, who is involved in naming nominees to the Supreme Court in the episode "The Ninth Seat."

Purl has been a regular performer (and was in the original cast) of the international touring play Seven Deadly Sinners. In November 2007, she appeared at the Teatre Grace, Monte Carlo, directed by Marc Sinden as part of Sinden's British Theatre Season, Monaco.

Purl opened in 2008 at the Cleveland Play House in Cleveland, Ohio, in a Tennessee Williams-directed production of The Glass Menagerie, starring Amanda.

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