Patrick Duffy Biography

CIVIL STATUS
Careers Actor, Director
Nationality American
Born 17 March 1949 (Townsend, Montana, United States)
BIOGRAPHY
Since high school, Patrick Duffy has been performing in the theatre and giving voice on stage for ballet and opera companies. A problem with his vocal cords unfortunately put an end to his dreams of becoming a singer. After graduating with a degree in drama, the young Irish-born artist focused on a career as an actor.

Her swimming skills (thanks to a sister who was a diving champion) allowed her to land the title role in 1977 in The Man from Atlantis, alongside Belinda Montgomery. His character, Mark Harris, is the last survivor of Atlantis, able to breathe underwater and swim at incredible speeds. Soon, he teamed up with an oceanologist to help him unlock the secrets of the ocean. Thanks to the multiple reruns of the programme in France, the actor’s face became familiar to French viewers.

In 1978, Patrick Duffy was cast as Bobby Ewing in Dallas, a production developed by David Jacobs. The series, about a Texan family at the head of a powerful oil company, was a worldwide success. The trials and tribulations of the Ewings keep millions of viewers in many countries on the edge of their seats. And comedians, thrust into the spotlight overnight, know the perks and pangs of fame. Over the course of the episodes, the gentle Bobby tries to prevail against his older brother, the dastardly J.R. Ewing (Larry Hagman). He dares to marry the sweet Pamela Barnes (Victoria Principal), the daughter of a rival family.

While the show was still at the top of the ratings, Patrick Duffy bowed out in 1985, at the end of season 8. The writers kill off his character, creating a real stir among the fan community. Unable to get interesting roles, Bobby’s being too close to his skin, the actor was finally persuaded by his ex-partner Larry Hagman to return to Dallas. The writers then had to find a way to bring Bobby back to life in the show. It is decided to make the entirety of season 9 the result of a terrible nightmare of Pamela, convinced that the love of her life has been hit by a car. This scripting trick marks a first in the history of television. So, in the first episode of season 10, Pamela finds Bobby in the shower. Taken aback for a while, she joins him and that’s it.

In the end, Duffy stayed with Larry Hagman, the only two original performers to remain until the show ended in May 1991. He also participated in the two TV specials: “The Return of J.R.” (1996) and “The Ewing War” (1998), as well as the reboot initiated in 2012. For this sequel, still titled Dallas, focused on the new generation of Ewings, he reprises his favorite role of Bobby Ewing, to the delight of viewers. This new version focuses primarily on Bobby and J.R.’s respective sons, played by Jesse Metcalfe and Josh Henderson. Without being able to compete with its predecessor, the show remained on the air for three seasons.

Outside of Dallas, Patrick Duffy is working to make people forget (a little) Bobby. He achieved this in the 1990s with the sitcom Our Beautiful Family, in which he co-starred with Suzanne Somers. The comedy follows the hectic daily life of a blended family, whose children must learn to tame and support each other. The seven seasons of the series were successfully broadcast for years in France in prime time access on M6. In this comic register, the interpreter of Frank Lambert proves that he can do something other than Dallas. The actor took the opportunity to move on to directing and directing several episodes of Dallas, Our Beautiful Family and Major Crimes.

Patrick Duffy’s life may not be as epic as Bobby’s, but it’s full of drama. In 1986, when he was back at the studio to shoot new episodes of Dallas, he learned that his parents had been killed at their gas station following an armed robbery. Converted to Buddhism thanks to his wife, he found the strength to continue and move forward. In 2005, he bid farewell to Barbara Bel Geddes, his television mother (Ellie Ewing in Dallas), with a heartfelt tribute. Larry Hagman, his co-star, breathed his last in 2012, while they were filming the sequel to Dallas. Carlyn, his partner of 34 years and mother of their two boys, died in 2017.

Despite the setbacks, Patrick Duffy wants to continue to make his audience dream. He guest-starred on The Griffins, Angels of Happiness, Party Down, The Fosters, Station 19 and NCIS. Viewers can also find him in multiple Christmas TV movies such as The Most Beautiful Christmas Star, A Chewable Christmas and Incognito Santa Claus. In 2022, the comedian made his return in the daily soap opera Love, Glory and Beauty. Between 2006 and 2011, he played Stephen Logan, the father of Brooke (Katherine Kelly Lang), an iconic character from the soap.

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