Patrick Duffy | Lucius Carey | Linda Purl | Source: YouTube.com/NewYorkLivetv | Instagram.com/@lindapurl | Youtube.com/PioneersofTelevision

  • “Dallas” star Patrick Duffy never thought he would find love again after the tragic passing of his wife.
  • For years, Duffy was depressed, and his children had even tried to set him up on dates a few times.
  • Years later, at 71, he met and fell in love with “Happy Days” actress Linda Purl.
  • The couple has been living a very happy life together, with Duffy even stepping in as a father figure to Purl’s son, and the two share a great bond.

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Born in Montana and raised in Washington, Patrick Duffy has accomplished a lot in his varied career span. Before becoming famously known for portraying the dapper Bobby Ewing in “Dallas,” Duffy had worked in the theater realm for quite some time. He previously worked as an interpreter for ballet, orchestra, and opera companies and taught movement and mime classes for a while.

It was around this time that he met a beautiful ballet dancer by the name of Carlyn Rosser, who was traveling with the First Chamber Dance Company of New York. Rosser and Duffy had an instant connection when they first met, and the couple became very close.

Patrick Duffy as Bobby Ewing in the premiere episode of "Dallas" in Los Angeles, 1978 | Source: Getty Images

Patrick Duffy as Bobby Ewing in the premiere episode of “Dallas” in Los Angeles, 1978 | Source: Getty Images

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They became so close that Rosser had even influenced Duffy to convert to Buddhism, which he has practiced for over 30 years. In 1974 the pair got married in a Buddhist temple and then moved to New York, where in addition to getting gigs in Off-Broadway plays, Duffy worked as a carpenter to support himself and his wife.

After living in New York for a while, the married couple then moved to Hollywood, where Duffy started to work as a florist delivery man and managed to score some minor roles in television and film. Some months after they were married, they had their firstborn son – Padraic, in December of the same year.

Four years after their first child was born, Duffy scored the most prominent role of his career on the classic hit TV show “Dallas.” The happy couple then welcomed their second son – Conor, in 1980.

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Padraic, Patrick, and Conor Duffy at the opening night of "Joan Rivers: A Work in Progress By A Life in Progress" in Los Angeles, 2008 | Source: Getty Images

Padraic, Patrick, and Conor Duffy at the opening night of “Joan Rivers: A Work in Progress By A Life in Progress” in Los Angeles, 2008 | Source: Getty Images

The family had enjoyed many fruitful years together before Rosser tragically passed away from cancer in 2017. Expectedly, the family was devasted, and Duffy, in particular, was shattered.

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For a long time, the actor was plagued with grief, making it difficult for him to carry on as usual. What made it even more challenging was the fact that Duffy had said that there had been no indication or warning signs that Rosser was anywhere near her deathbed. He even admits to secluding himself on his ranch for 18 months as a result of not knowing how to deal with all the emotions he was feeling, which started to affect his life outlook:

“I had all these emotions, not just about the relationship but about life. So, I would walk around the ranch and think in a way and to a depth I had not before.”

Carlyn Rosser and Patrick Duffy at The Forty-Second Tv Film Festival Of Monaco in Monaco, 2002 | Source: Getty Images

Carlyn Rosser and Patrick Duffy at The Forty-Second Tv Film Festival Of Monaco in Monaco, 2002 | Source: Getty Images

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Duffy was especially devastated after losing his wife, that for a while, he found it difficult to even imagine himself ever moving on from her. When his sons had tried to set him up with someone new, Duffy was not receptive at all as he still considered himself a married man:

“I can [still] hear her [and] I can [still] see her. I feel close to her all the time [but] what I miss most is her touch. I still consider myself a married man.”

After 48 years of always being together, the “Man from Atlantis” star claimed that after some time, he had accepted that he would most likely always be a widower. Instead of pursuing another relationship, he focused all his attention on being a loving grandpa to his grandchildren.

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Patrick Duffy, Emily Kosloski, and Padraic Duffy at the "You Again" premiere in Hollywood, 2010 | Source: Getty Images

Patrick Duffy, Emily Kosloski, and Padraic Duffy at the “You Again” premiere in Hollywood, 2010 | Source: Getty Images

How Linda Purl’s Life Looked before She Met Patrick Duffy

The love lives of Duffy and Linda Purl are very different from one another. While Duffy had only been married once and planned on remaining married to Rosser for a lifetime, Purl has been married a total of four times.

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“The Young Pioneers” actress first married American actor and Lucille Ball’s son, Desi Arnaz Jr., in 1979, and the couple were together for a year before divorcing in 1980. Eight years later, she married an American screenwriter, William Broyles Jr., before divorcing him in 1992. Shortly afterward, in 1993, she married another screenwriter by the name of Alexander Cary, with whom she had her son – Lucius in 1995.

Linda Purl photographed during a portrait session in Los Angeles, 2000 | Source: Getty Images

Linda Purl photographed during a portrait session in Los Angeles, 2000 | Source: Getty Images

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When speaking about her love life in comparison to Duffy’s, Purl admits to the vast difference between the two. She jokingly quips that her romantic life has been more colorful than that of her counterpart:

“Mine’s more colorful, but there has been a lifelong desire for continuity, consistency, and shared experience. It just took a different path to get here.”

Perry King and Linda Purl at the NBC Affiliates Party in Los Angeles, 1985 | Source: Getty Images

Perry King and Linda Purl at the NBC Affiliates Party in Los Angeles, 1985 | Source: Getty Images

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Outside of her chain of romances, Purl is more so known for her illustrious acting career, most notably when she played the girlfriend of The Fonz, Ashley Pfister, in the ever-classic series “Happy Days.” Since then, Purl has made several appearances on other television shows, like the American version of the popular quirky comedic show “The Office.”

Before scoring her big break on “Happy Days,” Purl had just started acting, only garnering a few guest roles in various productions. She was still waiting on her big break as an actress.

Henry Winkler and Linda Purl as The Fonz and Ashley Pfister from "Happy Days" in 1982 | Source: Getty Images

Henry Winkler and Linda Purl as The Fonz and Ashley Pfister from “Happy Days” in 1982 | Source: Getty Images

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It was during this time that she met and married her first husband, Arnaz. Reportedly, Purl was the only woman Arnaz’s mother, Ball, had approved of.

The former couple had gotten married at a Los Angeles temple on a Sunday, with only their closest relatives and friends in attendance. Though the couple had remained happy for some time, reports speculate that when Purl got her big break on “Happy Days,” their relationship started to take a turn for the worse.

After talking non-stop relentlessly, their bond grew incredibly strong. On one special call, while signing off for the night, Duffy had professed his love to Purl with an “I love you” before hanging up.

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Linda Purl and Desi Arnaz Jr. photographed together in 1979 | Source: Getty Images

Linda Purl and Desi Arnaz Jr. photographed together in 1979 | Source: Getty Images

While on a promotional tour for an upcoming film that Purl was set to be a part of with a few of her fellow “Happy Days” cast members, the actress had chosen to bring hubby Arnaz as a tagalong. The couple had only been together for three months at the time.

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As the previous couple attended an event that was part of the tour together, several reports had stipulated that Arnaz had looked bored and completely uninterested. He apparently even scoffed at a question that asked whether “Happy Days” would last as long as “I Love Lucy.”

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Due to his uninterested behavioral patterns while on tour, a public consensus was that Arnaz was not as keen as his wife to spend time with the “Happy Days” cast. By 1980, after one year of marriage, the pair decided to call it quits.

The former couple had lived together in Purl’s residence. However, after divorcing, Arnaz had moved out.

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Even though there were memorabilia commemorating their time together, Purl continued to stay in her house and claimed she was unfazed by the memories stored away in there. She reported to The Gannette News Service that her divorce had been amicable.

Apart from her former marriages that did not work out in the end, Purl was blessed with becoming a mother to her son as a result of one of her previous relationships. The proud mother is exceptionally close with her only child and never misses an opportunity to show him support in all his pursuits and endeavors.

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The Duffy and Purl Love Story That Started on a FaceTime Call

The love story of Purl and Duffy began one fateful Autumn day in 2019. The two had met at an event in Los Angeles orchestrated through a mutual friend.

The friend had then started a group text chat between the three of them and left the group to allow Duffy and Purl to get to know each other. Texting 24/7 turned into weekly FaceTime sessions during a time when Duffy was working on a film project on location in Canada and Purl was performing in a play in New York.

The pair would talk about everything going on in their lives during their weekly calls. Duffy recounted their FaceTime days from which the couple’s bond started to grow stronger each time:

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“I’d say, ‘Here’s what my ranch looks like,’ and she’d say, ‘Here’s my apartment.’ We did a FaceTime every Wednesday. So about three weeks into that, I said, ‘Is there any reason Sunday can’t be Wednesday?'”

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When the couple had to go into lockdown and be confined to their respective homes, they leveled up their FaceTime sessions to Zoom calls seven days a week. Purl recollects:

“We Zoomed for a couple of months for two to three hours a night. We found all of this common turf, and then we would drop down to a different level. Patrick would read me a poem he’d written.”

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After talking non-stop relentlessly, their bond grew incredibly strong. On one special call, while signing off for the night, Duffy had professed his love to Purl with an “I love you” before hanging up. Purl was taken aback, as she did not see it coming whatsoever.

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According to Duffy, the next night on Zoom was somewhat scary, as he did not know how Purl would react to their last conversation. He decided to shift gears and steer the discussion to talking about driving up to come and see her. Both parties were nervously excited as the anticipation of seeing each other grew, and Purl even admitted that she had probably changed her outfit at least ten different times on the day, while Duffy recounts:

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“I drove 23 hours non-stop to end up on her doorstep. When the GPS told me I was five minutes from her home, I pulled over and changed from my shorts and…shirt into good pants and a nice shirt. I water-slicked my hair back; I gargled [mouthwash] [and] I put a little cologne on, and I got back in the car.”

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Upon arriving at Purl’s house, Duffy greeted her and shortly after asked permission to give her a kiss. The two have been happy together ever since, and that happiness extends to their children. According to Purl, her son adores Duffy and has thanked him for making his mother happy on many occasions.

Duffy’s boys, Padraic and Conor, were also delighted to see their father finally find happiness in love again. Duffy stated:

“[Lucius] has, on several occasions, written specifically to say, ‘I’m so glad you’re in my mother’s life. I’ve never seen her so happy.’ And my boys have seen me happier than I had been in five years.”

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The “Dallas” alum feels lucky to have found love a second time around and does not take the gift for granted. Duffy was dead set on staying single after his wife’s passing but now celebrates his loving relationship with Purl:

“I’m in an incredibly happy relationship [and] I never thought for a minute this would happen again. I never thought I’d feel this way again. I feel, quite honestly, that it is [in] keeping with the desires of my wife, the fact that we are intended to be happy. So when it’s offered, think about it, do whatever you do, but don’t let it pass you up if it’s the right thing.”

Linda Purl and Patrick Duffy at the 90th Anniversary Of The Hollywood Christmas Parade Supporting Marine Toys For Tots in Hollywood, 2022 | Source: Getty Images

Linda Purl and Patrick Duffy at the 90th Anniversary Of The Hollywood Christmas Parade Supporting Marine Toys For Tots in Hollywood, 2022 | Source: Getty Images

Purl and Duffy have found incredible happiness and share a deep love for each other that few get to experience in their lifetimes. The couple has done a superb job of blending their families, and they spend nearly every family holiday together. All their loved ones are thrilled about their union.

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