Linda Grey became famous for her role as Sue Ellen Ewing in the television series Dallas.
She appeared in more than 300 episodes, but despite her successful career, Grey also struggled with many personal issues.
This is the story of Linda Gray, who, at 82, continues to live her life today.
Throughout the history of television and cinema, we have repeatedly seen stunning performances by actors and actresses. I don’t know about you, but it seems to me that in these truly stellar performances, the actors themselves were created for these roles, and no one else could have played them to the same degree.
For example, can you imagine anyone other than Michael Landon playing the main character, Charles Ingalls, in Little House on the Prairie? Or would Mary Poppins have been as good if someone other than Dick Van Dyke had played Bert?
Linda Gray — Sue Ellen Ewing
There are many examples of such roles, but let’s talk about one more. Personally, I can’t even imagine watching the cult series Dallas without Linda Gray as Sue Ellen Ewing. I speak for many when I say that we are grateful that she got this role.
Linda Gray’s life was very unusual, you could even say it was a roller coaster ride. Gray struggled with life-threatening illnesses, drug addiction, and also went through a less than successful marriage.
However, despite having to endure difficult times, she always emerged stronger, determined to make the most of her life and have a long and successful career.
In the series Dallas, Grey starred alongside Larry Hagman and Patrick Duffy. Now she talks about her feelings about working alongside Hagman and the secrets behind their great chemistry on set.
Linda Gray was born on 12 September 1940 in Santa Monica, California.
Linda Gray — Childhood
As a child, Gray faced serious challenges when she was diagnosed with polio.
Her grandfather had already been diagnosed with the virus, and her parents were devastated. However, for Linda herself, it wasn’t a big deal.
‘They didn’t know what it was when he was 17, and he was always in a wheelchair,’ she recalls. ‘When I was diagnosed, everyone in my family went crazy, but I didn’t. I thought I might have a wheelchair like my grandfather.’
Gray grew up in Culver City, California, where her father had a watch repair shop. From an early age, performing was in her blood. She performed on the streets of her neighbourhood. When Linda attended Notre Dame Academy in Los Angeles, she played Cinderella in a production of Cinderella.
Her father provided the stability she and her sister Betty needed.
He didn’t offer emotional support,” Linda Gray wrote in her 2015 book, The Road to Happiness Is Always Under Construction. He was just there, like a piece of furniture, but it was a different time then.
‘You didn’t go to Dad with boyfriend problems. God forbid. But he supported my career.’
Their mother, Marge, a former artist and ballerina, was the complete opposite.
A difficult childhood
Marge drank heavily, and soon the two young sisters had to take control of the household.
‘She didn’t fall down drunk, she never yelled,’ Linda writes. ‘She wasn’t mean — she was just fuzzy, in her own world, she forgot to buy food, and I started cooking. My sister and I didn’t like her very much.’
Later, Marge became an Alcoholics Anonymous member and stopped drinking. Linda believes that her mother’s addiction to alcohol was the result of disappointment and suppressed creative potential. She was determined to avoid her mother’s fate.
‘I felt that if I didn’t pursue my career, the same thing could happen to me,’ explains Linda Gray.
But she faced a number of difficulties in her life. And these difficulties began when she was only 20 years old.
A nightmarish marriage
Growing up in Culver City meant being very close to the world capital of show business — Hollywood. After school, Linda Gray and her friends would visit various film studios and get autographs from stars such as Tyrone Power and Spencer Tracy.
At a young age, Grey wanted to study medicine. But, growing up near film studios, she changed her mind and soon realised that she wanted to become an actress. As a teenager, Grey worked as a model for several cosmetics companies and airlines.
Linda Grey was only 21 when she married photographer Edward Lee Trasher. However, the marriage turned into a nightmare for Linda.
Her career and desire to work in show business were put on hold. Instead, she took on the role of wife and then mother. In 1960, the couple had a son, Jeff Thrasher, and six years later, a daughter, Kehli.
Ed, according to Linda, hardly spoke. The family moved to Santa Clarita, where she still lives today, but Linda was determined to pursue her own career.
Their marriage, according to Linda, was emotionally cold. She felt abandoned.
‘It tore me apart, but I thought, “Well, I’ll get through this somehow,”’ she explains. ‘It took me 21 years to get out of the marriage.’
Linda Gray’s family
At the same time, her husband Ed did not want her to work, he wanted to lead a luxurious home life. Linda decided that this was her chance to get into show business, and after a while she began appearing in television commercials.
There were many of them.
Linda Gray — career
In 1963, she starred in two short films, Under the Yum-Yum Tree and Weekend in Palm Springs, without accreditation.
A few years later, Linda Gray landed a job that has since become legendary. At the age of 27, she was paid $25 to be Ann Bancroft’s body double on the poster for the film The Graduate (1967), starring a young Dustin Hoffman. Gray’s legs appeared on the iconic image, and, funnily enough, she ended up playing Mrs. Robinson in the West End production of The Graduate in 2001.
But not everyone loved her. In her memoir, published in 2015, Gray included a rejection letter she received from Glamour magazine in the early 1960s. But that didn’t upset her, of course.
‘It was so funny that I kept the letter,’ Grey said. “I kept the letter because I realised that we all get rejections, and that was her opinion when I was 20. It could have ruined my life. But I didn’t let it. I developed this rebellious streak — ‘Oh, really? I’ll show you! With a lot of love and humour, I kept that letter. It kicked me in the butt and made me want to go out and do something.”
Linda loved being a mother, but at the same time she was frustrated that she couldn’t pursue her career. When she finally decided to take acting classes, her husband was unhappy.
Linda Gray — Dallas
‘He said, “Why don’t you become an actress when the kids are in college?”’ she recalls.
However, at the age of 37, Linda Gray went her own way and began attending acting classes alongside many promising young actors. Actor Dennis Weaver recognised Grey’s talent and helped her land her first real acting job, appearing as a guest star on the series Marcus Welby M.D. in 1974.
It didn’t take long for things to change for the better.
In 1978, Grey landed the role of Sue Ellen Ewing in the new television soap opera Dallas. Initially, it was supposed to be a recurring guest role in five episodes of the first series, but she soon became a regular cast member. In fact, it was her performances that made her a star.
Dallas was about corruption, betrayal, lies, intrigue and scandals unfolding on the Southfork Ranch. Grae’s performance was highly praised by television critics, and together with her fellow actors Larry Hagman and Patrick Duffy, the series brought her enormous success.
Grae became something of a sex symbol on Dallas, and there was real chemistry between her and Larry Hagman.
Relationship with Larry Hagman
CBS executives saw it all happening before their eyes, and it was pure magic. However, Grey claims that in reality there was no sexual chemistry between them.
‘He was the bad older brother I never had,’ says Gray. “He was always doing something that I thought was wrong — drinking too much or something else — and I would tell him off, and he liked that, he liked doing things to annoy me. I would say, ‘Don’t eat that. You don’t need that much sugar, and stop drinking.
‘I was a thorn in his side — and he liked it,‘ she continued. ’He did everything on purpose to get me worked up. The directors were thrilled. They thought we were crazy teenagers, but when they said action, we became J.R. and Sue Ellen. It was just magnificent. We don’t know what happened. It was absolute magic. We felt blessed, and we were.”
Dallas was not only highly praised by television critics and business executives, but also absolutely loved by viewers.
The series broke several viewing records, becoming one of the most popular shows on television. To this day, it is one of the longest-running shows in the history of American prime-time television.
Dallas — television records
On 21 November 1980, viewers got the answer to the mystery of who shot Larry Hagman’s character, J.R. Ewing, and people wanted to see it.
According to BT, the episode was watched by over 80 million people, making it the largest audience for a single television programme in America at that time. It remained in first place until 121 million viewers watched the final episode of the sitcom MASH.
Grae was nominated for two Golden Globe Awards for Best Actress in a Television Series – Drama, as well as an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for her performance in Dallas.
During her successful run on the series, Grey finally divorced her husband, Ed Trasher, in 1983. Her son, Jeff, followed in his mother’s footsteps and became a director.
In 2018, Jeff was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Multi-Camera Lifestyle, Cooking, or Educational and Informational Programme for Furze’s Wonders of the World. He also won a Canadian Screen Award for Best Documentary Program or Series in Science or Nature for the 2015 film Mission Asteroid.
Tragedy with son Jeff Trasher
However, tragedy struck in 2020 when Jeff passed away after battling leukaemia.
Linda Gray posted a tribute to her late son on Instagram.
‘Celebrating the life of my son Jeff. He was the kindest, funniest, sweetest human being… he brought so much love to the world and was loved by everyone! May his journey be magical,’ she wrote.
Linda Grey is 82 today
Linda Grey appeared in 308 episodes of the series Dallas. But what did she do after the series ended?
She continued to appear in several television series, and in 2012 she returned to the role of Sue Ellen Ewing when Dallas was renewed for two more seasons. Grey also received a special award at a film festival in the United States in 2014.
Today she is 84 years old. But she still looks amazing!
Linda Grey has been through a lot in her life: childhood, first marriage, the tragic death of her son.
But one thing is certain: she has learned to cope with negative moments and turn them into the energy she needs to move forward in life.
We love her for that and wish her all the best for the future! Please share this article on Facebook with your family and friends.
