His latest passion is a sourdough business. The actor has been selling sourdough starter kits for the past two years, aptly named “Duffy’s Dough,” following a family tradition. Duffy told People magazine that his mother baked with it in the 1950s.
The impetus to turn it into a business came from his actress colleague Linda Purl (68), who once had success with TV series such as “Happy Days” and “Matlock”. The two are not only business partners, but have also long been a couple. During the corona pandemic, they became closer through a chat group.
Duffy was previously married to dancer Carlyn Rosser for 43 years until her death from cancer in 2017. He never thought he would fall in love again after that, the father of two said, according to People, after his relationship with Purl became known.
Duffy, who lived for many years away from Hollywood in rural Oregon, comes from the US state of Montana. In his first major television role at the end of the 1970s, he was mostly seen in swimming trunks: in the science fiction series “The Man from Atlantis” he played the last survivor of the legendary island of Atlantis, who could breathe underwater.
The series was canceled after one season, but an offer for a miniseries promptly followed: He was supposed to play the nice, good-looking but humble Bobby in a project called “Dallas”. A stroke of luck: the TV series about the feuding Texas oil clan Ewing was a street sweeper in the 1980s who captivated millions of people all over the world to the screen.
You knew why Sue Ellen reached for whiskey when Pam and Bobby were arguing and the mean JR with a cowboy hat and an ice-cold smile was ruthlessly dishing it out. In the USA, the family drama about money, power and intrigue ran continuously for 14 years (until 1991), 357 episodes were translated into over 60 languages and broadcast in 90 countries.
But now and then Duffy had had enough. The series writers thought of an exit – in 1985, Bobby left the soap opera due to a car accident. He dies at the end of the eighth season in episode 191. He is mourned and buried, but is suddenly alive again in episode 222. His wife Pamela finds him in the shower. It was all just a nightmare, according to the explanation given to the audience.
“Dallas” made Duffy an international star. In 1983 he recorded the song “Together we are strong” with the French singer MireilleMathieu, which climbed into the German singles charts. In 1987, the actor and his “Dallas” colleague Charlene Tilton were celebrated with a “Bambi”. The year before, Duffy had suffered a serious loss. His parents, who ran a bar in Montana, were shot by two teenagers during a robbery. Duffy, a practicing Buddhist, later said that he had no desire for revenge against the murderers.
After “Dallas” ended, Duffy played the head of the Frank family in the sitcom “A Strong Family” alongside Suzanne Somers until 1998. From 2006 he appeared in the soap “Rich and Beautiful” for three years.
And then he returned again as Bobby in a “Dallas” reboot. The sequel to the Texas saga from 2012 to 2014 starred Duffy, Hagman and Linda Gray. Hagman plays the aged JR, who still takes advantage of his nice brother Bobby, but now their sons (Josh Henderson and Jesse Metcalfe) take center stage. While the second season was still being filmed, Hagman died of cancer in November 2012 at the age of 81.
Duffy still occasionally appears in front of the camera or on the theater stage. In February, he starred in the two-person play “Love Letters” by Albert R. Gurney in California. The story is about two people who write letters to each other for 50 years but can’t find each other. His new love Linda Purl was on stage with Duffy.