Linda Gray, who pIayed the legendary role of Sue Ellen Ewing in the hit show Dallas, had a life filled with excitement and a number of obstacles.
Recalling her childhood in Culver City, CaIifornia, she says how being given the chance to hang out with her friends around the filming studios triggered something in her that made her fall in love with acting. Her father, whom she describes as a rather cold person was always supportive of her career. Her mother used to be a heavy alcoholic while Linda and her sister were growing up so they had to take care of the house for long.
“She wasn’t falling down drunk, there was never any yeIIing,” Linda wrote in her book The Path to Happiness is Always Under Construction. “She wasn’t mean – she was just blurred, in her own world, she would forget to buy food so I started doing the cooking. My sister and I didn’t like her.”
Linda married her first and only husband, whom she separated with in 1983, photographer Edward Lee Thrasher, when she was 21. They had two children together, and although she enjoyed being a mother, it was her husband who somehow stood in her way of making a career in acting.
Although she was part of many commercials, it took Linda quite some time to finally gather the courage to attend acting classes.
In 1967, Linda was paid $25 to be Anne Bancroft’s body double in the poster for the film The Graduate not knowing that years later, or in 2001 to be exact, she would end up playing Mrs Robinson in the West End State production of The Graduate.
During the 1960s, she got a rejection letter from the Glamour Magazine, but that only made her more determined to succeed. “It was so funny that I kept that letter,” she wrote. “I kept the letter because I realized that we all have rejections, and it was her opinion when I was 20 years old. I could have had it devastate my life. But, I didn’t. This feisty streak came out – ‘Oh, yeah? I’m gonna show you!’ With great love and a lot of humor, I kept that letter. It kicked me from behind, and made me want to go and do something.”
After playing small roles, Linda finaIIy got the one that marked her career, that of Sue Ellen Ewing. She appeared in total of 308 episodes on Dallas and played alongside Larry Hagman and Patrick Duffy.
Speaking of her relationship with Hagman, Linda told CM Chat Live: “He was the bad big brother that I never had. He was always doing something in my mind wrong – he was drinking too much, or whatever, and I would reprimand him, he loved that, he loved to do something just to make me crazy. I’d say ‘Don’t eat that. You don’t need that much sugar, and stop drinking.’”
In fact, when Linda was briefly fired from the show for asking for a higher pay, it was Hagman who demanded she gets back.
For her legendary performance in Dallas, Linda received numerous awards, including two Golden Globe Awards for Best Actress – TeIevision Series Drama, as well as a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress.
Her son, Jeff Thrasher, followed into her footsteps and worked as a director. Sadly, he was diagnosed with leukemia and passed away in 2020. Linda was devastated. She had a hard time coping with the loss. Recently, she paid tribute to Jeff writing: “A celebration of my son Jeff’s life. He was the kindest, funniest, sweetest human being….. he brought the world such love and was loved by everyone! May his journey be a magicaI one.”https://www.instagram.com/p/CICmEWyrPUt/embed/captioned/?cr=1&v=14&wp=675&rd=https%3A%2F%2Fbengalimedia24.com&rp=%2Fheartbreaking-update-on-dallas-actress-linda-grey%2F%3Ffbclid%3DIwAR2dgWz6EFpC6RtaLAWwCBgR-BcaAhAdm0FRg147EhNfvC0WfZ9fCh18Swk#%7B%22ci%22%3A0%2C%22os%22%3A1751%2C%22ls%22%3A1148.4000000059605%2C%22le%22%3A1748.4000000059605%7D
We are very sorry for her loss. Linda is doing her best to live her life without her son. She is 82 years old and is looking as stunningly beautiful as always
My Parents Invited Me to Dinner to Hand My Late Grandma’s Earrings to My Sister, but That Wasn’t the Worst Part
My Parents Invited Me to Dinner to Hand My Late Grandma’s Earrings to My Sister, but That Wasn’t the Worst Part
I fell in love with an older guy at 20, but despite our ups and downs, I hope he would want something more serious. But instead, I faced heartbreak and a shocking betrayal from my sister.
My story is a strange one. When I was 20, I got involved with a guy who was much older than me. Our situation was complicated; we were on and off for about five years. He never wanted a real relationship, but he knew that I was deeply in love with him. Since he could not give me the stability I needed, I would try to leave, and he would convince me to stay, telling me that life was too short and we should just enjoy our time together.
A couple cooking together | Source: Shutterstock
I found myself stuck, not knowing how to move forward with this guy. So, I turned to my sister for advice, who is now 42. She suggested I leave my things at his place to make him commit, but I didn’t want to force him into falling in love with me. On our last night together, he talked about becoming more serious. He gave me ideas of potential dates, but then he just disappeared.
A woman on her phone at night | Source: Shuttertsock
Six months later, my sister announced she had a new boyfriend and wanted our parents to meet him at a family dinner. It seemed like I was not included in the dinner, so I was prepared to stay in my room for the night.
A woman looking sad while on her phone | Source: Shuttertsock
I decided to order myself a pizza since I was not having dinner with everyone, but when I got downstairs, I was shocked to see it was the same guy I had been with six months ago having dinner with my parents. I paid for the pizza, ran to my room, and cried.
When the dinner was over, I confronted my sister in front of my parents. I was certain she knew who he was, even though they hadn’t met. I had told her everything, from where he lived and worked to showing her his pictures.
A woman sleeping | Source: Shutterstock
I begged her not to date him and choose me over him. My sister saw me struggle to get out of bed from that heartbreak. She knew how difficult the last six months were for me, especially since I never got any closure on why he decided to just disappear.
A family having dinner | Source: Shutterstock
But she defended herself and said they met by chance after we broke up. My sister told me that she was certain he was the one and there was no way she was going to let go of this kind of connection because it comes once in a lifetime. My family also told me to get over it because he and I were never officially together.
Two women arguing | Source: Shutterstock
I decided it was best for me to move out, but my sister continued to live at home. Time passed, and things got more difficult. I was left out of family events because he was there. I didn’t care about him anymore, but I felt my family had let me down. I would only get weekly texts from my father checking in on me.
A woman packing | Source: Pexels
One day my parents invited me over for dinner. I thought this might be a chance for us to talk things over and reconcile, but when I got there, I found out that my sister was six months pregnant and planning to marry my ex-boyfriend.
I do not know what I expected, but I thought the time apart would have been a time for introspection for both my mother and sister. However, it was the opposite. It just seemed like they were out to hurt me.
A woman sitting on the edge of the bed looking sad | Source: Shutterstock
On top of finding out about the pregnancy and marriage, my mother told me that my grandmother’s diamond earrings, which she had trusted my parents to pass down to me, would now be given to my sister because she was the first to get married and about to give them their first grandchild.
A pregnant woman with baby clothes in front of her | Source: Shutterstock
I did not know what was worse. The betrayal was just layered and felt deliberate. My grandmother and I shared a very close relationship, even closer than the one she had with my sister. Those earrings had been in the family for generations, and my sister was meant to get her gold necklace.
Diamond earrings | Source: Pexels
All of this was making me extremely angry because my sister seemed to be constantly getting what was mine. These earrings were special and the one precious thing my grandmother left me. I told my parents they had to give me the earrings or I would stop talking to them. I took the earrings from their house and left. My mom cried and said I was making a big mistake, but I felt I had to stand up for myself.
A woman looking sad | Source: Shutterstock
After that explosive argument, I didn’t talk to my family much. I really felt like I was getting the hang of living on my own and healing from that breakup. I was having fun decorating my home and really turning a new leaf in life.
A woman shocked at her phone | Source: Shutterstock
Then one day, my ex, also my sister’s fiancé, started following me on Instagram, liking my stories, and commenting things like “looking good.” Out of nowhere, my mother called me, calling me all sorts of names and blaming me for going after a man I knew was not mine in the first place.
I was very confused because that was not true. Later down the line, my cousin told me my sister had gone through her fiancé’s phone and found several conversations between him and other women. But my mother decided to blame me for his cheating.
A woman secretly taking her partner’s phone | Source: Shutterstock
A few weeks later, my cousin, who has been the number one gossiper and the one person who keeps me updated on family affairs, told me that my sister had given birth to a baby girl.
A woman with a new born | Source: Shutterstock
I know this might sound shallow, but I went to the hospital wearing my grandmother’s diamond earrings and came with a gift. But I was kicked out. My mother said I was a disgrace to the family and that they wanted nothing to do with me anymore.
A woman smiling | Source: Shutterstock
It hurts that I have had to cut my family off over this whole situation, but so much has been said and done. I think a break will do us good. I will continue to enjoy my life alone. Everything has been falling into place, and I am ready to move on from all of this drama. It’s time for me to be strong and live my life the way I think is right.
Here is another nail-biting story about how a bride found out her husband-to-be was having an affair with her sister.
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