Linda Gray

For the Scottish opera singer, see Linda Esther Gray.

Linda Gray
Born	Linda Ann Gray September 12, 1940 (1940-09-12) Santa Monica, California, United States
Years active	1963-present
Spouse	Ed Thrasher (1962-1983) (divorced) 2 children

Linda Ann Gray (born September 12, 1940) is an American actress, best known for her role as Sue Ellen Ewing on the television prime-time soap opera Dallas.

Career

Prior to acting, Gray began working as a model in the 1960s. The famous film poster for The Graduate (1967) showed Gray's legs, even though the actress in the filmed role was Anne Bancroft.^{[citation needed]}

Gray began her professional acting career in the 1970s, with guest roles on series such as Marcus Welby, M.D. and McCloud. In 1977 she was cast as transgender fashion model Linda Murkland on the TV series All That Glitters (the first transgender series regular on American television). The show, a spoof of the soap opera format, was cancelled after just 13 episodes. Gray was then cast as suspicious wife Carla Cord in the 1977 television movie Murder in Peyton Place. In 1978, she landed the role of Sue Ellen Ewing in the CBS series Dallas. Initially a recurring guest role for the five-episode first series, Gray became a series regular later in 1978 and remained with the show until 1989. She returned for the series finale in 1991 and also appeared in the Dallas reunion TV movies J.R. Returns (1996) and War of the Ewings (1998). Gray was nominated for an Emmy Award for her work on Dallas in 1981.

After Dallas

After Dallas, Gray made guest appearances in other series, including the British drama Lovejoy (starring her co-star and love interest from her final series on Dallas, Ian McShane). She also starred in several made-for-TV movies, including 1991's The Entertainers (with Bob Newhart), Bonanza: The Return (1993), Moment of Truth: Why My Daughter (1993), and Accidental Meeting (1994). Also in 1994, she made several guest appearances on the Fox network primetime soap opera Melrose Place. She appeared in four episodes as businesswoman Hillary Michaels, the mother of Amanda Woodward (played by Heather Locklear), before her character spearheaded the spin-off series Models Inc., but the show only lasted a single season.

In 2001, Gray portrayed Mrs. Robinson in the West End theatre production of Charles Webb's The Graduate.^{[citation needed]}

Gray returned to television soap operas in 2004, when she had a recurring role in the daytime series The Bold and the Beautiful, playing Priscilla Kelly.

In 2006, Gray co-starred in the short film Reflections of a Life, written, directed, and starring Kathi Carey. She portrayed the best friend of a woman undergoing treatment for breast cancer. She then toured the United Kingdom in a stage version of Terms of Endearment.^{[citation needed]}

In 2008, Gray had a small role in The CW series 90210, which, like Melrose Place and Models Inc. before it, is a spin-off from the original Beverly Hills, 90210. Gray has now appeared in three of the five series in the franchise, though her role in 90210 was not Hillary Michaels, the character she played on Melrose Place (1992) and Models Inc.

Personal life

Gray was married to Ed Thrasher for 21 years. The marriage resulted in two children: Jeff Thrasher and Kehly Sloane. Gray also has two grandsons, Ryder and Jack Sloane. Her younger sister, Betty, died in 1989 from breast cancer. Gray is also the aunt (by marriage) of actress Lindsey Wagner, best known as The Bionic Woman.

Filmography

Film
Year	Film	Role	Notes
1963	Palm Springs Weekend	Girl at Pool with Yellow Swimsuit	uncredited
1976	Dogs	Miss Engle	a.k.a. Slaughter`
1991	Oscar	Roxanne
1998	Star of Jaipur	Linda Trask	a.k.a. Eve of Destruction a.k.a. Moments of Danger
2006	Reflections of a Life	Linda	Short film
2010	Expecting Mary	Darnella
	The Flight of the Swan	Alexi's mother	Completed
Television
Year	Title	Role	Notes
1974	Marcus Welby, M.D.	Patsy Grey	1 episode
1975	The Big Rip-Off		TV movie
1976	McCloud	Cindy Yates/Kate O'Hannah	2 episodes
1977	Switch	Alison	1 episode
	All That Glitters	Linda Murkland	Unknown episodes
	Murder in Peyton Place	Carla Cord	TV movie
	Big Hawaii	Annie Quinlan	1 episode
1976-78	Emergency!	Evelyn Davis/Judy	2 episodes
1978	The Grass Is Always Greener Over the Septic Tank	Leslie Corliss	TV movie
1979	The Two Worlds of Jennie Logan	Elizabeth Harrington	TV movie
1980	Haywire	Nan	TV movie
	The Wild and the Free	Linda	TV movie
1982	Not in Front of the Children	Nancy Carruthers	TV movie
1987	Kenny Rogers as The Gambler, Part III: The Legend Continues	Mary Collins	TV movie a.k.a. The Gambler III: The Legend Continues
1978-89, 1991	Dallas	Sue Ellen Ewing	308 episodes
1991	Lovejoy	Cassandra Lynch	2 episodes
	The Entertainers	Laura	TV movie
1992	Highway Heartbreaker	Catherine	TV movie
1993	Moment of Truth: Why My Daughter?	Gayle Moffitt	TV movie
	Bonanza: The Return	Abigail 'Laredo' Stimmons	TV movie
1994	To My Daughter with Love	Eleanor Monroe	TV movie
	Accidental Meeting	Jennifer Parris	TV movie
	Moment of Truth: Broken Pledges	Eileen Stevens	TV movie
	Melrose Place	Hillary Michaels	4 episodes
	Mighty Max	Kali (voice)	1 episode
1994-95	Models Inc.	Hillary Michaels	29 episodes
1996	Touched by an Angel	Marian Campbell	1 episode
	Dallas: J.R. Returns	Sue Ellen Shepard Ewing Lockwood	TV movie
1997	When the Cradle Falls		TV movie
1998	Dallas: War of the Ewings	Sue Ellen Shepard Ewing Lockwood	TV movie
2004-05	The Bold and the Beautiful	Priscilla Kelly	5 episodes
2005	McBride: It's Murder, Madam	Victoria Sawyer	TV movie
2006	Pepper Dennis	Barbara Meryl	1 episode
2008	90210	Victoria Brewer	1 episode
2012	Dallas	Sue Ellen Ewing

External links

• Linda Gray's Official Web Site
• Linda Gray at the Internet Movie Database
• BBC interview with Linda Gray and a review of her performance on stage in Terms of Endearment