Patrick Duffy
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| Patrick Duffy | |
|---|---|
| Born | Patrick Duffy March 17, 1949 Townsend, Montana, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actor, Game Show Host |
| Years active | 1976—present |
| Spouse(s) | Carlyn Duffy (née Rosser)(February 15, 1974 - present) |
Patrick Duffy (born March 17, 1949) is an American television actor. He is best known for his roles as Bobby Ewing on the CBS drama Dallas (a role he played from 1978-85 and 1986-91), and as Frank Lambert on the ABC television sitcom Step By Step (1991-98).
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[edit] Career
In 1976, Duffy landed the role of Mark Harris in the short-lived television series Man from Atlantis. Following the series' cancellation, he got his big break in the role of Larry Hagman's youngest brother, Bobby James Ewing on the TV series Dallas. Duffy left the series in 1985 with his character being killed off onscreen. However, with both the show and his career on the decline, he returned in 1986 in the infamous shower scene that rendered the entire 1985–1986 season "just a dream" and created quite a problem for the more realistic spin-off Knots Landing, on which Bobby Ewing remained dead and even had one of Val's twins named after him. He appeared in several episodes during Knots Landing's first, second and fourth seasons. Throughout the 13-year run of Dallas, Duffy directed several episodes of the series and also managed to hold a variety of roles in various TV specials. Coincidentally, despite being 18 years Hagman's junior, both Hagman & Duffy got along real well off-camera, as well as on-camera. The two even shared practical jokes with each other.
At the end of Dallas's run in 1991, Duffy switched to another popular television role, as Frank Lambert on the family sitcom, Step By Step. The series, which co-starred Suzanne Somers, ran until 1998, and made his career more successful. He also enjoyed some new on- and off-camera relationships with Suzanne Somers, Staci Keanan and Brandon Call. He also directed 49 episodes, starting with "Boys Will Be Boys," which premiered on December 4, 1992. During that time, he was also appeared in two Dallas reunion TV movies; J.R. Returns (1996) and War of the Ewings (1998), the latter of which he also co-produced. In an interview on the UK's Mrs. Merton chat show in the late 1990s, Duffy stated that he and Hagman were planning one more Dallas TV movie, but this project failed to materialize.
Duffy continued to act in the occasional guest or voice acting appearance, including the shows Family Guy (in which he appeared in a live action scene with Victoria Principal as they spoofed the infamous Dallas shower scene), as well as Justice League and Touched by an Angel.
More recently, Duffy starred in television movies Falling in Love With the Girl Next Door and Desolation Canyon. In 2006, Duffy began a limited run on the daytime soap The Bold and the Beautiful as Stephen Logan. He returned to the role in November 2007. From April - July 2008, he also hosted Bingo America, a partially interactive game show on GSN.
In 1983, Duffy had a hit on the European pop charts with Together We're Strong, a duet with French female singer Mireille Mathieu.[citation needed] In The Netherlands, the single reached number 5 in April, 1983.
[edit] Personal life
Duffy was born in Townsend, Montana, the son of tavern owners Marie and Terence Duffy.[1] He is of Irish descent.[citation needed] Duffy married Carlyn Rosser, ten years his senior, in a Nichiren Buddhist ceremony conducted on February 15, 1974. The couple had two sons, Padraic Terrence Duffy (b. 1974) and Conor Frederick Duffy (b. 1979) and currently live near Eagle Point, Oregon.[2] Duffy was an avid collector of antique dolls and children's books. [3] Though a former Catholic[citation needed] and named after St. Patrick[citation needed] because he was born on March 17, he converted to Nichiren Buddhism and began chanting Nam Myoho Renge Kyo at the approximate time of his earliest encounters with his wife, who was then a ballet dancer with the First Chamber Dance Company of New York.[3] He and his family are long-time active members of the American Buddhist group SGI-USA.
Academically, Duffy earned credentials in theater arts that entitled him to teach, graduating from the University of Washington in 1971 with a degree in drama.[3] He ruptured both his vocal cords during his senior year of college, so he created the position of actor-in-residence, where he worked as an interpreter for ballet, opera, and orchestra companies in Washington. He also taught mime and movement classes during this period, during which he met his wife.
His nephew is Major League Baseball pitcher Barry Zito of the San Francisco Giants, whose mother is his wife's sister.[4]
He appeared as Scuzzlebutt's leg in the first season episode of South Park entitled "Volcano."
On November 18, 1986, Duffy's parents were murdered by two young men, Kenneth Miller and Sean Wentz, during an armed robbery of the Montana bar his parents owned. Wentz and Miller, who were teenagers at the time, were convicted of the murders and sentenced to 75 years in prison. In 2001, Miller appeared before the Montana Parole board after Sean Wentz recanted his original story, admitting that he was the sole gunman. Miller was denied clemency in 2001 but was released on parole in March 2006. Sean Wentz is still serving out his sentence.
Patrick's distant cousin Declan was sent to prison in Ireland in 2008 and now resides in the Seg wing in Portlaoise.
[edit] Filmography
[edit] Awards and nominations
- 1987: Won
- 1985: Won, "Outstanding Lead Actor in a Prime Time Serial" - Dallas
- 1988: Nominated, "Outstanding Lead Actor in a Prime Time Serial" - Dallas
- 1988: Nominated, "Favorite Super Couple in a Prime Time Serial - Dallas (shared w/Victoria Principal)
- 1990: Nominated, "Outstanding Lead Actor in a Prime Time Serial" - Dallas
- 1992: Nominated, "Outstanding Lead Actor in a Prime Time Serial" - Dallas
- 2006: Won, "Pop Culture Award" - Dallas (shared w/cast members)
[edit] See also
- Barry Zito (nephew)
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Patrick Duffy at the Internet Movie Database
- Patrick Duffy Bio at CBS - A Hero's Welcome
- YouBentMyWookie Interview: Patrick Duffy. A Man With A Crab
