Patrick Duffy Biography

Patrick Duffy (born March 17, 1949) is an American actor, best known for his role on the CBS primetime soap opera Dallas, where he played Bobby Ewing, the youngest son of Miss Ellie and the nicest brother of J.R. Ewing (played by Barbara Bel Geddes and Larry Hagman respectively) from 1978 to 1985 and from 1986 to 1991. Duffy returned to reprise his role as Bobby in a continuation of Dallas, which aired on TNT from 2012 to 2014. He is also well known for his role on the ABC sitcom Step by Step as Frank Lambert, from 1991 to 1998, and for his role as Stephen Logan on the CBS daytime soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful (2006-2011). Duffy played the lead character's father in the 2014 NBC sitcom Welcome to Sweden.

Early life

Duffy was born in Townsend, Montana, in 1949, the son of tavern owners Marie and Terence Duffy. During high school, Duffy was living in Everett, Washington, and attended Cascade High School. At Cascade, he participated in the Drama Club and the Pep Club, for which he was a Yell King. 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. 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.

Career

In 1977, Duffy landed the role of Mark Harris in the short-lived television series Man from Atlantis. Following the series' cancellation in early 1978, he got his big break in the role of Bobby Ewing, opposite Barbara Bel Geddes and Larry Hagman, on the soap opera Dallas. The show became a worldwide success. Despite its success, Duffy opted to leave 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." Duffy then remained with the series until its cancellation in 1991. He also appeared in several episodes of the spin-off series Knots Landing between 1979-82. Throughout the 13-year run of Dallas, Duffy directed several episodes of the series. Along with Dallas fame, Duffy has also tried his hand at singing, and in 1983, he had a hit in Europe with "Together We're Strong", a duet with French female singer Mireille Mathieu. The single reached #5 in the Netherlands in April 1983.

At the end of Dallas' run in 1991, Duffy began another television role, as Frank Lambert on the family sitcom, Step by Step in which he co-starred with Suzanne Somers. The series ran until 1998, and Duffy also directed numerous episodes. Also in the 1990s, he appeared in two Dallas reunion television movies; J.R. Returns (1996) and War of the Ewings (1998), both of which he also co-produced. He has reunited on several occasions with many of his Dallas co-stars both onscreen and off, most notably for the non-fiction television special Dallas Reunion: Return to Southfork in 2004. Duffy later continued to act in the occasional guest or voice acting appearance, including the series Family Guy (in which he appeared in a live action scene with Victoria Principal as they spoofed the Dallas shower scene), as well as Justice League and Touched by an Angel. Duffy starred in the television movies Falling in Love With the Girl Next Door and Desolation Canyon. In 2006, he began a recurring role on the daytime soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful as Stephen Logan. From April to July 2008, he hosted Bingo America, a partially interactive game show on GSN.

Duffy reprised his role as Bobby Ewing in TNT's remake of Dallas. The series aired from 2012 to 2014.

Duffy played a surreal double of Bobby Ewing in the experimental documentary Hotel Dallas, directed by artist duo Ungur & Huang. The film premiered at the 2016 Berlin International Film Festival.

Personal life

Duffy married Carlyn Rosser, a professional ballerina 10 years his senior, in a Soka Gakkai International Buddhist ceremony on February 15, 1974. They lived near Eagle Point, Oregon, with their sons Padraic Terence Duffy (b. 1974) and Conor Frederick Duffy (b. 1979) until Carlyn's death on January 23, 2017. They also had four grandchildren. Duffy was an avid collector of antique dolls and children's books. He converted to Nichiren Buddhism, and began chanting Nam My?h? Renge Ky? 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. He and his family are longtime members of the Buddhist organization Soka Gakkai International.

Duffy's nephew is Major League Baseball pitcher Barry Zito.

On November 18, 1986, Duffy's parents were murdered by two young men, Kenneth Miller and Sean Wentz, during an armed robbery of the Boulder, Montana, tavern that 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 December 2007.

On August 8, 2005, Barbara Bel Geddes, died of lung cancer. Duffy had met Bel Geddes, through his future wife's father, when Duffy was a boy. At the time of his TV mother's death, he said: "When Barbara joined the cast of 'Dallas,' as Miss Ellie, I considered her to be like Helen Hayes, Katherine Cornell, and Ethel Barrymore "? a real 'name' in American theater. But you"?d never have known it. She exhibited no large ego because of her history. She"?d schlepp in and drop your jaw with every performance "? whether it was drinking a cup of coffee, having a mastectomy, or losing Jock Ewing. It was remarkable, her ordinariness despite that pedigree. We called Barbara 'BBG' on the set. She was the mama figure. Larry Hagman was obviously the prow of the boat, but he couldn"?t have functioned without a strong mother, and I don"?t think there"?s been a mother like her on dramatic television since then. People related to her because she was the epitome of compassion despite her own pain. Off screen, she was a pistol. She cussed like a mule skinner, and she really liked to have her drinks. But she also had an endless capacity to include everybody that she loved, and that was the entire cast." Then, 7 years after his TV mother's death, at the revival of Dallas, he said: "Barbara is a big piece of our history, and it's important to me to honor her. To come back with Linda Gray as Sue Ellen and Larry Hagman in his J.R. hat, and then see the words Ellie Southworth Ewing Farlow on the gravestone made me think, 'Oh, that's right -- she's gone." The last thing he said about the revived series, without Bel Geddes, as one of the stars: "Through the whole first season, I don't think an episode goes by that Mama is not mentioned in reference to Southfork and the land."

In June 2017 Patrick Duffy confirmed his wife Carlyn Rosser Duffy had died on January 23, 2017.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1974	The Stranger Who Looks Like Me	Adoptee#3	TV movie
1974	Hurricane	Jim	TV movie
1976	Switch	Sgt. Musial	Episode: "The Walking Bomb"
1976	The Last of Mrs. Lincoln	Lewis Baker	TV movie
1977	Man from Atlantis	Mark Harris	TV movie
1977	Man from Atlantis: The Death Scouts	Mark Harris	TV movie
1977	Man from Atlantis: Killer Spores	Mark Harris	TV movie
1977	Man from Atlantis: The Disappearances	Mark Harris	TV movie
1977-78	Man from Atlantis	Mark Harris	Series regular (17 episodes)
1978-85; 1986-91	Dallas	Bobby Ewing	Series regular (326 episodes) Director (29 Episodes) Soap Opera Digest Award for Outstanding Actor in a Prime Time Serial (1985) Special Bambi Award (Shared with Dallas co-stars) (1987) TV Land Pop Culture Award (Shared with Dallas co-stars) (2006) Nominated - Soap Opera Digest Award for Outstanding Actor in a Prime Time (1988, 1990, 1992) Nominated - Soap Opera Digest Award for Favorite Super Couple: Prime Time (Shared with Victoria Principal) (1988)
1979-1982	Knots Landing		Episode: "Pilot" Episode: "The Loudest Word" Episode: "New Beginnings"
1980	Charlie's Angels	William Cord	"One Love...Two Angels" (1) "One Love...Two Angels" (2)
1980	Enola Gay: The Men, the Mission, the Atomic Bomb	Colonel Paul Tibbets	TV movie
1981	The Love Boat	Ralph Sutton	Episodes: "The Expedition" 1 and 2
1982	Cry for the Strangers	Dr. Brad Russell	TV movie
1983	Auf los geht's los	Singer	Episode: "Nachthemdfolge"
1984	Vamping	Harry Baranski
1985	From Here to Maternity	Henderson	TV movie
1985	Hotel	Richard Martin	Episode: "Missing Pieces"
1985	George Burns Comedy Week		Episode: "Dream, Dream, Dream"
1985	Alice in Wonderland	Goat	TV Movie
1986	Strong Medicine	Dr. Andrew Jordan	TV movie
1987	Our House	Johnny Witherspoon	Episode: "Candles and Shadows"
1988	14 Going on 30	Actor in Black and White Movie	TV movie
1988	Unholy Matrimony	John Dillman	TV movie
1988	Too Good to Be True	Richard Harland	TV movie
1990	Murder C.O.D.	Steve Murtaugh	TV movie
1990	Children of the Bride	John Hix	TV movie
1991	Daddy	Oliver Watson	TV movie
1991-98	Step by Step	Frank Lambert	Series regular (160 episodes) Director (49 Episodes)
1992	Goof Troop	Harold Hatchback	Voice Episode: "Buddy Building" His son Conor Duffy also co-starred in this episode as Harold's son Coop Hatchback
1994	Texas	Stephen Austin	TV movie
1996	Dallas: J.R. Returns	Bobby Ewing	TV movie
1997	Heart of Fire	Max Tucker	TV movie
1998	Dallas: War of the Ewings	Bobby Ewing	TV movie
1998	Rusty: A Dog's Tale	Cap the Dog	Voice
1998	Diagnosis: Murder	Wayde Garrett	Episode: "Till Death Do Us Part"
1999	Dead Man's Gun	Lyman Gage	Episode: "The Womanizer"
1999	Don't Look Behind You	Jeff Corrigan	TV movie
1999	Twice in a Lifetime	Peter Hogan	Episode: "A Match Made in Heaven"
1999, 2001	Family Guy	Bobby Ewing Jack/Salesman/Teacher	Voice Episode: "Da Boom" Episode: "And the Wiener Is..."
2000	The Secret Adventures of Jules Verne	Duke Angelo Rimini	Episode: "Rockets of the Dead"
2000	Perfect Game	Coach Bobby Geiser	TV movie
2002	Justice League	Steve Trevor	Voice Episode: "The Savage Time" 1, 2 & 3
2003	Touched by an Angel	Mike	Episode: "I Will Walk with You" 1 & 2
2004	Reba	Dr. Joe Baker	Episode: "Couples' Therapy"
2004	Dallas Reunion: The Return to Southfork	Himself	TV special
2006	Desolation Canyon	Sheriff Tomas 'Swede' Lundstrom	TV movie
2006	Falling in Love with the Girl Next Door	James Connolly	TV movie
2006-11	The Bold and the Beautiful	Stephen Logan	Series regular, (165 episodes)
2007	Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story	Himself	Uncredited Cameo (Unrated Version)
2008	He's Such a Girl	Whitney's Father
2009	Love Takes Wing	Mayor Evans	TV movie
2010	Healing Hands	Uncle Norman	TV movie
2010	You Again	Ritchie Phillips	Cameo
2010	Party Down	Himself	Cameo
2010	Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!	Himself
2012-14	Dallas	Bobby Ewing	Series regular (40 episodes) Director (1 Episode)
2012	Lovin' Lakin	Himself	Episode: "Lakin Visits Her Dad"
2014-15	Welcome to Sweden	Wayne Evans	Recurring (4 episodes)
2015	The Fosters	Robert Quinn, Sr.	Episode: "The End of the Beginning"
2017	The Christmas Cure	Bruce Turner	TV movie
2017	Trafficked	Christian
2018	Christmas with a View	Frank Haven	TV movie
2018	American Housewife	Marty	Episode: "Saving Christmas"
2019	The Cool Kids	Gene	Episode: "Margaret Ups Her Game"?