Dallas star Patrick Duffy said he’d given up on love after the death of his wife in 2017. He’d been married to Carlyn Rosser for more than 40 years, People says, when she died of cancer. He assumed that part of his life was over.
Then Duffy, 71, reconnected with Linda Purl, 65.
“I never thought for a minute this would happen again,” he says. “I never thought I’d feel this way again.”
According to her IMDB page, Purl got her first big break on Happy Days where she played Ashley Pfister. She’s also appeared as Ben Matlock’s daughter on Matlock. But younger audiences would likely know her as Pam Beesly’s mom Helene on the hit NBC comedy The Office. Helene and obtuse boss Michael Scott’s relationship in the show was a fan favorite.
Purl has been married four times, according to Page Six. She has one son from her third marriage. The Step by Step star has two sons, Padraic, 46, and Conor, 40, and four grandchildren, People said.
Purl has documented some of their relationship on her Instagram.
How did Linda Purl, Patrick Duffy meet?
Like the rest of us, the two celebrities have been stuck inside for most of 2020 dealing with the coronavirus pandemic. So, to stay connected with the outside world, they took part in a group text chain. The two had met years before, People said, but had lost touch.
But as the text chain went on, it slowly became just a conversation between the two of them.
At that point, “I loaded up my car and drove 20 hours and ended up on her doorstep just to see if it was real,” says Duffy. “We haven’t been apart since.”
And while Duffy says he still misses his wife dearly, he knows she’s happy for him.
“I feel quite honestly, that it is keeping with the desires of my wife, the fact that we are intended to be happy,” he said, according to People. “So when it’s offered, think about it, do whatever you do, but don’t let it pass you up if it’s the right thing.”
