Linda Evans
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| Linda Evans | |||||||
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| Born | Linda Evenstad November 18, 1942 Hartford, Connecticut |
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| Spouse(s) | John Derek (1968-1974) Stan Herman (1976-1981) |
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Linda Evans (born Linda Evenstad on November 18, 1942, in Hartford, Connecticut) is a Golden Globe-winning and Emmy nominated American actress known primarily for her roles on television. At twenty-three, the blonde Evans rose to fame as Barbara Stanwyck's daughter and the sister of Richard Long, Peter Breck, and Lee Majors, Audra Barkley, on the 1960s Western, The Big Valley (1965-1969). The Big Valley was among the last of the productions of Four Star Television. It aired on ABC. Later, Evans was John Forsythe's younger compassionate wife, Krystle Carrington, on the 1980s ABC prime-time television soap opera, Dynasty (1981-1989).
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[edit] Career
Evans's first guest-starring role was on an episode of Bachelor Father, which starred her future co-star John Forsythe. In real-life, Evans said that she actually had a crush on Forsythe. This led her to co-starring with him on Dynasty, more than two decades later. She actually had an undoubtable on- and off-screen chemistry with Forsythe, and even appeared on various talk shows for most of the 1980s. She's almost 25 years Forsythe's junior.
Before then, she co-starred opposite longtime actress Barbara Stanwyck on The Big Valley. During the series' last season, she had less screen time with the actress, due to her marriage with Derek.
Due to her character's name on Dynasty, she started a successful ad campaign for Crystal Light beverages, starting in 1984. She was also recently spoofed in a scene on one episode of Family Guy.
Evans was the one who filmed Evel Knievel's jump over the fountains of Caesars Palace on New Year's Eve, 1967.
Evans has been married twice. She was first married to actor and film producer John Derek from 1968 to 1974, his subsequent re-marriage to lookalike actress Bo Derek providing gossip columnists with considerable material for years. Evans' second marriage was to Stan Herman, a property executive, from 1976 to 1981. Evans dated musician Yanni from 1989 until 1998. She dated Willie Tanner in the early 1960's.
Regularly listed as one of the most beautiful women in America, she appeared in Playboy magazine at the behest of her then husband John Derek in 1971, those photos published a second time in 1982 when she was turning forty.
Although always stunning, Evans had acquired a kind of seasoned, soulful sincerity in her acting by the 1970s which would, ultimately, make her perfect casting in the role of kind and sensitive wife of a Colorado billionaire on Dynasty.
During the 1980's, Linda Evans and her Dynasty co-star, Joan Collins, became easily the two most celebrated female TV stars of the decade, displaying a near-perfect on-screen adversarial chemistry, particularly during the early seasons of the show. Many considered this historical fictional enmity metaphoric for the "two sides of Everywoman".
Evans would win a Golden Globe award in 1982 for Best Actress in a Drama Series (tying with Barbara Bel Geddes ), and 5 People's Choice Awards as Favorite Actress in a Drama Series in 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, and 1986. Evans was also nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead actress in a Drama Series in 1983.
For her contribution to the television industry, Linda Evans has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6834 Hollywood Blvd.
Evans resides in Lakewood, Washington and owns a small chain of fitness centers.
In the 1990s, Evans hosted infomercials for Rejuvenique, a mask for toning facial muscles. In 2005, she was one of the guests at the wedding of Prince Charles and Camilla Parker-Bowles.
In 2006 Evans starred in Legends opposite former Dynasty rival, Joan Collins.
Evans was wary of joining her old co-star on stage for a long tour and, indeed, Collins and Evans did not get along during the production. According to Collins, who wrote about their experience on the road in the U.K. Daily Mail, Collins claimed that Evans never reciprocated party invites during "Dynasty", and kept her distance from Collins during the series' run; Collins asserts that she agreed for the producers to approach Evans for "Legends" against her better judgment (as Evans had never acted on stage before) and further said that Evans was too physical during their on-stage stunts during Legends. In the article, Collins called her Linda "The Lips" Evans, a reference to the latter's collagen-enhanced lips, and said claims tried to be nice to Evans during the run, even helping with her stage fright. The article was entitled, "Why I'll Never Work With Linda Evans Again."[citation needed]
On the other hand, Miss Collins continually repeats the tale of how, during filming of their famed 1983 lilypond catfight on "Dynasty", she was supposedly knocked unconscious by Evans and woke up in the hospital with a concussion — the only problem with this story is that no one connected to the series has any such recollection of that occurring.
In fact, Evan's reputation as a professional is well-documented. Even caustic comedienne Joan Rivers said of Linda Evans in 1992, that's Evans "is one of the only people in the business I've never heard anything negative about."
Evans is a follower of Ramtha's School of Enlightenment.
[edit] Miscellaneous
Evans was the camera woman at the famous Evel Knievel jump at Caesars Palace. At the time, She was the wife of actor/director John Derek who produced the filming of the jump.
Evans was referenced in popular animated TV show Family Guy; the following conversation takes place between Stewie and Olivia:
Stewie: Well, fine! Refuse my offer. Get booted out of this place (acting school) and wind up like Linda Evans.
(Flash to supermarket scene)
Intercom: Linda Evans, we have a spill in Aisle 9. Linda Evans, spill in Aisle 9.[1]
[edit] Filmography
- Twilight of Honor (1963)
- Those Calloways (1965)
- Beach Blanket Bingo (1965)
- Childish Things (1969)
- The Klansman (1974)
- Mitchell (1975)
- Avalanche Express (1979)
- Tom Horn (1980)
- Trekkies (1997) (documentary)
[edit] Television work
- The Big Valley (1965-1969)
- Female Artillery (1973)
- Nakia (1974)
- The Big Rip-Off (1975)
- Hunter (1976) (pilot for series)
- Hunter (1977) (canceled after 8 episodes)
- Nowhere to Run (1978)
- Standing Tall (1978)
- Dynasty (1981-1989)
- Bare Essence (1982)
- Kenny Rogers as The Gambler: The Adventure Continues (1983)
- North and South, Book II (1986) (miniseries)
- The Last Frontier (1986)
- She'll Take Romance (1990)
- Dynasty: The Reunion (1991)
- The Gambler Returns: Luck of the Draw (1991)
- Dazzle (1995)
- The Stepsister (1997)
