Linda Ann Gray (born September 12, 1940) is an American actress, best known for her role as Sue Ellen Ewing, the long-suffering wife of Larry Hagman's character J.R. Ewing on the CBS television drama series Dallas (1978–1989, 1991, 2012–2014). The role also earned her a nomination for the 1981 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series as well as two Golden Globe Award nominations.
Gray began her career in the 1960s in television commercials. In the 1970s, she appeared in numerous TV series before landing the role of Sue Ellen Ewing in 1978. After leaving Dallas in 1989, she appeared opposite Sylvester Stallone in the 1991 film Oscar. From 1994 to 1995, she played a leading role in the Fox drama series Models Inc., and also starred in TV movies, including Moment of Truth: Why My Daughter? (1993) and Accidental Meeting (1994). She went on to reprise the role of Sue Ellen in Dallas: J.R. Returns (1996), Dallas: War of the Ewings (1998), and in the TNT series Dallas (2012–2014), which continued the original series.
On stage, Gray starred as Mrs. Robinson in The Graduate in the West End of London in 2001, then on Broadway the following year. In 2007, she starred as Aurora Greenaway in the world premiere production of Terms of Endearment at the Theatre Royal, York and stayed with the production when it toured the United Kingdom. After the second Dallas was cancelled in 2014, Gray again took to the stage, this time in the role of the Fairy Godmother in a London production of Cinderella.
Early life Linda Gray was born in 1940 in Santa Monica, California. She grew up in Culver City, California, where her father, Leslie, who was a watchmaker, had a shop.
Before acting, Gray worked as a model in the 1960s and began her acting career in television commercials, nearly 400 of themLinda Gray on AllMovie Linda Gray, AllMovie, Retrieved March 31, 2012—and also made brief appearances in feature films, such as Under the Yum Yum Tree and Palm Springs Weekend in 1963.Linda Gray- Biography, Yahoo!, Retrieved March 31, 2012
Career Gray began her professional acting career in the 1970s with guest roles on many television series such as Marcus Welby, M.D., McCloud, and Switch, prior to signing with Universal Studios in 1974. She also appeared in the films The Big Rip-Off (1975) and Dogs (1976). In 1977, she was cast as fashion model Linda Murkland, the first transgender series regular on American television,Stein, p. 177 in the television series All That Glitters. The show, a spoof of the soap-opera format, was cancelled after just 13 weeks. Gray was then cast as suspicious wife Carla Cord in the 1977 television movie Murder in Peyton Place.
Dallas
Gray achieved stardom for her role as Sue Ellen Ewing, J.R.'s long-suffering alcoholic wife, in the CBS drama series Dallas (1978–1989, 1991). Initially a recurring guest role for the five episodes (credited as the first season) in the original series, Gray became a series regular in the second season (1978–1979) and remained with the show until her departure in 1989. Her character was well received by television critics. The Biography Channel stated "Who could ever forget Dallas with the vodka-swilling Sue Ellen Ewing, replete with shoulder pads long before Dynasty, staggering around Southfork Ranch with a permanently tearful expression as she suffered the brunt of J.R. Ewing’s evil ways?" The Boulevard stated "It may be 2009 and seventeen years since the primetime drama Dallas went off the air, but memories of the Ewing family still linger. Corruption and betrayal, lies, greed, affairs and scandal—all were just part of another day at the Southfork Ranch. At the center of it all was one of our favorite Ewings, the person we couldn't help but root for each week as she drank and slept her way through one ordeal after another. This, of course, was the tortured and (sometimes) villainous Sue Ellen Shepard Ewing, former Texas beauty queen and trophy wife of the womanizing rogue J.R. Ewing, played to perfection by actress Linda Gray." Gray was nominated for two Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Drama and Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for her performance on Dallas. She also received numerous international awards including Germany's Bambi Award, Italy's Il Gato and she was named Woman of the Year by the Hollywood Radio & Television Society in 1982.Linda Gray official website – Biography , Retrieved March 31, 2012
After Dallas After Dallas, Gray appeared in the 1991 comedy film, Oscar with Sylvester Stallone and then made guest appearances in British drama Lovejoy (starring her co-star and love interest from her final season 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). In 1994, she made several guest appearances on the Fox prime time soap opera Melrose Place, starring as Hillary Michaels, the mother of Amanda Woodward (Heather Locklear). She continued the role in the Melrose Place spin-off Models Inc., where her character Hillary ran a modelling agency, but the show was cancelled after one season. Gray appeared in the Dallas reunion television movies Dallas: J.R. Returns (1996) and Dallas: War of the Ewings (1998), but in the following years did not appear in movies or on television.
In 2001, Gray portrayed Mrs. Robinson in the West End theatre production of Charles Webb's The Graduate. This brought her full circle, as her legs (not Anne Bancroft's) had appeared in the poster for the 1967 film version of The Graduate, showing Mrs. Robinson's legs being admired by Dustin Hoffman. She also briefly played the role in the Broadway production, when she filled-in for Kathleen Turner in September 2002. Gray made her theater directing debut with the play Murder in the First, and other stage acting work includes: Terms of Endearment, The Vagina Monologues, Agnes of God and Love Letters.
Recent years Gray returned to television in 2004 as a guest star in five episodes of the daytime soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful, playing Priscilla Kelly. Gray starred in several independent films, including the award-winning drama Reflections of a Life (2006), where she played the best friend of a woman undergoing treatment for breast cancer; Expecting Mary (2010); The Flight of the Swan (2011); and Hidden Moon (2012).
In 2008, Gray appeared 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.
In 2012, Gray reprised her role as Sue Ellen Ewing in the TNT drama series Dallas, a continuation of the original series.Joyce Eng, TNT Orders Dallas Reboot to Series, Will Offer Sneak Peek Next Week, TV Guide, July 8, 2011, Retrieved March 31, 2012 In 2013, she was listed as one of the fifty best-dressed over 50s by the Guardian. In April 2013, she was listed in People magazine's annual Most Beautiful Woman list.
Over Christmas 2014, she performed in pantomime in London, playing the Fairy Godmother in Cinderella. In 2015, she starred in the Hallmark Channel film A Perfect Wedding, and was cast as grandmother in The CW summer comedy series, Significant Mother. She also appeared as Joanna Winterthorne in the soap opera web series Winterthorne.
On August 17, 2016, it was announced that Gray would join the cast of the British Channel 4 soap opera, Hollyoaks, as Tabitha Maxwell-Brown, the mother of recently established character Marnie Nightingale, played by Lysette Anthony. Gray made her first appearance as Tabitha on November 15, 2016, and departed on November 22, 2016. It was later announced that Gray had signed a contract with Hollyoaks in order for her to appear on the soap opera for a longer period of time. The character of Tabitha returned on February 27, 2017, before departing again on February 28, 2017.
In 2017, Gray joined the cast of Amazon Studios drama series, Hand of God, starring opposite Ron Perlman and Dana Delany.
On October 3, 2023, it was announced that Gray would feature in the Lifetime film, Ladies of the '80s: A Divas Christmas. According to the official synopsis, the movie follows five soap opera divas readying for a reunion show who take on playing cupid during Christmas to bring together their director and producer as they all learn the meaning of true Christmas spirit. The ensemble cast is made up of Gray, Loni Anderson, Morgan Fairchild, Donna Mills, and Nicollette Sheridan.
Personal life Gray was married from 1962 to 1983 to Ed Thrasher, an art director and photographer. The marriage resulted in two children: Jeff Thrasher and Kehly Sloane (an actress who appeared in the original Dallas as Sue Ellen's secretary when she ran Valentine Lingerie); Jeff died of leukemia in November 2020.Sarah Carty: Dallas actress Linda Gray's son, Jeff Thrasher, 56, has died, >ahoo, November 25, 2020d] Gray has two grandsons.Aby Rivas: Meet the Children and Grandchildren of ‘Dallas’ Star Linda Gray, amomama.com, October 8, 2019 Her younger sister, Betty, died from breast cancer in 1989.Linda Gray Reveals What She’s Learned at Age 75!, Closer Weekly, September 12, 2015 She resides in Los Angeles, California.Linda Gray- Biography , Sky Digital, Retrieved March 31, 2012
Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes 1963 Palm Springs Weekend Girl at Pool with Yellow Swimsuit Uncredited 1967 The Graduate Cover poster leg model Uncredited 1975 The Big Rip-Off Television film 1976 Dogs Miss Engle 1977 Murder in Peyton Place Carla Cord Television film 1978 The Grass Is Always Greener Over the Septic Tank Leslie Corliss Television film 1979 The Two Worlds of Jennie Logan Elizabeth Harrington Television film1980 Haywire Nan Television film1980 The Wild and the Free Linda Television film 1982 Not in Front of the Children Nancy Carruthers Television film 1987 The Gambler III: The Legend Continues Mary Collins Television film1991 The Entertainers Laura 1991 Oscar Roxanne 1992 Highway Heartbreaker Catherine Television film1993 Moment of Truth: Why My Daughter? Gayle Moffitt Television film1993 Bonanza: The Return Abigail 'Laredo' Stimmons Television film1994 To My Daughter with Love Eleanor Monroe Television film1994 Accidental Meeting Jennifer Parris Television film1994 Moment of Truth: Broken Pledges Eileen Stevens Television film1996 Dallas: J.R. Returns Sue Ellen Ewing Television film 1997 When the Cradle Falls Helen Sawyer Television film 1998 Dallas: War of the Ewings Sue Ellen Ewing Television film 1998 Star of Jaipur Linda Trask 2005 McBride: It's Murder, Madam Victoria Sawyer Television film 2006 Reflections of a Life Linda Short film2010 Expecting Mary Darnella2011 The Flight of the Swan Alexi's mother 2012 Hidden Moon Eva Brighton 2015 Perfect Match Gabby Television film 2016 Wally's Will Wally Short film2019PrescienceKathlyn Smith2019Grand-Daddy Day CareBlanche 2023 Ladies of the '80s: A Divas Christmas Lauren Ewing Television film
Television