Purl was born in Greenwich, Connecticut, on September 2, 1955, to Jewish parents, chemical-industry executive Raymond Charles Arthur Purl, and Marshelline “Marshie” Purl. Mara is her sister. Beatrice Saville, the girls’ grandmother, founded the Actors’ Equity Association. Purl moved to Japan with her family when she was five years old, where her father worked for Nippon Unicar. She grew up there and attended the Toho Geino Academy of Acting. Purl appeared in several plays at Tokyo’s Imperial Theatre, including Louis in The King and I, Bet in Oliver!, and Helen Keller in The Miracle Worker.
She was also discovered by Toho and appeared in several films. Purl returned to the United States when he was 15 years old. In Washington, Connecticut, she attended Wykeham Rise School, a private boarding school for girls that specializes in creative and performing arts.
She had a role on the soap opera The Secret Storm while she was still in high school. Purl went to England after graduating from Finch College to study under Marguerite Beale before returning to the United States to study at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute and later with Robert Lewis.
Purl’s first major film role, after a small part in Jory (1973), was in Jonathan Demme’s 1975 comedy Crazy Mama. W.C. Fields and Me (1976), Young Pioneers’ Christmas (1976), Leo and Loree (1980), Visiting Hours (1982), The High Country (1984), Viper (1988), Natural Causes (1994), Mighty Joe Young (1998), The Perfect Tenant (2000), and Fear of the Dark (2000) were among his subsequent film appearances (2003).
Linda Purl husband
Purl has four marriages and four divorces. Her first marriage was to Desi Arnaz Jr., the son of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, in 1979. Purl filed for divorce on January 3, 1980, and the divorce was finalized later that year.
She married screenwriter William Broyles Jr. on November 5, 1988, and later divorced him. Purl married British screenwriter and producer Alexander Cary, Master of Falkland, on July 23, 1993, and they have a son, Lucius, born on February 6, 1995. They eventually divorced. She married James Vinson Adams on July 15, 2006. She has been in a relationship with Patrick Duffy since 2020.
Linda Purl children
Purl married British screenwriter and producer Alexander Cary, Master of Falkland, on July 23, 1993, and they have a son, Lucius, born on February 6, 1995.
Linda Purl parents
Purl was born in Greenwich, Connecticut, on September 2, 1955, to Jewish parents, chemical-industry executive Raymond Charles Arthur Purl, and Marshelline “Marshie” Purl.
Linda Purl siblings
She has a sister called Mara.
Linda Purl has appeared in several television series, beginning with The Secret Storm, a daytime “soap opera” drama (1973–1974). In 1978, she starred as newlywed Molly Beaton in the ABC western drama series The Young Pioneers, which was set in Dakota Territory in the 1870s and based on Rose Wilder Lane’s novels.
She also appeared in the 1979 television film Like Normal People with Shaun Cassidy. She also appeared in “Women at West Point” in 1979. On Happy Days, she played two characters: Richie’s on-again, off-again girlfriend Gloria in season two (1974), and Fonzie’s steady girlfriend Ashley eight seasons later (1982–1983).
She also played Kate Del’Amico, a secret agent, in the short-lived series Under Cover, and Brett Robin in the 1994-1995 series Robin’s Hoods.
