The Eighties was a world of conspicuous consumption, shoulder pads, power suits and big hair. And at the centre of it all stood Linda Evans as Dynasty’s Krystle Carrington.
It is 45 years since she and her fellow cast members burst on to TV screens in a US soap opera so outrageous that she recalls sitting up in bed as she read the script and exclaiming, “We’re doing what?”
The actress, whose CV includes performances opposite Steve McQueen and Lee Majors, is grateful to the show, which renewed her career after the collapse of her second marriage.
In this exclusive interview with HELLO!, Linda, 83, opens up about her fond memories of Dynasty, the rumoured feud with her co-star Joan Collins and her peaceful life in Washington.
Memories of Dynasty
She recalls vividly how Dynasty liked to shock its audience, reaching a high point at the end of the fifth series during a wedding between a family member and a prince of the fictional country of Moldavia. As the couple exchanged vows, gunmen abseiled in through the church’s windows and machine-gunned the congregation to death.
“I remember the shoulder pads went on for years and years”
“We were traumatised,” she says. “We thought, ‘We’re doing what?’ It’s jaw-dropping. You’re at home in bed reading the script for the next show and you just go, ‘What?’”
© GettyLinda, whose character wore power suits, fur coats and dresses with plunging necklines, is delighted by her association with the fashions of the time.
“I remember the shoulder pads went on for years and years. It was every woman’s dream to have unlimited clothes. [The show’s costume designer] Nolan Miller said: ‘Look, we can’t make every single outfit for you because we would run out. So if you’re shopping in Beverly Hills and you see anything you like, just tell them to send it over here.’
“So, I’d be shopping for myself and go, ‘Oh, that’s nice, could you send that over?’ What a woman’s dream – to get anything she wants and be able to wear it.”
Linda on the reported ‘feud’ with Dame Joan Collins
“So many [arguments reported by the press] never happened,” she says. “It’s because it made it exciting for people to think we were fighting with each other. We never had one fight personally. We had lots of fights professionally because we had to do the script, but we never had a confrontation.”
She adds that, off-screen, Joan was a supportive friend who had visited her in Malibu with her family during Linda’s second marriage.
© Getty“I knew Joan. I was excited when Joan got the part. I thought, ‘Oh my God, [the show’s producer] Aaron Spelling, we love you. You’re choosing women who are our age – and at that time there weren’t a lot of people thinking that way.’”
“As it is in Hollywood, there will always be times when things are uncomfortable, but I look back and the reason it’s so extraordinary and so filled with love and joy is that it was a great time.”
Linda’s life today
Now she is enjoying living life among family and friends on her 70-acre estate near the logging town of Rainier in Washington state in north-west America.
Her sister Charlie, who lived with Linda in house on one corner of her estate, died in 2022, but Linda continues to live with Charlie’s son and grandchildren in houses spread across her land.
“My nephew and his two boys live on the property with their wives and their children, so it is still a family property,” she says. “I’m surrounded by people I love.”
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