Patrick Duffy has experienced many tragedies during his life, though he always seems to have been able to overcome all his hardships with grace and strength.
In the 80s, his parents were tragically murdered, and in 2017 Duffy’s wife of 43 years passed away from cancer.
It’s safe to say that the 74-year-old ‘Dallas’ actor has endured tough times that no person should ever have to experience.
Duffy experiences his first tragedy
Duffy’s parents were shot in cold blood by two teenagers attempting to rob a tavern they owned in Montana, just after Duffy had completed the 10th season of ‘Dallas’.
Both teens were charged with two counts of deliberate homicide, per the Los Angeles Times. However, one teen was sentenced to 180 years in prison, while the other was released on parole in 2007.
In a 2019 cover story interview with Closer, Duffy explained the tragic incident, saying: “My father kicked these two young men out of the bar at some point in the evening. So they went and drank elsewhere… and came back to the bar to kick his a**. They stepped in the bar with their guns, they shot him. There was nobody else in the bar, so they shot both my mother and my father.”
Losing his wife
Duffy’s brush with tragedy didn’t end there, however, as he lost the love of his life in 2017.
The actor had been in a long-standing, loving marriage to Carolyn Rosser for 43 years. Sadly, Rosser passed away at the age of 77 in 2017 – the couple shared two sons.
After his wife’s death, Duffy still considered himself a “married man”, and it took a long time before he considered himself remotely ready to consider the idea of meeting other women again. Yet in 2019, aged 71, Duffy crossed paths with Lina Purl.
Finding love again
The pair had both attended a Los Angeles event that year, and were introduced by a mutual friend, before all three of them started a group chat. Eventually the mutual friend dropped out of the group, leaving Duffy and Purl to get to know each other privately.
Before long, Duffy and Purl found themselves FaceTiming each other every Wednesday – Duffy was in Canada at the time, while Purl was fulfilling her obligations in a play in New York.
Coincidentally, the remote nature of their contact meant that their progress wasn’t at all disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Duffy kept himself in isolation on his ranch, while Purl spent much of the pandemic in Colorado. Even so, they continued to call each other, holding regular Zoom calls.
In the end, Duffy had enough of the COVID-enforced waiting, and so drove 23-hours non-stop just to be with Purl. “Patrick heroically got in his car and drove from Oregon to Colorado,” Purl said. “We were both nervous as teenagers, but we’ve been together since.”
The couple admitted they spent three weeks getting to know each other before an unusual first date … and their first kiss.
“We listened to music together and covered all that ground you normally cover over months of dating,” Duffy said of the often hours-long Zoom calls the pair engaged in.
A Pandemic love story
Duffy has since opened up to the Daily Mail about his unique Pandemic love story with Purl. When asked by the outlet whether their romance should make it to the big screen, Duffy agreed, saying his romance with Purl was “like a Hallmark movie.”
“And to have it found this at this point in our lives, and to be able to look at the rest of your life comforted by this reality is amazing.”
Purl agreed, chiming in with: “Change is constant in life, we know that. Energies change, life changes so never give up on anything if that’s your heart’s desire. I don’t even think it necessarily means that what you’re hoping for will materialize, but something will will, if you’re going in willing and do have the ambition.”
Duffy added: “It’s amazing how many signals you get from the universe, if you’re listening. If you’re paying attention, if you’re watching then it’s always out there […] as long as you listen, it’s amazing the things that you pick up. The same can be said in a relationships too. Just keep your eyes and ears open.”
What a beautiful love story! I would definitely love to see it made into a Hallmark movie, how romantic!
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