Linda Evans

Linda Evans Bio

Linda Evans (born Linda Evenstad; November 18, 1942) is an American actress best known for her leading roles on television, including Audra Barkley in The Big Valley and Krystle Carrington in Dynasty. Born in Hartford, Connecticut, she began her career in the 1960s with guest roles and later became a television icon through Dynasty, which became a top-rated series in the mid-1980s. Evans earned Golden Globe and Primetime Emmy nominations and won multiple People’s Choice Awards, and she has remained active in acting, stage work, and public appearances. Her personal life has included several high-profile relationships and marriages, contributing to a long-standing public profile.

Linda Evans Early Life and Background

Linda Evans was born Linda Evenstad in Hartford, Connecticut, on November 18, 1942, the second of three daughters. Her parents, Arlene (née Dart) and Alba Evenstad, were both professional dancers, and the family name “Evenstad” traces back to a small farm in Nes, Hedmark, in Norway, from which her paternal great-grandmother emigrated to the United States in 1884. When Evans was six months old, the family moved from Hartford to North Hollywood, where she grew up alongside her two sisters in a household shaped by her parents’ dance careers.

Evans attended Hollywood High School, where she was a sorority sister of future actress Carole Wells. Her introduction to drama came through classes that she took as a form of therapy to help cure her shyness, and the experience sparked a lasting interest in performing. The entertainment-rich environment of Los Angeles exposed her to film and television from an early age, and those classes set her on the path toward a professional acting career. When she began working in the industry, she changed her last name to Evans, simplifying her original Norwegian family name.

Linda Evans Path to Celebrity

Evans landed her first guest-starring role in 1960 on Bachelor Father, which starred John Forsythe, an actor she would later costar with on Dynasty two decades later. Through the early 1960s, she took on guest roles in The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, The Lieutenant, and Wagon Train, building a steady resume of small television appearances. Her work during this period taught her the rhythms of weekly television production and helped her develop the on-screen poise that would later define her leading roles.

In 1965, Evans gained her first regular role in the Western television series The Big Valley, playing Audra Barkley, the daughter of Victoria Barkley, played by Barbara Stanwyck. She was credited in the series until it ended in 1969, although she was a semiregular cast member during the last two seasons. Her work alongside Stanwyck gave her early access to top-tier talent and established her as a recognizable presence in Western-themed prime-time television.

Linda Evans Career

Early Career (1960-1969)

Evans’ earliest professional work consisted of a string of guest roles on popular family and adventure series of the early 1960s, including Bachelor Father, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, The Lieutenant, and Wagon Train. These small appearances introduced her to network television audiences and to the demanding pace of weekly filming schedules. Her first major opportunity came in 1965 with The Big Valley, where she earned a regular role opposite Barbara Stanwyck and was part of a hit Western that ran for four seasons. The series established her as a capable dramatic actress and a notable new face in prime-time television.

Throughout the 1970s, Evans continued to appear on television largely in guest roles across detective and adventure series such as The Rockford Files with James Garner, Mannix, Harry O with David Janssen, Banacek with George Peppard, McCloud with Dennis Weaver, and McMillan & Wife with Rock Hudson. In 1977, she starred with James Franciscus and Ralph Bellamy in the espionage drama series Hunter, which ran for only 13 episodes. She also stepped into film, co-starring with Lee Marvin and Robert Shaw in the 1979 thriller Avalanche Express and, in 1980, appearing in one of Steve McQueen’s final films, the Western Tom Horn.

Breakthrough (1981-1989)

Evans was cast as Krystle Carrington in Aaron Spelling’s opulent new prime-time soap opera, Dynasty, which premiered in January 1981. Intended as ABC’s answer to the hit CBS series Dallas, Dynasty featured Evans as the former secretary and new wife of millionaire oil tycoon Blake Carrington, portrayed by her former costar John Forsythe. Although initially sluggish in the ratings, audience figures improved after the show was revamped and British actress Joan Collins was brought in to play opposite Evans and Forsythe as Blake’s scheming ex-wife, Alexis Carrington. By the 1984-85 season, Dynasty was the number one show on American television, outranking Dallas and turning Evans into a household name.

The role also brought Evans significant industry recognition. She won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Television Drama Series for her Dynasty role in 1981, and was subsequently nominated every year from 1982 to 1985. She was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series in 1983. She also won a People’s Choice Award for Favorite Female Performer in a New TV Program in 1982 and for Favorite Female TV Performer in 1983, 1984, 1985, and 1986, along with Soap Opera Digest Awards for Outstanding Lead Actress in 1984 and 1985. Evans left Dynasty in 1989, four months before the series came to an end, after appearing in only six episodes of the 22-episode ninth and final season.

Notable Works and Milestones

Beyond Dynasty, Evans returned to the role of Krystle Carrington for the 1991 television miniseries Dynasty: The Reunion, made occasional television appearances through the 1990s, and retired from screen acting in 1997. She later reunited with her Dynasty castmates for the 2006 nonfiction special Dynasty: Catfights and Caviar, starred in the stage play Legends opposite Joan Collins, won the British television program Hell’s Kitchen in 2009, and returned to acting with a small role in the 2021 film Swan Song. Evans has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6834 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California, cementing her status as a defining television star of her era.

Linda Evans Award Nominations

Linda Evans has earned a steady slate of high-profile nominations for her television work, particularly for her performance as Krystle Carrington on Dynasty. Her Golden Globe nominations for Best Actress in a Television Drama Series ran from 1981 through 1985, and she also earned a Primetime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series in 1983. A People’s Choice Award nomination for Favorite Female Performer in a New TV Program further recognized her Dynasty debut. These nominations underscore her standing as one of the most-recognized leading actresses of the 1980s.

Linda Evans Awards Won

Linda Evans has collected multiple awards across her career, with her Dynasty run accounting for the bulk of her major wins. She earned a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Television Drama Series in 1981, a People’s Choice Award for Favorite Female Performer in a New TV Program in 1982, and four consecutive People’s Choice Awards for Favorite Female TV Performer in 1983, 1984, 1985, and 1986. She also won Soap Opera Digest Awards for Outstanding Lead Actress in 1984 and 1985. In 2009, she won the British television program Hell’s Kitchen, working under Michelin-starred chef Marco Pierre White.

Linda Evans Family

Evans was born the second of three daughters to Arlene (née Dart) and Alba Evenstad, both of whom were professional dancers. She has two sisters, and the family relocated from Hartford, Connecticut, to North Hollywood when she was six months old. Her paternal family name, Evenstad, traces back to a small farm in Nes, Hedmark, in Norway, where her great-grandmother and grandfather lived before emigrating in 1884. Evans has often spoken warmly of her close family ties, including her long-running friendship with her ex-stepdaughter, television writer Sean Catherine Derek, and her closeness to her sister, nephew, and ex-stepdaughter on a 70-acre estate.

Personal Life

In her late teens, Evans was engaged to Patrick Curtis, who later became a press agent and married Raquel Welch. She then married actor, photographer, and film director John Derek in 1968, and they separated on Christmas Day 1973 after Derek disclosed his affair with Mary Cathleen Collins, who would become known as Bo Derek. Her second marriage was to Stan Herman, a realtor and property executive, from 1975 to 1979, and she then lived with restaurant owner George Santo Pietro from 1980 to 1984. In 1989, Evans began a relationship with new-age musician Yanni, which lasted until 1998. She has resided in Beverly Hills, California, and in Rainier, Washington, and she has also battled idiopathic edema, an experience that led her to explore alternative healing and naturopathy. Evans was arrested in May 2014 for driving under the influence of a prescription drug.