Linda Purl

Actress, singer, dancer, Linda is a main stay of television. She has starred in over 40 television Movies of the Week, and will soon be seen as Helene Beasley, Pam’s Mother in The Office. She is probably best known as Charlene Matlock from the series Matlock and as Ashley Pfister, Fonzie’s fiancée, from Happy Days.Highlights of her Movies of the Week have been Born Free, The Last Days of Pompeii (with Sir Laurence Olivier), The Manions of America (with Pierce Brosnan), Like Normal People the award… Show more winning docu-drama about a mentally retarded couple co-starring Shaun Cassidy.

Linda’s feature film credits include Disney’s Mighty Joe Young, The Walking Major (with Toshiro Mifune), Crazy Mama (directed by Jonathan Demme) and Leo and Loree (produced by Ron Howard).

Linda began her career in the theatre in Japan, where she was raised and became the only foreigner to have trained at the Toho Geino Academy. Her studies continued at LAMDA and later at both the Neighborhood Playhouse and Lee Strasberg Institute.

Stage credits include Broadway’s Tony nominated The Adventures of Tom Sawyer; Getting and Spending; Off Broadway: The Baby Dance; Hallelujah, Hallelujah!. Regional work: the original production of the Pulitzer Prize winning play Dinner With Friends Humana Festival at Actors Theatre of Louisville; Getting and Spending, Old Globe Theatre; The Road To Mecca (with Miss Julie Harris), The Baby Dance, Long Wharf; John Brown’s Body, Lobero Theatre; Nora (with Michael York), All the Way Home (with Miss Kim Hunter), The Three Penny Opera (with Miss Betty Buckley), The Baby Dance (also at the Pasadena Playhouse), Williamstown Theatre Festival; The Real Thing, Hedda Gabler, Mark Taper Forum Rep; Beyond Therapy, Romeo and Juliet, L.A. Public Theatre; A Doll’s House, Allied International Productions; The Man Who Could See Through Time, South Coast Repertory; The Merchant of Venice, Globe Theatre; Grease, Sacramento Music Theatre; On a Clear Day, San Bernardino Civic Light Opera; Fallen Angels, Olney Theatre; Oliver, The King and I, Toho Imperial Theatre, Tokyo; Love Letters with both Stacey Keach and Desi Arnaz, Jr.; Tusitala (with Miss Julie Harris), Berkshire Theatre Festival; Little Foxes, Footfalls, The Diary of Anne Frank, A Streetcar Named Desire, Rubicon Theatre Company; The Guys, Berkeley Rep; Mariana Pineda, Santa Fe Opera; Seven Deadly Sins, Princess Grace Theatre, Monaco; Phaedra in the inaugural performance of the Getty Classical Arena; The Glass Menagerie, Cleveland Playhouse.

Linda has received six Dramalogue Best Actress Awards and two Dramalogue Awards as Best Producer. She has received two Robby Awards for Best Actress and is a three time nominee of the Los Angeles Drama Critic’s Award for Best Actress. She is the recipient of the Connecticut Critics’ Award for Outstanding Performance in a Play for her work in The Baby Dance.
Linda has recorded broadcasts of Arthur Miller’s Broken Glass, The Odd Couple with Nathan Lane and Nora with the late David Dukes for National Public Radio, also Milford Haven (created by her sister Mara Purl) for the BBC II.

Of Linda’s recent appearance at the 92 Street Y The NY Times says she “…melt(s) into “It’s a New World,” as softly as Judy Garland, who made it famous in “A Star Is Born.” Linda tours with her solo concert Come Rain or Come Shine nationally and internationally. Additionally she is currently touring in a centenary salute to Great American songwriter Johnny Mercer with Lee Lessack and Rhapsody for Two a dancing tribute to romance from the 40’s with Kevin Spirtas. Linda’s recordings include solo cuts on George and Ira Gershwin: A Musical Celebration, Cole Porter: A Musical Toast, Adler, Boch, Coleman, A Hollywood Christmas“. Her solo albums are Alone Together and Out of this World – Live with Special Guest Artist Desi Arnaz, Jr. She is co-founder and serves Festival Director of the California International Theatre Festival.

- Biography © Linda Purl official website

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