ENDED TV SERIES

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Glitzy series dynasty follows the lives and loves of two powerful and wealthy families in Denver, Colorado – the Carringtons and the Colbys.

The Carringtons

Blake Carrington (John Forsythe) – Blake is the patriarch of the Carrington family, a powerful oil tycoon and self-made CEO of Denver-Carrington. At first ruthless, the influence of his second wife, Krystle, gradually begins to soften Blake’s nature. When we first meet him he is the father of two children, Steven and Fallon. He is close to his daughter but not to Steven, in part because his son is gay. In the show’s premiere, Blake is marrying the younger Krystle Jennings, his former secretary at Denver-Carrington. At the end of the first series, Blake’s ex-wife and the mother of his children, Alexis, returns to the scene after an absence of many years, bringing dramatic consequences for Blake.

Krystle Carrington (Linda Evans) – Krystle adores her husband Blake and would do so even if he had not a penny to his name. Despite their love for one another they encounter problems almost immediately, both as a result of Blake’s callous approach to business and personal affairs and the refusal of those around them to accept Krystle as part of the family. A caring and moral woman, in time Krystle overcomes the animosity of Blake’s children and becomes the anchor of the Carrington family. But when Blake’s ex-wife Alexis returns, she and Krystle become lifelong enemies.

Fallon Carrington (Pamela Sue Martin and Emma Samms) – Fallon is the daughter of Blake and Alexis. A spoiled and somewhat promiscuous woman, she is devoted to her father and doesn’t approve of his choice of bride. When Blake faces financial problems, Fallon will do anything to help him – including marrying Jeff Colby so that Jeff’s father, Cecil, will bail out Blake. When her mother, Alexis, returns to Denver, Fallon wants nothing to do with her; but she is close to her brother, Steven, and supports and loves him unconditionally.

Adam Carrington (Gordon Thomson) – Adam is the long-lost firstborn son of Blake and Alexis. He was kidnapped when less than a year old, and the devastated Blake and Alexis hide his existence from their other two children until their grandson, Little Blake, is also kidnapped. Fallon and Steven are shocked at the news that they have a brother they’ve never met. When a man shows up claiming to be Adam, Alexis accepts him immediately but Blake is harder to convince. Eventually, they come to see the truth: this really is their lost son. Unfortunately, Adam’s tragic childhood has left him a flawed character and over time he alienates – and is forgiven by – almost everyone around him.

Steven Carrington (Al Corley and Jack Coleman) – Steven is the third child of Blake and Alexis, a personable, sensitive man with a strong moral compass. Although sometimes attracted to women, Steven is gay – a fact which at first disgusts his father, Blake. Steven is close to his sister Fallon but not to Adam, his brother. He is the first of Blake’s children to make a friend of Krystle, his father’s new wife, offering her welcome support in the face of her chilly reception from the rest of the family.

Amanda Carrington (Catherine Oxenberg and Karen Cellini) – Amanda is the youngest child of Blake and Alexis but has remained unknown to her father until she arrives in Denver to support her stressed mother. Having been raised for the most part by Alexis’s cousin, Amanda has lived in England all her life. Soon after her arrival Blake becomes interested in her background and with a little digging finds out that his ex-wife was pregnant when they divorced. Alexis is insistent that Amanda is not Blake’s daughter, but it is later revealed that in fact she is. She and her father quickly build a close bond.

Ben Carrington (Christopher Cazenove) – Ben is the bitter and vindictive brother of Blake Carrington, blamed by Blake for the death of his mother. Alexis brings Ben back to Denver to cause problems for Blake.

Leslie Carrington (Terri Garber) – Leslie is the daughter of Ben Carrington, and returns to Denver in order to confront the father who abandoned her.

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The Colbys

Alexis Colby (Joan Collins) – Arch-villainess Alexis is the ex-wife of Blake Carrington and first makes a shock appearance in the finale of season one. Over the second season her past begins to be revealed: while still married to Blake, Alexis had an affair with a man named Roger Grimes. When Blake found out, he divorced and exiled her from Denver, paying her a huge settlement on the condition that she never contacted either him or their children again. Until called to testify against Blake at a court trial, Alexis keeps to those terms. Now back in Denver, however, she has no intention of leaving again and soon hooks up with another former lover, Cecil Colby. Soon afterwards Cecil has a heart attack but marries Alexis on his deathbed and extracts one final promise from her: that she will use his company, ColbyCo, to ruin Blake.

Cecil Colby (Lloyd Bochner) – Cecil is CEO of the oil company ColbyCo and the uncle of Fallon’s future husband, Jeff Colby. He has been both a friend and enemy of Blake Carrington for years. He makes a deal with Fallon that if she marries his nephew, Jeff, he will help her father out of the financial crisis he is in. After Alexis returns to Denver Fallon is told by her brother, Steven, that her father is Cecil Colby not Blake. A devastated Fallon eventually finds out that her mother was lying to Steven and that Blake really is her father.

Sable Colby (Stephanie Beacham) – Sable is the cousin of Alexis Colby and wife of Jason Colby (Charlton Heston), brother of Cecil. She and Jason have three children, but their marriage is a cold one due in part to Jason’s love for Sable’s sister, Francesca (Katharine Ross). After their marriage ends Sable moves to Denver, becoming close friends with the Carringtons and Alexis’s greatest rival.

Jeff Colby (John James) – Jeff is the nephew of tycoon Cecil Colby. Raised mostly by his uncle, Jeff is handsome and good-hearted. After a brief affair with his childhood friend, Fallon, he realizes that he loves her. She suggests that they get married, but does not tell Jeff the real reason why. Their relationship continues throughout Dynasty and its spin-off show, The Colbys. They have two children and a tumultuous relationship. After his Uncle Cecil’s death, Jeff goes to work at ColbyCo for Alexis.

Additional Characters

Dex Dexter (Michael Nader) – Dex is the ruggedly handsome lover and eventual third husband of Alexis Carrington. Dex and Alexis are a classic case of people who can’t live with each other and can’t live without each other either. At one point, while things between them are characteristically strained, Alexis’s daughter Amanda shows up, and she and Dex almost immediately form a love/hate relationship. Eventually Dex and Alexis divorce, but remain part of each other’s lives.

Sammy Jo Dean Carrington (Heather Locklear) – Sammy Jo is the niece of Krystle Carrington and first appears traveling with her father on the amateur race car circuit. After Krystle marries Blake, Sammy Jo’s stepfather decides he is going to take her to live with her aunt. Soon after arriving at the Carrington’s Denver mansion, Sammy Jo becomes involved in a relationship with Blake’s son, Steven, who is confused about his sexuality. The relationship doesn’t meet with the approval of the rest of the family, who consider Sammy Jo a little “common”. She and Steven elope but the marriage does not last long. Alexis offers Sammy Jo money to leave, and she accepts. She later returns to Denver with a baby named Danny that she claims is her and Steven’s son, leaving him to be looked after by her Aunt Krystle and Blake.

Claudia Blaisdel Carrington (Pamela Bellwood) – Claudia is the wife of oil rig worker Matthew Blaisdel. After several years apart, Matthew returns to Denver to find that his wife has been released from the sanitarium where she had been staying since her nervous breakdown. In the interim, he had fallen in love with another woman: Krystle Jennings. Krystle, of course, is just about to marry Blake when Matthew and his daughter Lindsay return from the Middle East. Matthew tries to make his marriage work, and Claudia tries desperately to reconnect with her daughter who was traumatized by her mother’s breakdown. They later divorce and Claudia marries Steven Carrington.

Joseph Anders (Lee Bergere) – Joseph is the Carrington family’s loyal longtime majordomo. He at first does not like or respect the new Mrs. Carrington but in time comes to appreciate Krystle’s qualities, and the two develop a mutual respect.

Dominique Deveraux (Diahann Carroll) – Dominique is a rich and successful singer who blows into Denver one day asking questions about Alexis Colby. It later comes to be known that Dominique is actually the half-sister of Blake Carrington, the product of a relationship between Blake’s father, Tom Carrington and his longtime mistress, Laura Matthews.

Kirby Anders (Kathleen Beller) – Kirby is the daughter of the Carrington family’s majordomo, Joseph. Upon returning from Paris, where she had been studying and working as a nanny, Kirby reconnects with her childhood playmate, Fallon. Although close as young children, the gap between their two social classes now creates a barrier to resuming their former friendship. Shortly after her arrival Kirby is hired by Fallon to be the nanny for her son, Little Blake, but soon takes a strong interest in Fallon’s husband, Jeff.

Mark Jennings (Geoffrey Scott) – Mark is the first husband of Krystle Carrington. A tennis pro who is brought to Denver by Alexis to create problems for her enemy, Krystle, at one point the only problems he seems to cause are for Alexis.

Matthew Blaisdel (Bo Hopkins)-Matthew is the former lover of Krystle Carrington, as well as an employee of Denver-Carrington. He is also the first husband of the mentally fragile Claudia. His love for Krystle continues throughout the series.

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The Fallmont Family – The Fallmonts interact with both the Carringtons and Colbys in myriad ways. Buck (Richard Anderson) is a Senator and the patriarch of the family. He is married to Emily (Pat Crowley) and has two sons, Bart (Kevin Conroy and Cameron Watson) and Clay (Ted McGinley).

Luke Fuller (Billy Campbell) – Luke is a sensitive and soft-spoken employee of ColbyCo. He is drawn to Steven Carrington, who is at the time married to Claudia and trying to resist his growing feelings for Luke.

Neal McVane (Paul Burke) – McVane is a Congressman who appears in the show on an irregular basis and tends to use his office for shady deals.

Prince Michael of Moldavia (Michael Praed) – Prince Michael is the son of King Galen of Moldavia (Joel Fabiani), a former flame of Alexis and the eventual husband of Blake and Alexis’s daughter, Amanda.

Morgan Hess (Hank Brandt) – Morgan Hess is a detective of questionable character, used for the most part by Alexis, but who also works for Sammy Jo at one point.

Caress Morell (Kate O’Mara)- Caress is the younger sister of Alexis Colby. For years she was incarcerated in a prison in Caracas, Venezuela. After her release, she returns to Denver with a plan to get rich by writing a vicious book about her sister’s darkest secrets.

Sean Rowan (James Healey) – Sean is the dashing and mysterious man who saves Alexis when her car goes off of a bridge and later marries her. It soon becomes clear that his real objective is to avenge the family no one knew he had: his father Joseph, the Carrington’s majordomo, and his sister Kirby.

Dana Waring Carrington (Leann Hunley) – Dana is the loyal and very attractive assistant of Blake Carrington. She falls for Blake’s son, Adam, and they are soon married.

Dr. Nick Toscanni (James Farentino) – Dr. Toscanni is a psychologist who is both a friend and employee of Blake Carrington. However, it is soon revealed that the good doctor holds a grudge against Blake and is out to destroy him.

Michael Culhane (Wayne Northrop) – Michael is the chauffeur of Blake Carrington and sleeping with his spoiled daughter, Fallon. A shady character, he is at times useful to Blake for matters other than driving.

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Main Cast

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Additional Cast

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Trivia

Heather Locklear has been married to both Motley Crue drummer, Tommy Lee and Bon Jovi guitarist, Richie Sambora.

Joan Collins (Alexis Colby) has been married five times. She met her current husband, Percy Gibson, when he was 36 and she was 68.

John Forsythe’s early career was delayed by the onset of World War II. He enlisted in the Army Air Corps, also performing in the Winged Victory Air Corps show.

Diahann Carroll (Dominique Deveraux) has been in multiple televisions shows, aside from Dynasty. Her most recent recurring role has been on Grey’s Anatomy.

Catherine Oxenberg is the daughter of HRH Princess Elizabeth of Yugoslavia. This also makes her the granddaughter of Prince Paul, the former Regent of Yugoslavia.

Emma Samms co-founded The Starlight Children’s Foundation in 1982 with her cousin, Peter Samuelson in honor of the brother she lost when he was only nine years old.

Al Corley (Steven Carrington) has been married to his wife, Jessika Cardinahl, for nearly 25 years, and they have three children together.

Linda Evans (Krystle Carrington) was a guest at the wedding of HRH Prince Charles and Camilla Parker-Bowles.

Heather Locklear turned down the part of rape victim Sarah Tobias in the riveting film The Accused. Jodie Foster won her first Oscar for her performance in the role.

Except for the occasional role, John James took a long break from acting after Dynasty ended. In 2003 he returned to acting full-time, first on the daytime soap opera, As the World Turns, then on All My Children.

Michael Nader was arrested for driving drunk in 1997. He was also arrested in 2001 for possession of an illegal substance.

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Towards the end of the 1980’s, Dynasty was the most popular television show in the former Yugoslavia. When it aired on Monday nights at 9 p.m. the streets were empty.

Diahann Carroll was engaged at one time to Sidney Poitier.

Catherine Oxenberg is married to actor Casper Van Dien, who presented her with an engagement ring with an 8.3 carat diamond and 92 yellow diamonds across the band.

Pamela Sue Martin (Fallon Carrington Colby) is a supporter of several different environmental groups including The Sierra Club and Greenpeace. She has also campaigned for the preservation of the Wild Mustang in America, and is the National Spokesperson for the Wild Horse Sanctuary in Shingletown, California. She appeared in a public service announcement to help rescue the pink dolphin in the Amazon River.

Pamela Bellwood (Claudia Blaisdel) posed for an eight page pictorial in Playboy magazine in April of 1983.

Gordon Thomson (Adam Carrington) sued Aaron Spelling Productions for not letting him know soon enough about the Dynasty: The Reunion mini-series in 1991. The lack of notice meant that Thomson wasn’t able to resolve conflicting schedules with daytime soap opera Santa Barbara and his character, Adam Carrington, was recast with actor Robin Sachs.

Emma Samms has twice turned down the offer to be a Playboy centerfold.

The role of Krystle Carrington was first offered to Angie Dickinson, but she turned it down.

Joan Collins is the older sister of the late writer Jackie Collins.

John Forsythe appeared in three very successful TV series: Bachelor Father, Charlie’s Angels and Dynasty. He also turned down the lead in Trapper John, M.D.

Diahann Carroll is a breast cancer survivor.

Jack Coleman (Steven Carrington) is a sixth-generation grandson of famed inventor Benjamin Franklin, and is in turn related to former President Calvin Coolidge.

John James (Jeff Colby) is the son of well-known radio personality Herb Oscar Anderson.

Lee Bergere who played Joseph (the majordomo), was fired for requesting more screen time for his character.

Around 40 years before co-starring on Dynasty together, John Forsythe and Joan Collins already had a relationship of sorts. He was then teaching drama and she was one of his students. He has also been a baseball announcer.

Catherine Oxenberg’s first acting coach was the legendary Richard Burton, to whom her mother was once engaged.

Michael Nader (Dex Dexter) appeared opposite Linda Evans in the movie Beach Blanket Bingo in 1965.

Heather Locklear was charged with a misdemeanor DUI in 2008 for driving while under the influence of prescription medication. Whilst not present in the courtroom, she pleaded no contest to reckless driving and her DUI case was dismissed. A blood test found no illegal narcotics or alcohol in her system.

Pamela Sue Martin played Nancy Drew in the The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries television series. However, during her time on the show she appeared in a cover-featured pictorial in Playboy magazine and was subsequently fired.

So popular was Dynasty that it spawned its own spin-off called The Colby’s. That did not do as well and was cancelled after only two seasons.

Emma Samms (Fallon Carrington Colby) acted in General Hospital and Dynasty at the same time. After a while, Dynasty won out but Samms’s General Hospital character Holly Sutton Scorpio was so popular that after a seven year absence she was brought back in 1992, and played again by Samms.

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Linda Evans retired from acting at the age of 54.

Raquel Welch, Elizabeth Taylor and Sophia Loren were considered for the role of Alexis.

John Forsythe (Blake Carrington) consistently rejected any storylines involving adultery for his character.

In 2011, Ken Tucker of the magazine Entertainment Weekly named the so-called “Moldavian Massacre” one of the seven “Unforgettable Cliffhangers” of prime time dramatic television.

The beautiful clothing worn on the show and created by designer Nolan Miller became so popular that Dynasty generated its own line of women’s apparel called The Dynasty Collection. The haute couture designs were based on outfits worn by actresses on the show, primarily Joan Collins, Linda Evans and Diahann Carroll. A men’s fashion line was also released and Dynasty merchandising included such items as sheets and towels, dolls, wall-to-wall carpeting and even pantyhose. The most popular products were the perfumes for women and men, Forever Krystle and Carrington. Both have since been discontinued.

In 2007, John James both starred in and produced the movie Illegal Aliens, the last film of Anna Nicole Smith’s life.

Joan Collins became a grandmother in 1998. She steadfastly refuses to be called “grandma” and instead her granddaughter calls her “DoDo”.

Pamela Sue Martin has been divorced three times and now lives in Idaho with her only child, a son.

Michael Nader beat 400 other actors to the role of dashing Dex Dexter.

Catherine Oxenberg (Amanda Carrington) is the second cousin, once removed, of HRH Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales. Her great-granduncle, Prince Andrew of Greece, is Prince Charles’s paternal grandfather.

Unbelievably, Diahann Carroll is one of only ten African-American actresses to be nominated for the Oscar for Best Actress.

In 1985 Al Corley had a hit with the pop song Square Rooms. It went to #1 in France and #80 in the United States. In the next few years he also released two more albums.

His appearance in Dynasty was the last ever acting role for the legendary Rock Hudson, who played Daniel Reece on the show. Although aware that he had AIDS at the time of his controversial kiss with Linda Evans, Hudson did not inform her. At the time, all that was known was that the virus existed in low quantities in both saliva and tears, although there had been no reports of transmission by kissing. The CDC had issued a warning against trading saliva with members of groups thought to be at a high risk of AIDS. Shortly after Hudson made it public that he had AIDS, it created such a panic in the television and film industry that Ed Asner, who at the time was the president of the Screen Actors Guild, said that he was aware of some scripts actually being rewritten to avoid kissing scenes. Following this, the Guild set rules requiring actors to be notified in advance of any scenes that would require “open-mouth” kissing. Furthermore, any actor could refuse to do this type of scene without penalty. Linda Evans herself did not seem to be upset with Hudson at all, and asked to introduce the part of the 1985 Commitment to Life benefit that was dedicated to him.

Emma Samms has been married three times, engaged to Marvin Hamlisch, and had a real-life romance with her on-screen lover on General Hospital, Tristan Rogers (Robert Scorpio).

Jack Coleman was on the popular series Heroes, and played the character of Noah Bennet.

George Peppard was originally cast as Blake Carrington but was fired after three weeks of filming. Reportedly, he disagreed with producers over the characterization of Blake, feeling he was too similar to the character of J.R. Ewing in the popular series Dallas. The role was recast with John Forsythe.

Joan Collins became pregnant to actor Warren Beatty, but had an abortion.

The role of Steven Carrington was originally played by actor Al Corley. Corley accepted the role because of its social impact as the first openly gay main character in a prime-time series. When the show’s producers gave into the demands of the network that the character be “cured” of his homosexuality, Corley quit.

Heather Locklear (Sammy Jo Carrington) was a regular on the Dynasty series for one season, but left to do another series called T.J. Hooker. Locklear made guest appearances on Dynasty throughout her time on the other series, and later returned as a regular.

Michael Nader is the nephew of actor, George Nader. George Nader was close friends with famous actor Rock Hudson, who was a guest-star on Dynasty. Hudson and Nader were both gay and in their heyday would provide cover for each other’s “straight” image.

John Forsythe helped to found the Actors Studio after World War II.

At the end of season one, when the character of Alexis is first introduced, the part was played by a friend of the producers. Joan Collins was not cast until the break between seasons one and two.

Joan Collins, who played Alexis Colby, the villainess of Dynasty, actually dated the villain of Dallas in real life when only in her teens. Collins was 16, and Larry Hagman (J.R. Ewing) was 19.

Diahann Carroll released her own autobiography, Diahann.

In the late 1970’s, Al Corley worked as a doorman at Studio 54, generally considered to be the most famous nightclub of all time. He later appeared in a VH1 Behind the Music special about the club.

Pamela Sue Martin has written about her difficulties with interstitial cystitis, also known as bladder pain syndrome.

Many years before John Forsythe and Linda Evans worked together on Dynasty, Forsythe was friends with Evans’s family. They met on the set of Bachelor Father in 1957. She guest-starred on the show, and her character develops a crush on his. Evans is quoted as saying that she had a crush on him in real life as well at that time. Forsythe actually wrote the words, ‘You are going to be somebody someday’ on the script. They also starred in the same episode of the television show The Love Boat in 1983.

The only actor who appeared on every single episode of the show was John Forsythe.

Gordon Thomson has been in eight different series produced by Aaron Spelling: Dynasty, The Colbys, The Love Boat, Fantasy Island, Sunset Beach, Glitter, Finder of Lost Loves and Beverly Hills, 90210.

Heather Locklear has starred in four popular TV shows Dynasty, T.J. Hooker, Melrose Place and Spin City.

The season 6 opener was the most watched episode ever of the Dynasty series. This of course was due to the fact that everyone wanted to see who had survived the “Moldavian Massacre”.

When Catherine Oxenberg first married her husband, Casper Van Dien, they did it in Las Vegas with a minister dressed as Elvis Presley.

Joan Collins has for many years been a public supporter of several different charities including the International Foundation for Children with Learning Disabilities, National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, Breast Cancer Studies, Fight for Sight, and the Shooting Star Children’s Hospice in Great Britain. In 1988, the Joan Collins Wing of the Children’s Hospital of Michigan was opened and she has also spoken before the U.S. Congress regarding an increase in the budget for neurological research. Additionally, Collins has supported several foster children in India for over 25 years.

Emma Samms was once an Emergency Medical Technician.

John Forsythe was married three times. His second wife was actress Julie Warren and they were married for 51 years. She died in 1994 after falling into a coma. Forsythe made the incredibly difficult decision to turn off her life-support machine. Forsythe himself died in 2010, at the age of 92, due to complications from pneumonia. Only five weeks after his death, his third wife, Nicole Carter, also passed away.

John James has been married to his wife, Denise Ellen Coward, for almost 25 years. She is a former model as well as the 2nd Runner-Up for Miss World 1978. They have two children. James’ daughter, Laura James, was the winner of America’s Next Top Model, Cycle 19.

When Evil Knievel was going to jump the fountains at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada on December 31, 1967, he commissioned John Derek to film the event. Derek at the time was married to Dynasty star Linda Evans. There was to be more than one camera trained on the occurrence, and when Knievel crashed, it was Evans who actually managed to catch the images on film.

On two separate occasions, 911 calls have been made regarding the mental status of Heather Locklear. The first time was in 2008, when someone claiming to be her doctor said that she was trying to commit suicide. After responders got to her home, they said she seemed fine. However, three months later she checked herself into a medical facility in Arizona for psychological issues. In 2012, it was Locklear’s sister who made the call, claiming that she thought Locklear was in danger after she had supposedly taken a mix of prescription drugs and alcohol. Upon the arrival of emergency personnel, Locklear was taken to hospital but was apparently out of danger by the following day.

Christopher Cazenove who played Ben Carrington, and John Forsythe who played his brother, Blake, died in real life only six days apart.

On May 10, 1986, Catherine Oxenberg was the guest host for the popular series Saturday Night Live. She is the only descendant of a royal family ever to have hosted the show.