Evans was born in Hartford, Connecticut, on November 18, 1942. She broke into acting on the small screen in 1960—when she was not yet eighteen—with a guest appearance on the TV series Bachelor Father, starring John Forsythe who recently played Charles Townsend in the Charlie’s Angels movies.
This led to guest appearances on several prominent shows during the early 1960s, including The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet, where she landed a recurring role as Shirley; The Untouchables; The Eleventh Hour; and The Lieutenant.
Evans landed her first film role in 1963 as Alice Clinton in Twilight of Honor, and in 1965 she appeared in Those Calloways and Beach Blanket Bingo, the latter of which starred Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello. But it wasn’t until she snagged one of the lead roles in the major 1960s Western series The Big Valley that Evans began to rise to fame. The hit show first aired in 1965, when Evans was in her early twenties, and lasted until 1969. Evans played Audra Barkley, alongside Barbara Stanwyck (who played Audra’s mother), Lee Majors (Audra’s brother), Richard Long, and Peter Breck.
After The Big Valley ended, Evans appeared in a number of films and TV series throughout the 1970s and early 80s, taking on a variety of roles—most notably the recurring role of Jessica on Aaron Spelling’s The Love Boat, which starred Gavin MacLeod. In 1981, Evans landed her second major role (in addition to Audra)—as Krystle Carrington, the much younger wife of Blake Carrington, played by John Forsythe on the hit series Dynasty, which lasted from 1981 to 1989. A few of her co-stars on the show that helped propel Evans’ acting career were Joan Collins, Gordon Thomson, John James, Jack Coleman, Michael Nader, and Heather Locklear.
Into the 1990s, Evans appeared and starred in a number of made-for-TV movies and specials, such as She’ll Take Romance, Dynasty: The Reunion, reprising her role as Krystle; The Gambler Returns: The Luck of the Draw, which starred Kenny Rogers and Reba McEntire; Dazzle; and The Stepsister.
Also a model, Linda Evans was featured in Hugh Hefner’s Playboy magazine twice, once in 1971 and another time in 1982, near her fortieth birthday. Evans’s popular role as Krystle on Dynasty also led to her major campaign for Crystal Light drinks during the 1980s. She also hosted infomercials for the toning facial mask Rejuvenique in the 90s.
In the last decade or so, Evans has kept a fairly low profile, and hasn’t appeared in any major TV series or films. She’s been married twice; first to John Derek from 1968 to 1974, who later married actress Bo Derek, and second to Stan Herman from 1976 to 1981. Evans was also known for her long-time relationship with famous Greek musician Yanni during the 90s.
In early 2009, Linda, the former Dynasty beauty, abandoned a personal butler and chef and turned her hand to creating a few culinary delights of her own when she appeared din the UK reality show, Hell’s Kitchen 2009!
At times, being put through her paces, dressed in kitchen whites, it seemed that Linda would fall short of the judges requirements but as Linda and her final opponent, British funnyman, Adrian Edmondson, were given their final tasks which saw them cooking lunch for special guest Raymond Blanc, it seemed that Linda excelled in the kitchen and went on to win the title for 2009.
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