Linda Purl and Patrick Duffy's Relationship: All About the “Happy Days” and “Dallas” Stars' Romance

Linda Purl and Patrick Duffy have been in a relationship since the summer of 2020

Linda Purl and Patrick Duffy found love when they least expected it.

Duffy was married to ballet dancer Carlyn Rosser from 1974 until her death in 2017. After Rosser’s death, the Dallas actor wasn’t sure he would find love again — until he reconnected with an old friend.

Purl and Duffy were casual friends years ago but subsequently lost touch. However, it was the COVID-19 pandemic that brought them back together after being in the same group text chain. Their connection was obvious once the texting dwindled to just the two of them.

“I loaded up my car and drove 20 hours and ended up on her doorstep just to see if it was real,” Duffy told PEOPLE in November 2020. “We haven’t been apart since.”

The actor said that his late wife would want him to move on, and believes that his relationship with Purl is “keeping with the desires of [his] wife.”

“So when [happiness is] offered, think about it, do whatever you do, but don’t let it pass you up if it’s the right thing,” he explained of finding love after loss.

“I never thought for a minute this would happen again," he commented of his romance with Purl. "I never thought I'd feel this way again."

Here’s everything to know about Linda Purl and Patrick Duffy’s relationship.

They first met in 2000

The actors have been friends for decades. They first met in London in 2000 when their mutual friend, actor Richard Thomas, introduced them while he and Duffy starred in the production of Art on the West End.

After their first interaction, they met again at a media convention. Duffy was sat at the Dallas signing table while Purl had headed over to see Linda Gray. “In a roundabout way, Linda Gray introduced us. Patrick and I were at one of these big conventions for autographs and Linda Gray was meant to be there,” Purl explained to Senior Planet in May 2023. “We’d done a movie together and I adored her, so I bolted over to the Dallas table to say hi to Linda who was not there. But Patrick was.”

Their relationship blossomed over Zoom

A romance for the technical age, Purl and Duffy fell in love via video call. After keeping in touch with frequent texts, the now-couple transitioned over to Zoom calls, which lasted two to three hours every single night.

“The conversation went from chatty and fun until, after a few months, it moved to a deeper level,” Purl told Senior Planet.

“I was by myself in a big house surrounded by acres with nobody else around,” Duffy added. “She was isolated in her home in Colorado with just her dog — so we each wanted to communicate with somebody and it just kept building.”

Duffy would read poems to Purl over Zoom, and one night he professed his love to the actress as they said their goodbyes. He explained, “One night, as we were signing off, I said, ‘Sleep tight, I love you.’ I pushed the off button and went, ‘Oh my god. I said the L-word!’ ”

Their “common ground” was the key to finding love later in life

When talking about finding love in their 60s and 70s, the couple credit their similar job roles and outlook in life for helping them in their relationship.

“Our careers were vastly different. Patrick had this meteoric rise — whereas mine was more as a journeyman,” Purl explained to Senior Planet. “However, we were in the same work culture, in the same era, with similar friends and life reference points.”

Both Purl and Duffy are boy parents; Purl shares Lucius Carey with her ex-husband Alexander Cary, while Duffy is a father to sons Padraic Terrence and Conor.

Duffy says keeping up with Purl is a “joyful full-time job”

The Don’t Look Behind You actor admitted that he has become more sedentary as he ages, but Purl likes to keep him on his toes.

“She is getting me more active. I had became a bit sedentary,” he told Senior Planet. “But keeping up with her is a joyfull full time job.

He also said that he has embraced getting older. “At our age, I find that you’ve come to grips with the aging factor and the inevitability so you don’t run from the end of your life,” he commented. “You run towards what you’re going to do during the interim which is a much more joyful attitude.”

They own a bread company

The couple collaborated to create their very own sourdough starter company, Duffy’s Dough. At the beginning of their relationship, Duffy made sourdough pancakes for Purl using a decades-old family sourdough starter recipe, which in turn sparked an idea to start a business.

"Now I didn't think I was ever going to start a business, but Linda is Linda and took it and ran with it instantly," Duffy told PEOPLE in September 2021. "We have been dehydrating the original sourdough starter. So it's absolutely pure from the time that my mother received it."

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