https://mcdn.podbean.com/mf/web/ruyi54/purlfinal_-_2_6_23_254_PM9ehdc.mp3

EPISODE SUMMARY:

Linda Purl’s long-standing career has taken her everywhere from Happy Days to Broadway’s Getting and Spending, solidifying her as a powerful, unforgettable force in the entertainment industry. In today’s episode, we sat down with Linda to discuss her singing career, her experience working on Happy Days, Duffy’s Dough, and Linda’s menopause journey.

First, we asked Linda about her career as a singer. She told us how she grew up in Japan and actually had a recording contract there for a few years. After eventually leaving and moving to Los Angeles, she began focusing more on her acting career. However, the longing for music was always there, and she ended up building a cabaret act at a night club. While the experience was daunting, it opened doors to allow Linda to continue her singing career. During the aids epidemic, she was able to perform at numerous benefit concerts, and she later released a few CDs of her own music. Apart from music, one of the projects Linda is most well-known for is her work on the television series Happy Days. Before the show was even created, Linda and Don Most were close friends, having met on a commercial shoot in New York. When Don was cast on Happy Days, he called Linda and told her that they were looking for another role he thought she would be great for. Linda auditioned and got the recurring role, and years later, ended up joining Happy Days again as a different role. Linda spoke on how she had a great experience working on Happy Days and that the set reflected the light, humorous atmosphere the show portrayed. Linda also worked briefly on the popular show The Office and told us that while joining the project was nerve-wracking, she loved her time on set. She said the environment was similar to Happy Days in its positivity and that Steve Carrell was a joy to work with. She also mentioned that while she assumed a comedic show like The Office would have a lot of improvisation, they ended up scarcely improvising their lines.

Linda has done work on numerous television series, including the soap operas General Hospital and the Bold and the Beautiful. Before General Hospital, her experience acting on soap operas was years prior, when teleprompters were still used on sets. When getting the role on General Hospital, she was overwhelmed to find that on her first day, she already had 23 pages of dialogue to go through. However, she said the cast was very supportive and she was able to get through it. Years later, her partner Patrick Duffy was asked to reprise his role on the Bold and the Beautiful, and Linda joined him on the show. When asked about any future cameos on the Bold and the Beautiful, Linda said she and Patrick would love to return. Pertaining to her relationship with Patrick, Linda shared with us the story of how they fell in love during the pandemic. She and Patrick met a few years ago at an event and stayed in touch, and when COVID hit, their communication only increased. With her back in Colorado and him on his ranch, they would talk on the phone for hours every single night. Eventually, when their relationship became romantic, Patrick drove to see her, and they’ve been together ever since.

Along with acting alongside her partner, Linda has also helped Patrick begin his sourdough starter kit business, Duffy’s Dough. Linda told us that a sourdough starter has been in Patrick’s family for years after his mother was gifted one when they lived in Alaska. Patrick has made breads his entire life, and when he approached Linda with a business idea, she was eager to support him. She said it was complicated learning all the inner workings of businesses, having to navigate everything from the starter kit boxes to creating logos to building a website. However, all of their hard work was worth it. When Duffy’s Dough launched, they sold out of starter kits in less than 24 hours.

For the future of her acting career, Linda emphasized that she loves the industry she works in and wants to continue to take roles that she’s offered. Finally, we asked Linda about her journey with menopause. She raved about the book The Upgrade by Louann Brizendine, for it gave her the validation she wished she’d had when going through menopause herself. Linda went through depressive episodes while she went through menopause, and books like The Upgrade would have helped her realize that what her body was going through was completely normal and that things would get better. Now, Linda feels empowered in midlife and feels any challenges with menopause and getting older are worth it.

Linda Purl

Linda is currently filming the television series The Oath with Sean Bean and Ryan Kwanten. Some of her recent recurring roles are Homeland, (Elizabeth Gaines); True Blood, (Barbara Pelt); The Office, (Helene Beasley) and a guest on Designated Survivor. She has starred in over 45 made-for-TV movies, and is especially known for Charlene Matlock, Matlock and Ashley Pfister, Fonzie’s fiancée, Happy Days.

Linda has also worked on Broadway in shows such as The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Getting and Spending. For Off-Broadway, Linda has done The Baby Dance, and regionally has worked on Romeo and Juliet, The Merchant of Venice, Hedda Gabler, The Real Thing, A Glass Menagerie, The Little Foxes, A Streetcar Named Desire, The Road to Mecca with Miss Julie Harris, A Doll’s House, Dinner with Friends (original production), The Year of Magical Thinking, Hippolytus, Camille, Same Time Next Year, The Miracle Worker, Little Murders, All the Way Home, Nora, Copenhagen, Beyond Therapy, Love, Loss and What I Wore, Oliver, Grease, On a Clear Day, Three Penny Opera, and The King and I at such theatres as Long Wharf, Actors Theatre of Louisville, The Old Globe, Mark Taper Forum, South Coast Repertory, Santa Fe Opera, Cleveland Playhouse, Berkshire Theatre Festival, Laguna Playhouse, The Lensic Santa Fe, Berkeley Rep, Williamstown Theatre Festival (six seasons), Theatre Princesse Grace, Monaco, and Imperial Theatre, Tokyo, Japan. She’s done partial work in the films Mighty Joe Young, The Walking Major, Leo and Loree, and Sundays, and has an upcoming project titled The Ties that Bind.

Born in Connecticut, Purl grew up in Japan, becoming the only foreigner to have trained at the Toho Geino Academy. Her studies continued at Neighborhood Playhouse and Lee Strasberg Institute. She was Founding Director of the California International Theatre Festival. Purl currently tours with her solo concerts Midnight Caravan – Celebrating the Great Ladies of the Glamorous Nightclub Era and Up Jumped Spring. Solo albums are Alone Together, Out of this World—Live Midnight Caravan and just released Up Jumped Spring. Past concert venue appearances include Lincoln Center Jazz, Feinstein’s in NY, Naples Philharmonic, Catalina Jazz Club in LA, Crazy Coqs in London, Club Raye in Paris and Satin Doll in Tokyo.

In this episode, we discuss…

• [0:01] ThePerfect3
• [0:57] Guest Introduction
• [4:02] Start of Interview
• [4:38] Linda’s Singing Career
• [9:37] Happy Days
• [13:19] Working on The Office
• [21:02] Soap Operas V.S. Sitcoms
• [23:20] Falling in Love During a Pandemic
• [27:36] Duffy’s Dough
• [32:00] The Future of Linda’s Acting Career
• [34:50] Linda’s Menopause Journey
• [40:06] Closing Thoughts
• [40:51] Outro

Useful Resources:

Linda’s Website I [https://www.lindapurl.com/]

Linda’s IMDb I [https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0700909/]

Linda’s Facebook I [

]

Linda’s Instagram I [https://www.instagram.com/lindapurl/]

Linda’s Twitter I [https://twitter.com/lindapurl]

Linda’s YouTube Channel I [

]

Duffy’s Dough I [https://duffysdough.com/]

TRY THEPEREFCT3’S PURE COLLAGEN AND GET 10% OFF YOUR FIRST ORDER AT https://theperfect3.com/ !

CHECK OUT OUR VALENTINE’S DAY GIFT GUIDE AT https://www.flipsnack.com/9FFE9FCC5A8/valentine-s-catalog-4/full-view.html !

Can’t Get Enough? Find Us Here!

Website I [http://hotflashescooltopics.com/]

Mail I [[email protected]]

Instagram I [https://www.instagram.com/hotflashesandcooltopics/]

Facebook I [

]

Twitter I [https://twitter.com/CoolFlashes]

YouTube I [https://www.youtube.com/@HotFlashesCoolTopics]

Pinterest I [https://www.pinterest.com/hcooltopics/]

TikTok I [https://www.tiktok.com/@hotflashescooltopics]

LTK Shop I [https://www.shopltk.com/explore/Hot_Flashes_%26_Cool_Topics]

Want to Leave a Review for Hot Flashes and Cool Topics? Here’s How:

For Apple Podcasts on an iPhone or iOS device:

• Open the Apple Podcast App on your device.
• Click on the “search” icon
• Type into the search bar “Hot Flashes and Cool Topics” and click on the show
• Towards the bottom, look for “Ratings and Reviews”
• Click on “Write a Review” and leave us your thoughts and comments!

For Apple Podcasts on a computer:

• On the Apple Podcasts website, go to the search bar and type “Hot Flashes and Cool Topics”
• After clicking on the show, find the “Listen on Apple Podcasts” button and click on it
• The “Hot Flashes and Cool Topics” podcast should open on the Apple Podcasts application
• Keep scrolling on the page until you see “Ratings and Reviews”
• Click on “See All”
• If you want to give us a five-star rating, hover over the empty stars!
• If you want to leave your thoughts and comments, click on “Write a Review”!