Dallas veteran Patrick Duffy – who played Bobby Ewing on the show for about a decade – turned 75-years-old on Sunday.
The beloved TV Hollywood staple got a loving tribute from his girlfriend Linda Purl of Happy Days fame.
‘Happy, happy birthday my remarkable love,’ Purl captioned an Instagram photo of herself putting her arms around Duffy as he held up a slice of cake. She wore a blue top and he had on a brown pullover.
Duffy and Purl, both big stars in the 1980s, have been dating since 2020.
They met on a group text and got close on Facetime then Zoom during Covid, and have been going steady ever since.
Dallas veteran Patrick Duffy turned 75-years-old on Sunday. The Hollywood staple got a loving tribute from his girlfriend Linda Purl of Happy Days fame. ‘Happy, happy birthday my remarkable love,’ Purl captioned an Instagram photo of herself putting her arms around Duffy
Duffy and Purl, both big stars in the 1980s, have been dating since 2020. They met on Zoom and got close on text and have been going steady ever since. Seen in 2022
Patrick was also seen at 90s Con with his fellow Step by Step alums in Hartford, Connecticut on Sunday.
The Connecticut native was happy when the audience sang Happy Birthday to him, according to People, and he was given a cake.
Also at the panel were Staci Keanan, Angela Watson, Christopher Castile, Jason Marsden and Sasha Mitchell joined Lakin and Duffy for the 90s Con panel on Sunday.
Suzanne Somers was also part of the show; she died in October.
The cast honored her memory by sharing some of their favorite memories of Somers.
After the panel, Duffy went to The Capital Grille for dinner with his castmates.
‘Happy birthday to one of my favorite people of all time,’ Christine Lakin wrote on her Instagram Story.
In the video on her Story, Lakin, 45, captured another round of the ‘Happy Birthday’ song.
‘Just so you know, I picked out those candles because of your silver foxiness,’ the employee said.
In 2022, Duffy and Happy Days’ Linda Purl said they fell in love on Zoom.
Duffy as Bobby Ewing in 1978 on the set of his smash hit TV show Dallas
(L-R) Audrey Landers, Linda Gray, Duffy, Joan Van Ark, Charlene Hilton and Steve Kanaly of Dallas in June 2023 in Palm Springs, California
Cast members at a Dallas panel at The Hollywood Show held at Los Angeles Marriott Burbank Airport on March 2 in Burbank
The star wore a black sweater and blue jeans while speaking on the panel
On his hit show Step by Step who costar Suzanne Somers who died last year
While on Thursday’s This Morning Patrick and Linda said sparks began to fly during a group text chat in 2020.
Patrick said: ‘It’s a Covid romance. We didn’t sit in the same room for almost four months but we spoke to each other everyday.
‘We kept texting and texting became Facetime and for two and a half months plus we zoomed every night for two or three hours. We didn’t have that thing after the third dinner, do I kiss? Do I take her to my house?
Linda, who played Ashley Pfister in season 10 of Happy Days in the early 1980s, added: ‘As we were about to do the end meeting, Patrick says “see you tomorrow love you.”
Patrick, who played Bobby Ewing on Dallas said: ‘The next day we zoomed it was like…”hi”. I got into my car and drove 23 hours to her door step and we’ve never been apart.’
Linda continued: ‘I don’t think it would have happened otherwise because in our normal lives pre-pandemic we wouldn’t have had three hours to Zoom but we did.’
Branding Linda ‘the most beautiful thing in the world’ Patrick said: ‘I wasn’t looking for (love) but it found me.’
Patrick and Linda began dating in July 2020.
Describing their relationship in an interview back in November 2020, Patrick said he had given up on the idea of dating again following the passing of his wife, ballet dancer Carlyn Rosser, who succumbed to cancer in 2017.
The pair were married for over four decades and had two sons: Padraic, 47, and Conor, 41.
‘I wasn’t looking for it. I didn’t feel I needed it … and then fate just went swoosh! and changed the perspective,’ he said of their love last year.
Duffy and Purl candidly discussed in 2022 their romance and how they fell in love on Zoom
Patrick on Dallas (left) and Linda as Fonzie’s girlfriend on Happy Days
They looked smitten as they chatted about how sparks began to fly during a group text chat in 2020 – before they started FaceTiming before graduating to ‘two to three hour’ Zoom calls every night
‘We started texting and then FaceTiming and then Zooming … We did a two-to-three-hour Zoom every single night … You get to know somebody really well when you do that.’
The actor loved chatting to Linda during the lockdown, and once restrictions were eased, he wasted no time in rushing to see her.
He shared: ‘At the end of those two and half months, we were feeling a little different than just casual friendship, so I packed up my car, I drove 20 hours, and I was on her doorstep.
‘I asked permission if I could kiss her, and we’ve been together ever since.’
Describing their relationship in an interview back in November 2020, Patrick said he had given up on the idea of dating again following the passing of his wife, ballet dancer Carlyn Rosser, who succumbed to cancer in 2017 (pictured 1987)
Patrick admitted that his romance with Linda came as a complete surprise. The actor explained that after his wife’s death, he never imagined he’d fall in love again.
He confessed: ‘I never thought for a minute this would happen again. I never thought I’d feel this way again. I’m in an incredibly happy relationship.’
Linda is mother to son Lucius Cary, 26, who she shares with ex husband Alexander Cary.
She has been married four times in total but has no other children.
