What Happened to the Original “Dynasty” Cast? See Where They Are 45 Years After the Premiere
- - What Happened to the Original “Dynasty” Cast? See Where They Are 45 Years After the Premiere
Nicole Briese, Nicole PomaricoJanuary 13, 2026 at 4:00 AM
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ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty
Legendary 1980s TV show Dynasty premiered 45 years ago
The series began in 1981 and ended unexpectedly on a 1989 cliffhanger
Here's what the cast — including stars Joan Collins and Linda Evans — have been up to since the series finale
Dynasty premiered 45 years ago on Jan. 12, 1981, and changed the history of TV forever.
The show centered on two wealthy — and feuding — families: the Carringtons and the Colbys. It was the top show in the country during the 1984–85 season, beating out other popular programs like Dallas and The Cosby Show, according to The New York Times.
In 1989, Dynasty came to an end on an unexpected cliffhanger due to a combination of “dwindling ratings, inflated star salaries, revolving producers, far-fetched story lines and a network programming chief who reportedly simply didn’t like the show,” per the Los Angeles Times.
The cast has had several reunions since then: In October 1991, Joan Collins, Linda Evans, Heather Locklear, Al Corley and John James teamed up for the show’s four-hour sequel, Dynasty: The Reunion.
Fifteen years later, the cast came together once more for Dynasty Reunion: Catfights & Caviar, an hour-long CBS special featuring interviews and discussions about their time on the show. In 2021, Emma Samms gathered the stars once again for a virtual fundraiser benefitting long COVID research ahead of the show’s 40th anniversary.
So, where is the original cast of Dynasty now? Here’s what they have been up to since the show went off the air.
01 of 14
Joan Collins as Alexis Colby
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Joan Collins as Alexis Colby in 'Dynasty'. ; Joan Collins during "Gosh! It's Gyles & Judi & All The Dames" in 2023.
With her buzzy role as the socialite and businesswoman Alexis Colby, Collins is widely credited with catapulting Dynasty’s ratings into the stratosphere.
"She was the first empowered woman on TV,” as Collins told CBS Sunday Morning in 2019. “And I got a lot of flack for it. She's such a ballbreaker, she’s so b-----, she's such a vixen! You know, I was just standing up for myself as an independent woman!"
After Dynasty, Collins’ star continued to rise with roles on The Nanny, Will & Grace, Guiding Light and The Royals. In 2006, she starred alongside Evans in the American national tour of the play Legends!, in which she played a once-famous actress named Sylvia.
The actress has kept busy writing memoirs, novels and nonfiction books; she published her 19th book, Behind the Shoulder Pads, in 2023.
Collins has been married five times, to Maxwell Reed, Anthony Newley, Ron Kass, Peter Holm and her current husband, “the great love of her life,” producer Percy Gibson.
To this day, Collins continues acting: She will play Wallis Simpson in an upcoming biopic called The Bitter End as The Guardian reported in January 2025. “I’ve always been fascinated by Wallis, because I think she was unfairly treated,” Collins told the outlet in 2023.
02 of 14
Heather Locklear as Sammy Jo Carrington
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Heather Locklear as Sammy Jo Carrington in 'Dynasty'. ; Heather Locklear at the world premiere of 'Don't Sweat the Small Stuff: The Kristine Carlson Story" in 2021.
Like many of the show’s actors, Heather Locklear shot to fame after appearing on Dynasty. Locklear joined the cast in season 2 as Krystle’s niece Sammy Jo; she was one of the few cast members to remain a main character until the show’s cancellation in 1989.
After famously splitting from husband Tommy Lee, whom she wed during her time on the show, Locklear married Richie Sambora, guitarist for Bon Jovi. The pair welcomed one child, Ava Elizabeth Sambora, in 1997, before going their separate ways in 2006.
Locklear began dating Melrose Place costar Jack Wagner in 2007. They became engaged in August 2011, but the pair called it quits by November.
In 2018, Locklear was arrested twice. She later pleaded no contest to eight misdemeanor counts — including five counts of battery on a peace officer — and was ordered to spend 30 days in a residential mental health facility.
In 2020, Locklear got engaged to her high school sweetheart, Chris Heisser. That same year, the actress celebrated one year of sobriety. “She is doing great and looks great,” a friend told PEOPLE. “What’s most important is today and the next day and the future and she’s in a great place.”
The couple broke up in May 2025, five years after they got engaged.
In 2021, Locklear made her return to acting with the Lifetime biopic Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff: The Kristine Carlson Story.
03 of 14
Linda Evans as Krystle Carrington
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Linda Evans as Krystle Jennings Carrington in 'Dynasty'. ; Linda Evans during the Late Night Shopping event at Designer Outlet Soltau in 2019.
Evans played Alexis’ rival, Krystle Carrington, on Dynasty. She left the show due to burnout in 1988, choosing to "sort of retire," as she told Digital Journal in 2023. “Somehow I am very blessed when I want to work, or when something interests me, things come to me," Evans added.
Such projects included Dynasty: The Reunion in 1991, a handful of TV movies — including Dazzle (1995) and The Stepsister (1997) — and a tour as Leatrice in Legends! with Collins in 2006.
After her Legends! run, the Golden Globe winner competed on a 2009 season of Hell’s Kitchen — and won. In 2012, she published a part-memoir and part-cookbook called Recipes for Life: My Memories.
Evans eventually made her way back into film, picking up her first project in decades with 2021's Swan Song. "What are the odds that I'd be back working at 78?" Evans told PEOPLE. "It's so outrageous, but as I always love to say, 'Anything is possible.' "
The actress was married twice, to John Derek and Stan Herman, and dated Greek composer Yanni for nearly a decade, from 1989 to 1998. Evans hasn't had a public relationship in some time.
"For a woman who only wanted to get married and have children, it is pretty spectacular where I got because I am so completely happy on my own,” she told Digital Journal.
04 of 14
John Forsythe as Blake Carrington
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John Forsythe as Blake Carrington in 'Dynasty'.
Forsythe, who played oil tycoon Blake Carrington, was in high demand during his time on Dynasty.
“I had three shows ... running at the same time. And I had a bicycle, and I would bicycle from one place to the next,” the actor, who also starred in Charlie’s Angels and The Colbys, said in a 2000 interview with the Television Academy.
After Dynasty, Forsythe starred in the 1992 soap opera The Powers That Be. He also left his mark on the screen in films like In Cold Blood (1967) and Scrooged (1988). He reprised his role as Charles Townsend for the Charlie’s Angels films in the early 2000s.
Forsythe was married three times, to Parker McCormick, Julie Warren and Nicole Carter. Forsythe had three children: son Dall Forsythe, whom he shared with McCormick, and daughters Page and Brooke Forsythe, whom he shared with Warren.
Forsythe was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2006 and died from complications of pneumonia on April 1, 2010, at his home in Santa Ynez, Calif. His widow, Carter, died of cancer just five weeks later, according to the Los Angeles Times.
05 of 14
Pamela Sue Martin as Fallon Carrington
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Pamela Sue Martin as Fallon Carrington in 'Dynasty'. ; Pamela Sue Martin at a fundraising event to save circus animals of Mexico in 2015.
Pamela Sue Martin played Fallon Carrington, the heiress daughter of Blake Carrington and Alexis Colby, for the first four seasons of Dynasty.
After leaving the spotlight, the Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries alum moved to Idaho to start her family. She had one child, Nicolas, with her fourth husband, Bruce Allen, whom she married in 1990 and divorced in 1998. Martin's other husbands were Charles Gates, Jorge Brusch and Manuel Rojas.
After fourth divorce, Martin began working in local theater, later becoming the artistic director of Interplanetary Theater Group and performing in a production of The Laramie Project, though she largely stayed out of the limelight.
She's since made a comeback: In 2017, she appeared in the Lifetime movie My Christmas Prince. Martin’s most recent TV appearance was on an episode of the rebooted Nancy Drew in 2019.
06 of 14
Pamela Bellwood as Claudia Blaisdel Carrington
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Pamela Bellwood as Claudia Blaisdel Carrington in 'Dynasty'. Pamela Bellwood on the set of the 'Dynasty' reunion in 2015.
Since Dynasty, Pamela Bellwood (née King), known to Dynasty fans as Claudia Blaisdel Carrington, has starred both on TV and in film, including in an episode of The Twilight Zone in 1989 and with a stint as a grown-up Becca on Life Goes On in 1992.
Bellwood has kept a relatively low profile since her days on the show, since she found the buzz around Dynasty difficult to handle.
“You became like public property,” she told The Daily Beast in 2017. “People felt like they knew you because you were in their homes. It was difficult because I’m a private person ... I was happy to have the work, to go to work, but then leave work.”
Bellwood has been married twice, first to writer Peter Bellwood and later to photographer Nik Wheeler. She and her second husband share at least two kids, sons Kerry and Christian.
07 of 14
Al Corley as Steve Carrington
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Al Corley as Steve Carrington in 'Dynasty'. ; Al Corley at the "Phalaris's Bull: Solving The Riddle Of The Great Big World" opening night in 2015.
Al Corley played Steve Carrington — the son of Blake and Alexis — for just one season of Dynasty. Although Steve had relationships with both men and women in the series, the character identified as gay — something Corley felt that writers weren't "willing to explore," which caused him to leave the show.
"I had to judge my happiness as a person first and my ability to make this character believable and what attracted me was playing a gay character," Corley told Box Office Mojo in 2005.
Following his Dynasty departure, Corley recorded the 1984 chart-topping song “Square Rooms;" he followed the song up with two full-length albums. He also continued to act, starring in the film A Kiss Goodnight (1994) and Torchlight (1985), the latter alongside his Dynasty costar Martin.
In 1989, Corley married Jessika Cardinahl. Before their split in the late 1990s, the couple had three children.
He directed his first film, Bigger Than the Sky, in 2005. Corley’s most recent acting credit was The Ice Road in 2021.
08 of 14
John James as Jeff Colby
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John James as Jeff Colby in 'Dynasty'. ; John James on the set for "Dynasty" Reunion in 205.
Though he auditioned to play Steve, John James wound up as “good guy” Jeff Colby on Dynasty and its spinoff, The Colbys.
Later, he moved to a farm in upstate New York with his wife Denise Coward, a model and Miss World runner-up, whom he married in 1989. The pair have two kids: a daughter, Laura Ellen James, and a son, Philip James. In 2012, Laura won the 19th cycle of America’s Next Top Model.
James' return to the limelight came with roles on the soap operas All My Children (2006–2007) and As the World Turns (2003–2008). In 2022, James teamed up with former Dynasty costars Thomson and Jack Coleman to bring fans a new cabaret show called Cocktails with the Carringtons.
09 of 14
Wayne Northrop as Michael Culhane
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Wayne Northrop as Michael Culhane in 'Dynasty'. ; Wayne Northrop at Deidre Hall's Star ceremony on The Hollywood Walk Of Fame in 2016.
Playing the part of Blake’s conniving chauffeur Michael Culhane was Wayne Northrop, who appeared on the show in seasons 1 and 7.
In between Dynasty appearances, Northrop starred on Days of Our Lives through 1994 and again from 2005 to 2006. He also was a series regular on Port Charles in the late ‘90s.
The actor married his Port Charles costar Lynn Herring in 1981. They have two sons, Hank and Grady, according to TV Source.
Northrop died on Nov. 29, 2024, six years after being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.
10 of 14
Katy Kurtzman as Lindsay Blaisdel
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Katy Kurtzman as Lindsay Blaisdel in 'Dynasty'. ; Katy Kurtzman at the 'ANNETTE: America's Girl Next Door and the Queen of Teen" exhibit opening night preview in 2018.
Katy Kurtzman, who played the teenage Lindsay Blaisdel, took a break from acting after leaving the series in 1981.
“I just wanted to be a ‘normal’ high school student for a while,” she told a fan site in 2011. “When I decided I wanted to act again at 21 years old ... I pretty much had to start over.”
Since then, Kurtzman has appeared on shows like Strong Medicine in 2004 and Grey’s Anatomy in 2013.
Kurtzman told the fan site that she has since gotten married for a second time and teaches acting.
11 of 14
Dale Robertson as Walter Lankershim
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Dale Robertson as Walter Lankershim in 'Dynsasty'.
Dale Robertson played one of Dynasty’s more likable characters, Walter Lankershim, an oil man who went into business with Matthew Blaisdel.
After appearing on one season of the show, Robertson went on to star in several episodes of Dynasty’s rival show, Dallas, before landing the NBC series J.J. Starbuck as the titular character.
He also had minor parts on other hit shows, such as Murder, She Wrote and Harts of the West. Robertson was diagnosed with cancer in 2013, according to Reuters.
He died at the age of 89 on Feb. 27, 2013. He was survived by his fourth wife, Susan, his daughters Rebel Lee and Rochelle Robertson and one granddaughter, per The New York Times.
12 of 14
Bo Hopkins as Matthew Blaisdel
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Bo Hopkins as Matthew Blaisdel in 'Dynasty'. ; Bo Hopkins at the 2014 TCM Classic Film Festival's opening night gala.
Bo Hopkins, who played geologist Matthew Blaisdel, had a prolific career, starring in over 100 film and television projects.
Hopkins executive produced and starred in Shade (2003) alongside Sylvester Stallone, Melanie Griffith and Jamie Foxx. He had parts in feature films such as The Getaway (1972) and Phantoms (1998). His final appearance was in Hillbilly Elegy (2020).
Hopkins first married Norma Woodle, with whom he welcomed a daughter, Jane. In 1989, he married Sian Eleanor Green, with whom he had a son, Matthew.
In May 2022, Hopkins died after having a heart attack roughly two weeks prior. "He died peacefully in his sleep,” his representative, Heather Hamilton, told PEOPLE. "He loved his life in Hollywood, especially the many friends he made on his movies.”
13 of 14
Lee Bergere as Joseph Anders
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Lee Bergere as Joseph Anders in 'Dynasty'.
Star Trek alum Lee Bergere played longtime Carrington attendant Joseph Anders. The prolific actor starred in more than 200 TV shows and dozens of stage productions before his death on Jan. 31, 2007.
Bergere was predeceased by his wife, Harriet Coleman. He also had one daughter, named Mimi Bergere.
"He strived to live the kind of life that Don Quixote lived,” Mimi said in a statement, per The Washington Post, referencing her father’s role in the musical Man of La Mancha. “Always striving for that unreachable star, never giving up."
14 of 14
Lloyd Bochner as Cecil Colby
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Lloyd Bochner as Cecil Colby in 'Dynasty'.
Lloyd Bochner brought to life Cecil Colby, Blake’s ex-friend and Alexis’ ill-fated lover.
In addition to Dynasty, the actor had roles in The Twilight Zone, The Detective, The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear (1991) and The Commission (2003). He also voiced Mayor Hamilton Hill in Batman: The Animated Series from 1992 to 1994.
Bochner died of cancer at his Santa Monica, Calif., home at the age of 81 on Nov. 1, 2005. According to The New York Times, he was survived by his wife, Ruth Bochner, and their three children: Paul, Hart and Johanna.
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