Linda Purl
About
Biography
Filmography
Family & Companions
Biography
Bringing an undeniable worldliness to many of her roles, Linda Purl's unique upbringing offered her an invaluable asset in her career as a performer. Born in Greenwich, Connecticut in 1955, Purl's family moved to Japan when she was only five. Raised there until the age of fifteen, Purl performed in several plays at the Imperial Theatre in Tokyo during her youth, including "The King and I," "Oliver!" and "The Miracle Worker." After returning to the U.S. to attend Wykeham Rise School, a private boarding school for the performing arts, she studied at Finch College and later at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute. Purl had already broken into professional acting by this time, having appeared in a number of projects such as "The Walking Major" (1970), a joint Japanese-American production also released under the title "Aru Heishi no kake." She would land her big break in American movies with a role in Jonathan Demme's "Crazy Mama" (1975), soon going on to appear in the cult hit slasher "Visiting Hours" (1982). Purl took on the role of Charlene, daughter of the title character on the legal drama "Matlock" (NBC, 1986-1995) for the show's first season, and found further success in the legal genre co-starring on "Robin's Hoods" (USA, 1994-95). Purl turned her attention to the Broadway stage in 1998, starring in the original cast of "Getting and Spending," and later in "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer." She would continue to appear in film and TV projects, notably guest starring on shows like "Cold Case" (CBS, 2003-2010) and "Homeland" (Showtime, 2011-). In 2018, Purl appeared on the medical drama "Code Black" (CBS, 2015-).
Filmography
Cast (Feature Film)
Producer (Feature Film)
Cast (Special)
Cast (TV Mini-Series)
Life Events
1962
Made TV debut hosting children's show from Tokyo, Japan
1966
Made professional stage debut playing Helen Keller in a Japanese production of "The Miracle Worker"
1971
Returned to USA
1972
Appeared in feature film "Jory"
1973
Appeared on the daytime soap "The Secret Storm"
1974
Made TV-movie debut in "Bad Ronald"
1975
Was regular on the CBS drama series "Beacon Hill"
1975
Co-starred in Jonathan Demme's "Crazy Mama."
1976
Starred in TV-movies "The Oregon Trail" and "The Young Pioneers"
1986
Launched cabaret act at Los Angeles clubs
1990
Produced and starred in "The Baby Dance" at the Pasadena Playhouse
1991
Off-Broadway debut in "The Baby Dance"
1996
Starred in "Born Free: A New Adventure" (ABC)
1998
Starred in the original Broadway cast of "Getting and Spending."
2000
Joined cast of the ABC daytime drama "Port Charles" playing a cancer patient who wants to die with dignity
2001
Cast as Aunt Polly in the stage musical "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer"; played pre-Broadway tryout in New Haven, Connecticut
2002
Had recurring role as the wife of a US Supreme Court justice on "First Monday" (CBS)
Family
Companions
