Linda Evans is an American actress whose career helped shape prime-time television from the 1960s through the 1980s. She first gained national attention as Audra Barkley on The Big Valley (1965–1969), where she starred opposite Barbara Stanwyck. The role established Evans as a reliable and compelling television performer and introduced her to a wide audience during a formative era for network dramas.
Her most significant breakthrough came in 1981 when she was cast as Krystle Carrington on the prime-time soap opera Dynasty. The series quickly became one of the highest-rated shows of the decade and remained on the air until 1989. Evans’ portrayal of the elegant and principled Krystle made her one of the most recognizable television stars of the 1980s. Her work earned her a Golden Globe Award and multiple People’s Choice Awards, while colleagues later described the production environment as consistently professional and well-organized.
Born Linda Evenstad on November 18, 1942, in Hartford, Connecticut, Evans was raised in a Norwegian-American family before relocating to North Hollywood, California. She began acting in the early 1960s after studying drama and appearing in guest roles across various television series. Although she also worked in television movies and a limited number of theatrical films, long-running TV roles remained the foundation of her career.
Following the end of Dynasty, Evans gradually stepped away from regular acting, choosing a more private life outside Hollywood. She later published the memoir Recipes for Life and won the British edition of Hell’s Kitchen in 2009. Now living quietly in the Pacific Northwest, she has spoken about focusing on personal well-being, while her contributions to television continue to be widely recognized and remembered.