He was a star on one of the most-watched series' on TV and now Patrick Duffy - known to millions of viewers as Bobby Ewing in long-running US hit Dallas - is to tread the boards in Darlington.
The actor will be leading the cast in a new production of 1960s Broadway mystery thriller Catch Me If You Can which will be stopping off on tour at Darlington Hippodrome in March.
And this time he's playing a man he describes as "Bobby Ewing with no morals".
Read more: Theatre shows to see around the North East in 2022
It promises a chance for fans to reacquaint themselves with - and see a different side of - the former heart-throb who played Dallas' Mr Nice Guy to wily brother JR in the prime-time soap about a feuding oil family which made him into a household name in the eighties when the series was essential viewing.
When it first started in 1978, families had just three channels to watch so there was already a captive audience and the glossy drama brought a welcome blast of glamour and intrigue into British homes.
The series became famous for its nailbiting cliffhangers at the end of episodes and a famous 'who shot JR' storyline was watched by a whopping 21.6m viewers in the UK.
When Duffy chose to leave the series and his character was killed off in an end-of-season shocker, fans were left bereft and Bobby was so missed that a bizarre 'bad dream' scene was written to enable his comeback in the next season, so the previous one could be dismissed from memory.
Duffy says Dallas: "Doing that show was 16 years of nothing but frivolity and fun". On it, he says, he met "the best friend I think I’ve ever had" in Larry Hagman, who died in 2012 while starring in a Dallas revival.
Now 72, Duffy - who is set to celebrate his 73rd birthday during his North East visit - is also known for an early role in American series The Man from Atlantis and - since his Dallas days - another series Step by Step as well as being a director.
He will be flying over to the UK with his co-star and partner Linda Purl, the Happy Days and Homeland actress with whom he found romance over Zoom during the pandemic. He says of their lockdown get-together: "This was a great hands-off getting to know each other."
She plays Elizabeth Corban, wife of his character Daniel - "he’s Bobby Ewing with no morals."
Peak Practice and Coronation Street actor Gray O’ Brien will be starring alongside them in the show which is adapted from French play Trap for a Lonely Man and not to be confused with the 2002 film of the same name starring Tom Hanks and Leonardo DiCaprio.
This story is about newly-weds who become a baffling case for a police inspector when the wife goes missing and then suddenly turns up again, to her husband's apparent surprise.
Duffy describes the play as "one of these wonderful Agatha Christie-type whodunnits ... where the plot isn’t solved almost until the curtain comes down".
He adds: "I never leave the stage for the entire play and it’s exhausting but in an interesting way.
"Physically I’m not as exhausted as I am mentally and vocally. So I have to marshal my forces and live like a monk for the duration of the run but that’s ok because it all serves the play."
Catch Me If You Can will start its nationwide tour in February and will reach at Darlington Hippodrome on March 14 for a week-long run.
This will be Duffy's first time of touring the UK but it seems local Dallas fans who might be hoping to spot him sight-seeing during his off-time might be disappointed.
He says: "I’m looking forward to travelling around the country, although this play is all time-consuming and, as I say, I’ll be living like a monk for 22 weeks.
"I'll go to the theatre, spend every ounce of juice I’ve got then recuperate until it’s time to go to the theatre again.
"I won’t get to do as much sightseeing as I’d like but the beauty is that we’re in a new town every week and we’re driving ourselves so we’ll get to see a lot of the countryside."
For tickets to Catch Me If You Can's Monday 14-19 run at Darlington Hippodrome call 01325 405405 or visit www.darlingtonhippodrome.co.uk here.
For the latest 'What's On news, announcements and reviews direct to your inbox, go here to sign up to our free newsletter
