He was the star of one of the most-talked storylines of one of the most-watched series of the eighties.
As Bobby in Dallas, Patrick Duffy was actually a household name right from the late seventies to the early nineties when the American soap brought cliffhanger drama and sparkling glamour into British lives.
In its world of double-dealing oil tycoons, Bobby was Mr Nice Guy to scheming brother J R Ewing but now North East audiences are set to see a rather different side when the actor takes to the stage in Darlington next week - with partner Linda Purl - in a role he has referred to as "Bobby Ewing with no morals".
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Monday's opening of touring Bill Kenwright show Catch Me If You Can will be a rare chance for North East fans to catch up with the star who is making his first ever tour of the UK.
"I've been to London and that's it," he says, during a break in the busy schedule. But now he and Linda are looking forward to seeing a whole lot more.
Speaking in Cardiff between shows, the pair - having flown in from Hollywood for the tour start - were preparing to pick up a hire car ready to hit the road for the next leg and will be driving themselves to theatre dates for the rest of the six-month tour, which brings them to Darlington Hippodrome from March 14-19.
Patrick and Linda play newly-wed husband and wife Daniel and Elizabeth Corban in Catch Me If You Can, which - not to confused with the Leonardo DiCaprio film of the same name - is described by Patrick as a comedy thriller.
They are partners in real life too, describing how romance blossomed during lockdown.
Patrick, who was widowed three years earlier on the death in early 2017 of his wife Carlyn Rosser, got to know Linda in 2020 through Facebook and Zoom chats and a relationship began to grow.
Now they are making the most of their time on tour together and loving their shared experience with the touring company and audiences.
In a story of plenty twists and surprises, a police inspector, played by Peak Practice and Coronation Street actor Gray O’Brien, turns up at the Corbans' remote mountain home to investigate the wife's disappearance - only for her to turn up, to Daniel's apparent surprise.
It's lighthearted but becomes a thriller with cliffhangers and 'oh my god' moments, says Patrick, who's on stage throughout; the focus - save for a couple of pages - of a 78-page script.
And the actor - who was the Man from Atlantis pre-Dallas and, since then, has continued to appeare in US series and TV films - laughs: "I'm working several times harder than I've worked in 50 years on TV, in terms of stamina!"
Linda, who featured in Happy Days, another much-loved American import of the era, as well as in Homeland, adds: "It's a very stylish piece - it has lots of unexpected moments."
She has spent more time in England but says: "We'll be experiencing most of the country which we've never been to before" and calls it a "privilege" to be appearing in such beautiful theatres, which include the listed Darlington Hippodrome which reopened in 2017 following a multi-million-pound revamp.
"We're really excited - this is a gift for us."
Following the past two years of pandemic restrictions, UK theatre-lovers have proved eager to return to see live performance and Linda says: "You can feel the energy - people are excited to be there.
"We're so excited to be in this pioneering wave of live theatre coming back. It's lovely seeing people coming together - there's nothing like live theatre."
It's an experience shared between the cast and audience and - aware of the current mood as the grim situation in Ukraine dominates the news, with Linda finding a "compassionate and nuanced" response in the UK - Patrick says of being able to get out for two hours or so of escapism: "We're grateful for it."
They're grateful too, he says, just to be able to do what they're doing and to connect with "fellow human beings".
"I think with everything else that is going on at this moment everybody needs to recognise the humanity in another person."
He has been interested to note that audiences are different in various locations.
No doubt wherever they are one guarantee is that there will be a hefty percentage of Dallas fans among the theatregoers.
Was he aware at the time of how big a deal the series was is the UK?
"I was aware of the Wogan show!" he says, referencing the late Terry Wogan's running jokes about the show.
"It was a wonderful tongue-in-cheek way he made fun of us - but he was an ardent fan of it - and he had a catchphrase for all the characters!"
The cast was left in no doubt how much everyone appreciated Dallas: "We felt that in the US," says Patrick.
He and fellow Dallas characters, including JR, Sue Ellen and Cliff Barnes, regularly drew British audiences of 20m at a time there were just three TV channels before the launch in November 1982 of Channel 4 and the ups and downs of the feuding family made for essential weekly viewing.
In a gripping storyline second only to 'who shot J R', Bobby Ewing - having been killed off in season eight when Patrick wanted to leave the series - made a surprise series 10 return in a shower scene, with the whole previous season just written off as a bad dream.
The actor also resumed his role for a new Dallas series in 2012, which continued the Ewing saga with the inclusion of the next generation, until the popular show was cut short in 2014 with the sad death of Larry Hagman who played the unforgettable J R.
Patrick was glad that he, Larry and Linda Gray - who played J R's wife Sue Ellen - were allowed to play their roles as they realistically would be.
"They had our characters as how they would have aged 20-odd years so it was nice to revisit them and to acknowledge the differences that those 20 years would imbue them with."
And he thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience, saying: "I was definitely a gift that we added those three years to our on-screen friendship."
They were great friends off-screen too and that continues with Gray - his other favourite Linda.
"I probably text her at least once or twice a week and vice versa," he says. "Whenever we're in the same place we make sure we get together."
Linda reveals that the actress actually played an unwitting part in her getting together with Patrick, saying that they would not otherwise have met.
She had been attending an event in LA, where both have sons and spend most of their time, and was told by a friend that Linda Gray was across the room so she made her way over there to speak to her.
"Linda wasn't there but Patrick was," she says.
They went on to keep in contact by text then, when the pandemic hit and outside commitments dried up, a relationship slowly developed online.
"Then a few months later we talked a bit more, texts became Facetime which became Zoom and before long we were talking into the night, for hours," says Linda.
It seems meant to be and Patrick points out: "And we're not an anomaly.
"It's available for every person - all you have to do is get wider vision and open your ears and have your heart open to receive a moment when it comes - because it mght be fleeting."
But somehow marvellous things happen.
Linda too remembers it all as a "lovely contemplative time" - something good to come out of the pandemic.
They have not been unaffected by Covid. It has hit nearly all the play's company at some point and Patrick points out it was a rare occasion that they could all be in rehearsal together.
They're keen to "follow the science" and, although restrictions in England have eased, they note that "a good half" of theatre audiences continue to wear masks.
Patrick says he will continue to wear one himself when mixing, adding: "I don't think masks should ever be discouraged."
They are being as careful as possible to look after their health and also - given their gruelling schedule and those demanding performances - they are making sure to factor in rest time, so - while they will be seeing lots of the the UK on their drives - they are unlikely to have much sparte time for sightseeing. Nor partying it seems.
The Darlington run actually coincides with Patrick's birthday - on March 17, St Patrick's Day - when he will turn 73.
He is being kept away from the Guinness, he laughs; at least until the July 2 conclusion of the tour, by which time they'll have reached Glasgow. He's clearly no stranger to Newcastle Brown Ale either. He's very aware of it, he says. "I've had my full share of Newcastle Brown Ale!"
Beyond the end of the tour, they have no firm work plans, raising that famous actor anxiety over their next job, jokes Linda.
If anyone knows of anything, adds Patrick, "we are available from July 3."
Catch Me If You Can can be seen at Darlington Hippodrome from March 14. For tickets call 01325 405405 or see here. Full tour dates can be found online.
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