Teaser Duffy is missed

Press, 24 February 1986, Page 11

Teaser Duffy is missed

Victoria Principal, who plays Pam Ewing in “Dallas,” is suffering a double loss since Bobby (Patrick Duffy) was killed off at the end of the last series.

Not only has she had to act out her mourning of Bobby’s death on screen, but the departure of Patrick Duffy from the set has been a real-life trauma for her.

She says: “People might think that because Patrick played an oil-baron Romeo to my Texas-born Juliet, the two of us were inseparable in real life. But as often happens in a working relationship, Patrick and I did not have an off-the-set friendship and rarely saw one another out of make-up.

“Yet in a sense, we had something better — a bond formed by respect and a mutual desire to work well together. We expressed our faith in each other in many ways, all of which I am going to miss.

“Often when I had a doubt about how to play a scene or read a line, I sought Patrick’s advice. He’s a very astute observer and a fine judge of material.”

She also counted on his guidance as a director — he directed two or three episodes of “Dallas” each

season. He cared about I actors and the wonderful thing about working with him was he encouraged me to stretch. However, she says the thing she will miss most about Patrick Duffy is his teasing.

“In a boyish and perverse way, he used teasing to shower me with attention,” she says. “Because we often related to each other like a couple of high school kids, I always knew his more biting barbs expressed genuine affection. Al-

though I often had to remind myself of this, since during the nearly eight years we worked together he scored quite a few direct hits. "For example, there had been some debate over whether or not I'm a natural redhead. I'm not So if Patrick detected the slightest hint of a black root, he’d go off like a fire alarm. “And if I flubbed a line, look out 1 He’s start in on me so relentlessly that I’d flub it again and again.” “Then there was the question of age. “I’m 35, and Patrick is 36. But because there has been controversy about exactly how old I am, Patrick would often boast he was actually much younger than I. Once, after announcing to the ‘Dallas’ crew there would be an antique auction during our lunch hour, he suggested me as the first heirloom.” But, she admits the baiting wasn’t all onesided. “I wasn’t entirely above the fray, but my style wasn’t to attack constantly. Rather, I struck just one lethal blow a year. Because my revenges were X-rated, I can’t reveal them. However, I can promise that Patrick won’t either!”