Dynasty (TV series)

Dynasty was an American primetime television soap opera that aired on ABC from January 1981 to May 1989. The series revolved around the Carringtons, a wealthy oil family living in Denver, Colorado.

Main Characters

• Blake Carrington (John Forsythe): The son of Tom and Fallon Carrington (in one episode later erroneously referred to as Ellen) who became the self-made CEO of Denver-Carrington. The husband of Alexis Morrell Carrington (with whom he fathered Adam, Fallon, Steven and Amanda), and Krystle Jennings Carrington (with whom he fathered Krystina). Forsythe and John James were the only actors to appear in both the first and last episodes.
• Krystle Jennings Carrington (Linda Evans): The wife of Blake Carrington, former wife of tennis pro Samuel Mark Jennings (known as Mark) and the one-time lover of Matthew Blaisdel (Bo Hopkins), a married geologist who worked for Denver-Carrington. Krystle was the mother, with Blake, of Krystina (Jessica Player), and the aunt of Sammy Jo Dean (see below), the only child of her late sister Iris and her husband Frank. Evans left the show midway in the final season (in the story Krystle began to unravel mentally, had to have delicate surgery, and lapsed into a coma), but she returned for the reunion movie.
• Alexis Carrington Colby (Joan Collins): Former socialite turned businesswoman, married to - in order - Blake Carrington, Cecil Colby, Dex Dexter and Sean Rowan. She famously held a torch for Blake, though she later fell deeply in love with Dex Dexter. Her marriage to Colby was ordered on his deathbed, and intended to enable her to ruin Blake after Colby was gone, while her wedding to Rowan was on a whim. Mother, with Blake, to Adam, Fallon, Steven and Amanda Carrington. Alexis was romantically attached to a number of men, including Carrington architect and estate manager Roger Grimes, tennis pro Mark Jennings, oilman Rashid Ahmed, King Galen of Moldavia, and shipping tycoon Zach Powers.
• Fallon Carrington Colby (Pamela Sue Martin (1981-1984), then Emma Samms (1985, 1987-1989): The daughter of Blake and Alexis Carrington, the wife of Jeff Colby and the mother, with Jeff, of Blake Carrington Colby (known as LB) and Lauren Constance Colby. As a young woman, she was famously indiscreet and enjoyed affairs with chauffer Michael Culhane, playboy Peter de Vilbis, tennis pro Mark Jennings, doctor Nick Toscanni, and Colby heir, Miles Colby, whom she married briefly. Martin stayed with the show from 1981-1985. When Martin left the series, the story had Fallon fleeing in her car on the eve of her remarriage to Jeff. Her wrecked car was later found by the road however there was no sign of Fallon. She was absent for much of the season that followed, a period during which Amanda Carrington surfaced. At the end of the season Fallon was reintroduced: she was suffering from amnesia and was now played by Emma Samms, with no on-air explanation given for Fallon's change of appearance. Soon afterwards she and Jeff left Denver and their characters were switched to the spin-off series The Colbys. That series was cancelled after two seasons, and Fallon and Jeff were returned to Dynasty in 1987. In the storyline, Jeff found Fallon unconscious in the desert (after being dropped off by a UFO), and they returned to Denver where Fallon fought with Sammy Jo over Jeff before dropping Jeff for good and becoming involved with a cop who helped her unlock her memories of Roger Grimes' murder. Samms was unpopular with many viewers, due in large part to the writing, which presented Fallon at this time as a teary-eyed, put-upon victim. In the show's final season, Fallon was written more like her old self, and Samms rose to the challenge.
• Steven Carrington (Al Corley (1981-1983; 1991, then Jack Coleman (1984-1988): The sexually confused son of Blake and Alexis Carrington who, despite his conviction that he was homosexual, married - at times, happily - Sammy Jo Dean and Claudia Blaisdel. With Sammy Jo, he fathered Steven Daniel Carrington (known as Danny). At different times, the lover of Ted Dinard, Luke Fuller and Bart Fallmont. He was accused of having an affair with his friend Chris Deegan, but their relationship was never clarified. (And Steven denied it.) The role was recast during the series run, and the change of appearance was explained by plastic surgery after an oil rig explosion. Eventually Steven ran most of Denver/Carrington, but after he had to kill his close friend Matthew Blaisdel (who had taken the Carrington family hostage) and Sammy Jo had an affair with a football player, Steven had a breakdown. Steven was written out of the series at the start of the final season, with the explanation that he could no longer tolerate the pressures of his personal and professional life. At the conclusion of Dynasty: The Reunion Steven (reprised by Al Corley, with no scripted explanation for Steven's pre-surgery face returning) was living in DC and was in a relationship with Bart Fallmont.
• Adam Carrington (Gordon Thomson) (1982-1989 ; then Robin Sachs 1991): Kidnapped at birth and raised as Michael Torrance, in Billings, Montana, Adam Carrington did not learn of his true identity until adulthood at which point he returned to the Carrington home. Married to Claudia Blaisdel and Dana Waring, he was a ruthless schemer - plotting to enhance his position in the dynasty. His only lasting relationship was with Kirby Anders (Kathleen Beller). The character of Adam was not seen nor mentioned in the first season of Dynasty, and was devised during the second season as a replacement son for Blake and Alexis to squabble over after the character of Steven was written out of the series. Steven was later returned to the storyline, though the character of Adam had proved to be a success and was retained in the series until its close. Adam was also featured in the 1991 Dynasty reunion movie however the role was recast as Thompson could not get out of his contract with Santa Barbara.
• Amanda Carrington (Catherine Oxenberg (1984-1986), then Karen Cellini, 1986-1987): Amanda was not seen nor heard-of in the series until the fourth season; the character was devised as a replacement for the departing Fallon. Amanda was the second daughter of Blake and Alexis. She was raised in London as Amanda Bedford, by Alexis' cousin Rosalind Morell, and hidden from her father Blake out of spite by Alexis who discovered she was pregnant after she separated from her husband. Married to Prince Michael of Moldavia, and onetime lover of Dex Dexter (on whom she had a crush), Clay Fallmont and chauffeur Michael Culhane. The role was re-cast after Oxenberg left the series when her demands for a payrise were not met, and no on air explanation was given for Amanda's change in appearance. The replacement actor Karen Cellini proved to be wildly unpopular and partway through Cellini's first season in the role the character was abruptly written out of the series, and Amanda was never heard from again.
• Claudia Blaisdel (Pamela Bellwood, 1981-1986): The emotionally fragile wife of Matthew Blaisdel, and at one time a close friend of Krystle. After her affair with Steven Carrington was revealed during the Ted Dinard murder trial, her husband Matthew took their daughter Lindsay and left Denver, and were presumed dead in an accident (Matthew would return some years later). This pushed Claudia into a succession of breakdowns, interrupted only by marriages to Steven, and later Adam, Carrington. Claudia died in a fire at La Mirage (which she started accidentally) at the conclusion of the show's sixth season. Dynasty creator Esther Shapiro felt Blaisdel was the "everywoman" of the show.
• Jeff Colby (John James, 1981-1985, 1987-1989; 1991): The nephew and protege of Cecil Colby. Born (supposedly) to Philip and Francesca Colby, he was raised by Cecil on the Colby estate in Denver, Nine Oaks (which neighbored the Carrington estate) because his father died before coming into his inheritance. It was later revealed that Cecil had pressured the penniless Francesca to surrender Jeff for his own good. Married (and later re-married) to Fallon Carrington and briefly to Kirby Anders. The father of Blake Carrington Colby (known as LB) and Lauren Constance Colby. At different times, the lover of Nicole Simpson, Lady Ashley Mitchell and Sammy Jo Reece. See also The Colbys
• Sammy Jo Dean, aka Samantha Josephine Reece (Heather Locklear): Greedy, trouble-making niece of Krystle Carrington, wife of Steven Carrington and Clay Fallmont, and mother of Danny Carrington. Onetime lover of Josh Harris and Jeff Colby. The show's secondary villainess for much of the show's run, though she was an amateur compared to the far more polished Alexis. Locklear split her time between Dynasty and another Spelling-produced series, T.J. Hooker, and made many sporadic appearances between 1982-1989 and 1991.
• Dominique Deveraux (Diahann Carroll, 1984-1987), born Millie Cox: Successful and wealthy chanteuse, illegitimate daughter of Tom Carrington and Laura Matthews, making her a half-sister to Blake and Ben Carrington. Carroll joined the cast in the fourth season as a foil for Joan Collins, though when the character was originally written, the producers had not decided how to use her. A number of scenes were filmed to introduce her (to cirvument any chance the storyline would leak to the press) including alternative lines that revealed Dominique to be the mother of Kirby Anders, and also the former wife of Cecil Colby. Dominique was initially conceived as a strong, tough schemer and fighter who loved going toe-to-toe with Alexis, but after reconciling with the Carrington family she mellowed considerably. Her daughter Jackie (Troy Beyer), came to town and learned her father, lawyer Garrett Boydston (Ken Howard), was white. Jackie ran away but soon made up with her parents. Dominique left town in 1987 and was never mentioned again.
• Farnsworth "Dex" Dexter (Michael Nader, 1983-1989): Alexis' third husband, and arguably the second great love of her life, beside Blake. Dex carried on a brief affair with her daughter Amanda. Following the dissolution of his marriage to Alexis, he was involved with Leslie Carrington and Sable Colby. At the conclusion of the original series, Sable Colby was pregnant with his child, and Dex and Alexis fell off a balcony while fighting. (The eventual fate of Dex, and his relationship with Sable, was not included in ; Alexis briefly mentioned that she had landed on him.)