ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content/Getty Legendary 1980s TV showDynastyended 36 years ago The series stopped unexpectedly on a 1989 cliffhanger Here's what the cast — including stars Joan Collins and Linda Evans — have been up to since the series finale Dynastyshocked fans with a finale cliffhanger 36 years ago. Running from 1981 to 1989,Dynastycentered on two wealthy — but feuding — families, the Carringtons and the Colbys. It was the top show in the country during the 1984–85 season, beating out other popular programs likeDallasandThe Cosby Show, according toTheNew York Times. In 1989,Dynastycame to an end on an unexpected cliffhanger due to a combination of "dwindling ratings, inflated star salaries, revolving producers, far-fetched story lines and a network programming chief who reportedly simply didn't like the show," per theLos Angeles Times. The cast has had several reunions since then: In October 1991,Joan Collins,Linda Evans,Heather Locklear, Al Corley and John James teamed up for the show's four-hour sequel,Dynasty: The Reunion. Fifteen years later, the cast came together once more forDynasty Reunion:Catfights & Caviar, an hour-long CBS special featuring interviews and discussions about their time on the show. In 2021,Emma Sammsgathered the stars once again for avirtual fundraiserbenefitting long-haul COVID-19 research ahead of the show's 40th anniversary. So, where is the original cast ofDynastynow? Here's what they have been up to since the show went off the air. Maximum Film / Alamy ; Chris Jackson/Getty With her buzzy role as the socialite and businesswoman Alexis Colby, Collins is widely credited with catapultingDynasty's ratings into the stratosphere. "She was the first empowered woman on TV," as Collins toldCBS Sunday Morningin 2019. "And I got a lot of flack for it. She's such a ballbreaker, she's so b-----, she's such a vixen! You know, I was just standing up for myself as an independent woman!" AfterDynasty, Collins' star continued to rise with roles onThe Nanny,Will & Grace,Guiding LightandThe Royals. In 2006, she starred alongside Evans in the American national tour of the playLegends!, in which she played a once-famous actress named Sylvia. The actress has kept busy writing memoirs, novels and nonfiction books; she published her 19th book,Behind the Shoulder Pads, in 2023. Collins has been married five times, to Maxwell Reed, Anthony Newley, Ron Kass, Peter Holm and her current husband, "the great love of her life," producerPercy Gibson. To this day, Collins continues acting: She will playWallis Simpsonin an upcoming biopic, asThe Guardianreported in January 2025. "I've always beenfascinated by Wallis, because I think she was unfairly treated," Collins told the outlet in 2023. ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content/Getty ; Kimberly White/Getty Like many of the show's actors,Heather Locklearshot to fame after appearing onDynasty. Locklear joined the cast in season 2 as Krystle's niece Sammy Jo; she was one of the few cast members to remain a main character until the show's cancellation in 1989. After famously splitting from husbandTommy Lee, whom she wed during her time on the show, Locklear marriedRichie Sambora, guitarist forBon Jovi. The pair welcomed one child,Ava Elizabeth Sambora, in 1997, before going their separate ways in 2006. Locklear began datingMelrose PlacecostarJack Wagnerin 2007. They became engaged in August 2011, but the pair had called it quits by November. In 2018, Locklear was arrested twice. Shelater pleaded no contestto eight misdemeanor counts — including five counts of battery on a peace officer — and was ordered to spend 30 days in aresidential mental health facility. In 2020, Lockleargot engagedto her high school sweetheart,Chris Heisser. That same year, the actresscelebrated one year of sobriety. "She is doing great and looks great," a friend told PEOPLE. "What's most important is today and the next day and the future and she's in a great place." In 2021, Locklear made herreturn to actingwith the Lifetime biopicDon't Sweat the Small Stuff: The Kristine Carlson Story. CBS/Getty ; Franziska Krug/Getty Evans played Alexis' rival, Krystle Carrington, onDynasty. She left the show due to burnout in 1988, choosing to "sort of retire," as she toldDigital Journalin 2023. "Somehow I am very blessed when I want to work, or when something interests me, things come to me," Evans added. Such projects includedDynasty: The Reunionin 1991, a handful of TV movies — includingDazzle(1995) andThe Stepsister(1997) — and a tour as Leatrice inLegends!with Collins in 2006. After herLegends!run, theGolden Globe winnercompeted on a 2009 season ofHell's Kitchen— and won. In 2012, she published a part-memoir and part-cookbook calledRecipes for Life: My Memories. Evans eventually made her way back into film, picking upher first project in decadeswith 2021'sSwan Song. "What are the odds that I'd be back working at 78?" Evans told PEOPLE. "It's so outrageous, but as I always love to say, 'Anything is possible.' " The actress was married twice, to John Derek and Stan Herman, and dated Greek composer Yanni for nearly a decade, from 1989 to 1998. Evans hasn't had a public relationship in some time. "For a woman who only wanted to get married and have children, it is pretty spectacular where I got because I am so completely happy on my own," she told Digital Journal. AJ Pics / Alamy Forsythe, who played oil tycoon Blake Carrington, was in high demand during his time onDynasty. "I had three shows ... running at the same time. And I had a bicycle, and I would bicycle from one place to the next," the actor, who also starred inCharlie's AngelsandThe Colbys, said in a 2000 interview withthe Television Academy. AfterDynasty, Forsythe starred in the 1992 soap operaThe Powers That Be. He also left his mark on the silver screen in films likeIn Cold Blood(1967) andScrooged(1988). He reprised his role as Charles Townsend for theCharlie's Angelsfilms in the early 2000s. Forsythe was married three times, to Parker McCormick, Julie Warren and Nicole Carter. Forsythe had three children: son Dall Forsythe, whom he shared with McCormick, and daughters Page and Brooke Forsythe, whom he shared with Warren. Forsythe was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2006 anddied from complications of pneumoniaon April 1, 2010, at his home in Santa Ynez, Calif. His widow, Carter, died of cancer just five weeks later, according to theLos Angeles Times. ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content/Getty ; Barry King/Getty Pamela Sue Martin played Fallon Carrington, the heiress daughter of Blake Carrington and Alexis Colby, for the first four seasons ofDynasty. After leaving the spotlight, theHardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteriesalum moved to Idaho to start her family. She had one child, Nicolas, with her fourth husband, Bruce Allen, whom she married in 1990 and divorced in 1998. Martin's other husbands were Charles Gates, Jorge Brusch and Manuel Rojas. After fourth divorce, Martin began working in local theater, later becoming the artistic director of Interplanetary Theater Group and performing in a production ofThe Laramie Project, though she largely stayed out of the limelight. "I found it hard to cope with everything. It was physically debilitating, and I became thin and stressed," she toldDaily Mailin 2007. "I reacted emotionally, which then affected my body." She's since made a comeback: In 2017, she appeared in the Lifetime movieMy Christmas Prince. Martin's most recent TV appearance was on an episode of the rebootedNancy Drewin 2019. ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content/Getty ; Paul Redmond/Getty SinceDynasty, Pamela Bellwood (née King), known toDynastyfans as Claudia Blaisdel Carrington, has starred both on TV and in film, including in an episode ofThe Twilight Zonein 1989 and with a stint as a grown-up Becca onLife Goes Onin 1992. Bellwood has kept a relatively low profile since her days on the show, since she found the buzz aroundDynastydifficult to handle. "You became like public property," she toldThe Daily Beastin 2017. "People felt like they knew you because you were in their homes. It was difficult because I'm a private person ... I was happy to have the work, to go to work, but then leave work." Bellwood has been married twice, first to writer Peter Bellwood and later to photographer Nik Wheeler. She and her second husband share at least two kids, sons Kerry and Christian. Chic Donchin/Disney General Entertainment Content/Getty ; Chance Yeh/Getty Al Corley played Steve Carrington — the son of Blake and Alexis — for just one season ofDynasty. Although Steve had relationships with both men and women in the series, the character identified as gay — something Corley felt that writers weren't "willing to explore," which caused him to leave the show. "I had to judge my happiness as a person first and my ability to make this character believable and what attracted me was playing a gay character," Corley toldBox Office Mojoin 2005. Following hisDynastydeparture, Corley recorded the 1984 chart-topping song "Square Rooms"; he followed the song up with two full-length albums. He also continued to act, starring in the filmA Kiss Goodnight(1994) andTorchlight(1985), the latter alongside hisDynastycostar Martin. In 1989, Corley married Jessika Cardinahl. Before their split in the late 1990s, the couple had three children. He directed his first film,Bigger Than the Sky, in 2005. Corley's most recent acting credit wasThe Ice Roadin 2021. ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content/Getty ; Paul Redmond/Getty Though he auditioned to play Steve, John James wound up as "good guy" Jeff Colby onDynastyand its spinoff,The Colbys. James struggled to get work followingDynasty."After the show stopped, nobody wanted to touch me," he told PEOPLE in 1991. Ultimately, he moved to a farm in upstate New York with his wife Denise Coward, a model and Miss World runner-up, whom he married in 1989. The pair have two kids: a daughter, Laura Ellen James, and a son, Philip James. In 2012, Laura won the 19th cycle ofAmerica's Next Top Model. James' return to the limelight came with roles on the soap operasAll My Children(2006–2007) andAs the World Turns(2003–2008). In 2022, James teamed up with formerDynastycostars Thomson and Jack Coleman to bring fans a new cabaret show called "Cocktails with the Carringtons." ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content/Getty ; Albert L. Ortega/Getty Playing the part of Blake's conniving chauffeur Michael Culhane was Wayne Northrop, who appeared on the show in seasons 1 and 7. In betweenDynastyappearances, Northrop starred onDays of Our Livesthrough 1994 and again from 2005 to 2006. He also was a series regular onPort Charlesin the late '90s. The actor married hisPort Charlescostar Lynn Herring in 1981. They have two sons, Hank and Grady, according toTV Source. Northropdied on Nov. 29, 2024, six years after being diagnosed with Alzheimer's. ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content/Getty ; Tara Ziemba/Getty Katy Kurtzman, who played the teenage Lindsay Blaisdel, took a break from acting after leaving the series in 1981. "I just wanted to be a 'normal' high school student for a while," she told afan sitein 2011. "When I decided I wanted to act again at 21 years old ... I pretty much had to start over." Since then, Kurtzman has appeared on shows likeStrong Medicinein 2004 andGrey's Anatomyin 2013. Kurtzman told the fan site that she has since gotten married for a second time and teaches acting. ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content/Getty Dale Robertson played one ofDynasty's more likable characters, Walter Lankershim, an oil man who went into business with Matthew Blaisdel. After appearing on one season of the show, Robertson went on to star in several episodes ofDynasty's rival show,Dallas, before landing the NBC seriesJ.J. Starbuckas the titular character. He also had minor parts on other hit shows, such asMurder, She WroteandHarts of the West. Robertson was diagnosed with cancer in 2013, according toReuters. Robertson died at the age of 89 on Feb. 27, 2013. He was survived by his fourth wife, Susan, his daughters Rebel Lee and Rochelle Robertson and one granddaughter, perThe New York Times. ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content/Getty ; Jennifer Lourie/FilmMagic Bo Hopkins, who played geologist Matthew Blaisdel, had a prolific career, starring in over 100 film and television projects. Hopkins executive produced and starred inShade(2003) alongsideSylvester Stallone,Melanie GriffithandJamie Foxx. He had parts in feature films such asThe Getaway(1972) andPhantoms(1998). His final appearance was inHillbilly Elegy(2020). Hopkins first married Norma Woodle, with whom he welcomed a daughter, Jane. In 1989, he married Sian Eleanor Green, with whom he had a son, Matthew. In May 2022,Hopkins diedafter having a heart attack roughly two weeks prior. "He died peacefully in his sleep," his rep Heather Hamilton told PEOPLE. "He loved his life in Hollywood, especially the many friends he made on his movies." ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content/Getty Star Trekalum Lee Bergere played longtime Carrington attendant Joseph Anders. The prolific actor starred in more than 200 TV shows and dozens of stage productions before his death on Jan. 31, 2007. Bergere was predeceased by his wife, Harriet Coleman. He also had one daughter, named Mimi Bergere. "He strived to live the kind of life that Don Quixote lived," Mimi said in a statement, perTheWashington Post, referencing her father's role in the musicalMan of La Mancha. "Always striving for that unreachable star, never giving up." ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content/Getty Lloyd Bochner brought to life Cecil Colby, Blake's ex-friend and Alexis' ill-fated lover. In addition toDynasty, the actor had roles inThe Twilight Zone,The Detective,The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear(1991) andThe Commission(2003). He also voiced Mayor Hamilton Hill inBatman: The Animated Seriesfrom 1992 to 1994. Bochner died of cancer at his Santa Monica, Calif., home at the age of 81 on Nov. 1, 2005. According toTheNew York Times, he was survived by his wife, Ruth Bochner, and their three children: Paul, Hart and Johanna. Read the original article onPeople
