An image of a young Dustin Hoffman admiring a pair of legs with a woman rolling on them can be seen on one of the most well-known movie posters from the 1960s. In the movie, it’s not Anne Bancroft’s legs from “The Graduate” that are most noticeable. They belonged to Linda Gray.
Linda Gray, a co-star on the CBS soap opera “Dallas,” who added: At the time, everybody believed the infamous pair of legs belonged to Anne Bancroft.
“Everyone of them believed they belonged to Anne Bancroft. She either wasn’t consulted about the poster or had to be away from the area at the time. I was paid $25. One leg could be satisfied with that. ”.
Elizabeth Taylor referred to Linda Gray as “the b*tch with the long legs” because of her well-known for her long legs. Who would have imagined that the “Dallas” co-star was paralyzed as a child as a result of polio, though?
In 1945, Linda, then five years old, developed polio. The central nervous system and the neural connections between the brain and the muscles were both reportedly affected by the virus, according to the actress. She touched her legs, but she was unable to move them despite the sensation.
Due to the illness, Gray’s mother turned to alcohol for comfort. She started out drinking with friends and then developed an addiction. The news of their daughter’s diagnosis brought sadness to the parents of both of their daughters.
In her memoir, “The Road to Happiness Is Always Under Construction,” little Linda Gray claimed she silently bore the burden of the diagnosis because of her mother’s drinking and her parents’ depression.
Polio back then was treated with iron lungs, an 800-pound airtight metal ventilator. Despite the fact that the illness had not harmed Linda’s lungs, as she claims in her book, the doctors advised her parents to place Linda in the metal canister.
But her parents made the choice to go to an alternative therapist. She might have sustained even worse wounds if she had been forced into the iron lugs, which could have damaged her lungs and limbs.
The alternative therapy was “Raggedy Ann and Andy.”. When her mother was confined to her bed, she would stand at the foot of it, hold one leg, lift it, and then lower it once more. For months, she repeatedly did the exercise on each leg.
After a few months, Linda’s legs finally started to function normally, and she was able to walk once more. Her parents made the choice to enrol her in dance classes. Everyone gathered to watch her perform in her first recital because, in her words, she was “the polio baby plucked from the clutches of paralysis.”.
Due to family problems and her mother’s drinking, Linda wanted to get out of her house as soon as possible. As a means of support, she eventually stopped attending school and started working as a model full-time. Not long after, she ran into renowned album cover artist Ed Thrasher.
Throughout their 21-year marriage, Ed used abuse and deception. He abused his wife and insisted that she stay home with him so that he could get everything on his “To-Do List” instead of going to work.
Ed relied on Linda’s advertisements to send money home so he could fulfill his cowboy fantasies. 45 minutes outside of downtown Los Angeles in Canyon Country, Santa Clarita County, they constructed a home together.
The farm wife’s to-do list included cooking, cleaning the house, caring for the animals they co-raised, and watching over their two kids.
Linda decided to take back control of her life after ten years of doing as he did. After making her transgender acting debut on “All That Glitters,” she was chosen to play Sue Ellen in the venerable CBS soap opera “Dallas,” which went on to become one of her most significant roles in her career. ”.
The oil millionaire JR Ewing’s drunken wife Sue Ellen caused the actress a lot of pain growing up:.
“By playing Sue Ellen, I hoped to come out of my shell and keep from turning into a hopeless, lonely, or depressed woman like Sue Ellen or my Mom. ”.
The “Dallas” co-star made the decision to seek professional assistance in her forties. She realized it was time to face her traumas from her alcoholic mother and other challenges. When Linda’s therapist advised her to establish boundaries with her mother, the process got under way.
Her mother frequently described “The Graduate” as a leg-double and would “ramble incoherently.”. The therapist counseled her to advise her mother not to call her while intoxicated. Linda resisted at first, but the tactic was effective.
She used this first action as a springboard to begin learning how to establish boundaries with her mother and, later, her ex-husband.
Linda claimed that Sue Ellen had helped her talk with her mother about her past traumas and drinking. She relocated to Palm Springs following her father’s passing and took care of her mother during her final years.
Before divorcing JR Ewing, the actress portrayed Sue Ellen for 11 years. She relocated to Malibu and started relocating with her best friend and “Dallas” actor husband, Larry Hagman. Following her divorce, Linda found a new sexual life:.
For the past 30 years, my unmarried sexual life has been a source of joy and pleasure. Even at the age of 75, you still have the same level of interest in orgasm. ”.
From 2012 to 2014, in addition to 12 of the show’s 14 seasons, Linda Gray appeared in a number of “Dallas” reboots. The actress was nominated for two Golden Globes and one Emmy for her portrayal of JR Ewing’s wife.
