Linda Thorson (born Linda Robinson; June 18, 1947) is a Canadian actress, known for playing Tara King on The Avengers[1] (1968–69).
Linda Thorson | |
|---|---|
 Thorson with Patrick Macnee in a promotional photograph from The Avengers | |
| Born | Linda Robinson June 18, 1947 |
| Alma mater | Royal Academy of Dramatic Art |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1968–present |
| Known for | Tara King in The Avengers |
| Spouses | Barry Bergthorson
(m. 1964; div. 1970)Cyril Jeffrey Smith Jr.
(m. 1979; div. 1981)Bill Boggs
(m. 1984; div. 2003)Gavin Mitchell
(m. 2005; div. 2011) |
| Website | lindathorson |
Personal life
editBorn in Toronto, Ontario, Canada,[1] Linda Robinson attended Bishop Strachan School,[2] and then moved to the UK in 1965 to study acting.[3] She graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art with an Honours Diploma, including speaking and singing honours (soprano), on July 1, 1967.[3][4] Her professional name is the final part of Bergthorson, the surname of her first husband Barry Bergthorson (married 1964 divorced 1970).[5]
She married Cyril Jeffrey Smith Jr. in 1979; they divorced two years later.
She was married in 1984 to the American news anchorman and producer Bill Boggs with whom she has a son; they divorced after 19 years.[6] She was married to production designer Gavin Mitchell in November 2005, but divorced in 2011.
Thorson is bi-dialectal, speaking in her native Canadian accent when she is in North America, and received pronunciation when she is in the United Kingdom.
Career
editThorson is best known for her role as Tara King (succeeding Diana Rigg as Emma Peel) in the last series of the British TV adventure series, The Avengers, with the original star Patrick Macnee.[4] She was reunited with Macnee in a commercial for Laurent-Perrier champagne in the mid 1970s which led to the series reappearing as The New Avengers,[7] although Thorson did not regain her role.
Since then, she appeared in character roles in many TV series and films, including Thriller, Return of the Saint, Valentino, The Greek Tycoon, the cult horror film Curtains, Blind Justice, Alan Alda's Sweet Liberty, and Marblehead Manor.[3]
She appeared from 1989 to 1992 in the daytime drama One Life to Live as Julia Wheaton Medina.[3] She also appeared in Star Trek: The Next Generation, playing female Cardassian starship commander Gul Ocett in the 6th-season episode "The Chase" (1993).[8] From 1998 to 2000, she played Isabel in the Canadian series Emily of New Moon.
In 2002, she portrayed a Supreme Court Justice in the movie Half Past Dead with Steven Seagal and Ja Rule, and appeared in the 2006 action sequel Max Havoc: Ring of Fire. Throughout 2006–07, Thorson played the villainous Rosemary King in the ITV series Emmerdale.
Thorson has performed in many dramatic and musical stage productions, including appearances on Broadway in Nell Dunn's Steaming and Michael Frayn's Noises Off!.[9] In 1971, she starred alongside Michael Crawford and Anthony Valentine in the London West End hit show No Sex Please, We're British and later appeared as Titania in A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Open Air Theatre, Regents Park, London. She also played Hester Salomon in a UK tour of Equus opposite Simon Callow.[10] In the summer of 2008, she appeared at the Open Air Theatre, Regent's Park in the Lerner & Loewe musical, Gigi.
In 2013, Thorson appeared onstage in Tracy Letts's play August: Osage County about a dysfunctional family in Oklahoma. In 2014, she was slated to appear in Jon Robin Baitz's play Other Desert Cities.[11]
In 2013, Thorson produced a new stage play called The Goodbye Bird written by Colleen Murphy.[11]
Filmography
editFilm
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1977 | Valentino | Billie Streeter | |
| 1978 | The Greek Tycoon | Angela | |
| 1983 | Curtains | Brooke Parsons | |
| 1985 | Walls of Glass | Andrea | |
| 1986 | Joey | Principal O'Neill | |
| 1986 | Sweet Liberty | Grace James | |
| 1988 | Olympus Force | Athene | |
| 1999 | Giving It Up | Marlene Gigante | |
| 1999 | The Other Sister | Drew | |
| 2002 | Half Past Dead | Judge Jane McPherson | |
| 2004 | Touch of Pink | Giles' Mother | |
| 2004 | Straight into Darkness | Maria | |
| 2006 | Max Havoc: Ring of Fire | Denise Blaine | |
| 2011 | Man on the Train | Sister | |
| 2016 | The Second Time Around | Katherine | Co-lead |
| 2022 | Lion Versus the Little People | Gayle Bennet |
Television
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1968–69 | The Avengers | Tara King | Regular role; 33 episodes |
| 1973 | Thriller | Toni Tanner | "Lady Killer" |
| 1976 | The Howerd Confessions | Eve | "1.5" |
| 1977 | A Month in the Country | Vera Alexandrovna | TV film |
| 1977 | King of Kensington | Suzanne | "The Teacher" |
| 1978 | Les palmiers du métropolitain | Anna | TV film |
| 1978 | Return of the Saint | Diamond | "The Roman Torch" |
| 1979 | The Great Detective | Sarah Lyall | "Murder at Blenheim Swamp" |
| 1980 | Matt and Jenny | Ann Winfield | "Wagon Train West" |
| 1981 | The Two of Us | Melissa | "Upstairs, Downstairs" |
| 1981 | McClain's Law | Teri Fields | "Portrait of a Playmate" |
| 1982 | The Great Detective | Sarah Lyall | "Death on Delivery" |
| 1984 | The Lost Honor of Kathryn Beck | Cory Fuhrman | TV film |
| 1985 | Lime Street | Uli | "Diamonds Aren't Forever" |
| 1985 | St. Elsewhere | Mrs. Cochrane | "Lost and Found in Space", "Close Encounters", "Watch the Skies" |
| 1986 | Blind Justice | Pamela | TV film |
| 1986 | Spenser: For Hire | Karen Cooper | "Hell Hath No Fury" |
| 1986 | Moonlighting | Agent Gregory | "Symphony in Knocked Flat" |
| 1987 | Dynasty | Dr. Mansfield | "The Birthday", "The Test" |
| 1987 | Tales from the Darkside | Elizabeth Eaton | "Auld Acquaintances" |
| 1987 | The Bronx Zoo | Connie Delvecchio | "Signs of Life", "Small Victories", "The Moral Equation" |
| 1987–88 | Marblehead Manor | Hillary Stonehill | Main role |
| 1988 | Buck James | Laura Browne | "Act of Aggression" |
| 1989 | Empty Nest | Janice Brattle | "The More Things Change..." |
| 1989–92 | One Life to Live | Julia Medina | Regular role |
| 1990 | Monsters | Jessica | "A New Woman" |
| 1993 | Tropical Heat | Janet | "The Last of the Magnificent" |
| 1993 | Star Trek: The Next Generation | Gul Ocett | "The Chase" |
| 1994 | Street Legal | Ellen Filipchuk | "The Morning After" |
| 1994 | E.N.G. | Barbara Stollery | "Before the Axe" |
| 1994 | Kung Fu: The Legend Continues | Helen Richmond | "Laurie's Friend" |
| 1996 | Kung Fu: The Legend Continues | Geena Sinclair | "Requiem" |
| 1997 | Dead Silence | Constance Stanley | TV film |
| 1997 | F/X: The Series | Cassandra Delarossa | "Medea" |
| 1998–99 | Emily of New Moon | Isabel Murray | Regular role |
| 1999–00 | The Hoop Life | Emily Yeager | Main role |
| 2001 | Law & Order | Martha Taylor | "Possession" |
| 2006 | Vital Signs | Mrs. Percy | "1.6" |
| 2006 | Silent Witness | Anne Wheaton | "Body of Work: Parts 1 & 2" |
| 2006 | The Wives He Forgot | Eva | TV film |
| 2006–07 | Emmerdale | Rosemary King | Regular role |
| 2008 | Doctors | Carol Francis | "Another Day" |
| 2011 | Committed | Isadora | TV film |
| 2011 | Flashpoint | Elaine Stearns | "Through a Glass Darkly" |
| 2012 | The Listener | Mrs. Slatterly | "Rogues' Gallery" |
| 2012 | Saving Hope | Melissa Hurst | "Out of Sight" |
| 2012 | Sylvia Plath: Girl Detective | Olive | TV series |
| 2013 | Rookie Blue | Eleanor Ward | "For Better, for Worse" |
| 2014 | Transporter: The Series | Rae Henson | "Sixteen Hands" |
| 2014 | Best Christmas Party Ever | Petra | TV film |
| 2015 | Two Wrongs | Judy | TV film |
| 2018 | Free Rein | Wilma | TV series; 2 episodes |
| 2018 | New Amsterdam | Mrs. Monaghan | Episode: "Boundaries" |
| 2019 | Schitt's Creek | Gloria Gregson | Episode: "Meet the Parents" |
| 2019 | Good Witch | Mrs Hansen | Episode: "The Graduation" |
| 2020 | Little Birds | Gladys Savage | Episode: #1.1 |
| 2020–23 | The Hardy Boys | Gloria Estabrook | 19 episodes |
| 2021 | The Vows We Keep | Simone | TV film |
References
edit- ^ a b Hal Erickson (2012). "Full Biography: Linda Thorson". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Archived from the original on October 21, 2012. Retrieved May 9, 2009.
- ^ "Linda Thorson is Star at 20 in Avengers". Gettysburg Times. November 9, 1968. Archived from the original on December 1, 2020. Retrieved October 21, 2020.
- ^ a b c d Lisanti, Tom; Paul, Louis (April 2002). Film fatales: women in espionage films and television, 1962–1973. McFarland & Company. pp. 287–289. ISBN 978-0-7864-1194-8.
- ^ a b Rogers, Dave (August 15, 1989). The Complete Avengers: The Full Story of Britain's Smash Crime-Fighting Team!. Berlin: St. Martin's Griffin. p. 158. ISBN 978-0-312-03187-9.
- ^ Room, Adrian (1981). Naming names: stories of pseudonyms and name changes. Routledge & Kegan Paul. p. 196. ISBN 978-0-7100-0920-3.
- ^ Boehm, Mike (April 3, 2000). "Her Art Imitates Her Life: Ex-Avenger Linda Thorson Revisits Trying Times in SCR Role". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, California. Archived from the original on December 1, 2020. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
- ^ "The Avengers Forever: Behind the Scenes". theavengers.tv. Archived from the original on February 23, 2010. Retrieved December 6, 2009.
- ^ "Interview with Linda Thorson". BBC. September 26, 2005. Archived from the original on May 29, 2011. Retrieved July 5, 2010.
- ^ "Linda Thorson". playbill.com. Archived from the original on September 30, 2020. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
- ^ "I, Audra: An Interview with Linda Thorson Part 2". The Terror Trap. October 3, 2013. Archived from the original on October 6, 2013. Retrieved October 5, 2013.
- ^ a b "I, Audra: An Interview with Linda Thorson". The Terror Trap. October 3, 2013. Archived from the original on October 4, 2013. Retrieved October 5, 2013.
