TV SERIES · 1981– · USA
Dynasty
104 archived facts 5 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
All facts (104)
- #001
Dame Joan Collins and John Forsythe did not get along. Ironically, she got along well with Linda Evans.
- #002
John Forsythe is the only actor to appear in all 220 episodes.
- #003
Heather Locklear was a regular in the second season and left toward the end of the season to join T. J. Hooker (1982). She continued to appear on the series occasionally and rejoined as a full-time regular in the sixth season. Aaron Spelling produced both Dynasty and T. J. Hooker.
- #004
John Forsythe insisted from the start that Blake be a faithful husband and had this written into his contract.
- #005
In the second half of the seventh season, Blake was to suffer amnesia and fall in love with Alexis. The storyline was changed because John Forsythe routinely vetoed any story involving adultery. In the end, Blake believed he was still married to Alexis before regaining his memory after seeing Krystle again.
- #006
Long before the series began, John Forsythe had known Linda Evans since her youth, as Linda Evans was friends with both his sisters and his widowed mother. They met on the set of Bachelor Father (1957), in which Evans played a young client who fell in love with Bentley.
- #007
The series' glamorous women's suits and shoulder pads defined 1980s fashion. Linda Evans and Dame Joan Collins launched their own popular fashion lines, and magazine covers across the country celebrated the series' fashion. In 1984, the producers of Dallas hired costume designer Travilla in an effort to compete with its rival.
- #008
Dame Joan Collins told the writers not to make Alexis too evil, because it would alienate viewers.
- #009
Lee Bergere was fired because he asked for more screen time for his character. Catherine Oxenberg was fired over a contract dispute.
- #010
Diahann Carroll had planned to take some minor roles in the series' eighth season, but this never happened due to budget problems. It was also said she would rejoin the cast in the tenth season, but the series was cancelled after the ninth season.
- #011
Apart from famous jewelers such as Tiffany, Harry Winston or Edward of Beverly Hills lending their jewelry to the cast, the jewelry was created by Nolan Miller, who also designed all of the series' costumes. Miller surprised many fans by admitting that all the jewelry he created was fake.
- #012
John Forsythe was nearly 26 years older than Christopher Cazenove, who played his brother Ben Carrington on the series. Ironically, Forsythe and Cazenove died six days apart in April 2010. Forsythe was 92 and Cazenove was 66.
- #013
Al Corley took the controversial role of Steven Carrington in order to capitalize on the social impact of openly playing a gay character on a prime-time series. When the series' producers gave in to network demands that Steven's homosexuality be "cured," Corley was replaced by Jack Coleman. To explain the change in actors, a story was created in which Steven was in an explosion on an oil platform and needed extensive plastic surgery on his face. The producers later restored Steven's homosexuality. Because of the network standards and practices of the time, scenes with his lovers were tame compared with those of heterosexual characters; even kissing was not allowed. Coleman left the series in 1988. Corley would return to the role in the miniseries Dynasty: The Reunion (1991). In the miniseries, Steven was living with his male partner, and in the end, after his father Blake approved of the relationship, he also accepted that Steven was gay.
- #014
When the character of Alexis was first shown, she had not even been cast yet; an extra played the role. The reason she wore a wide-brimmed hat, a veil and sunglasses was that Spelling did not want viewers to see the extra's face too clearly. They hoped to lure Sophia Loren for the role. When she said no, they went after Jessica Walter, which also did not work out. In the end, they settled on Joan Collins. (In fact, she was not going to be British either; that change came with Collins's casting.) On Collins's first day of filming, they gave her the same dress, hat and sunglasses the extra had worn in the previous season's cliffhanger episode.
- #015
Linda Evans had a young, long-haired blond man who was her friend as a stand-in during filming.
- #016
Alexis Carrington was initially conceived as a plain, passive-aggressive villain. Dame Joan Collins suggested that the writers portray Alexis as a female version of J. R. Ewing. ABC executives agreed, thinking Dynasty needed a J. R.-type character to go head-to-head with Dallas (1978).
- #017
One of the other ideas the writers considered for Dominique Devereaux's true identity was that she was Kirby's long-lost mother, Alicia Rowan.
- #018
Alexis was introduced in the first-season finale as a surprise witness testifying against Blake. A friend of the producer played the not-yet-cast role, making a dramatic entrance in dark glasses and a wide-brimmed hat that covered much of her face. Dame Joan Collins was cast during the hiatus between the first and second seasons.
- #019
As a way of insulting Sable and undermining her reputation, Alexis deliberately mispronounces Sable's name as "Sybil." She also sometimes calls Krystle "Kristen" and Sammy Jo "Sammy Jean," and addresses her sister Caress (née Cassandra) as "Cassie," knowing full well that her sister hates that name.
- #020
The character of Adam was added so that there would be a male villain to stand against the female villain Alexis.
- #021
For a time in the second season, the series' main villain was not Alexis/Joan Collins but Dr. Nick Toscani, played by James Farentino. Alexis so completely overshadowed Toscani, however, that she took over the Big Bad role before the second season ended. After Farentino left, Blake and Alexis's long-lost son Adam Carrington took over as the main male villain; his psychopathy notwithstanding, Alexis still surpassed him in villain status for the rest of the series.
- #022
Dame Joan Collins said in interviews that she never grew close to Linda Evans, while she and Diahann Carroll became quite close over the years. Like their characters, John Forsythe and Linda Evans found little in common with Joan Collins, though they were close to each other. Collins later stated that she and Evans were friendly before and after the series aired, but that politics and rivalry during production cast a shadow over their friendship (they are close again now). Forsythe and Collins, however, were never friends; the hostility seen on the show was quite real.
- #023
The series was Rock Hudson's final acting role. Hudson's last appearance as himself was at the premiere of Doris Day's Best Friends (1985) alongside his longtime friend Doris Day. Hudson died of AIDS on October 2, 1985. At the time, AIDS was thought to be transmitted through casual contact, and many people feared for Linda Evans's health because she had kissed Hudson in a scene. There was a minor panic in Hollywood over kissing scenes.
- #024
As a way to boost their falling ratings, a Dynasty/Dallas (1978) crossover was discussed toward the end of both shows, but it never came to fruition.
- #025
Linda Evans missed two episodes at the start of the ninth (final) season and then left the series entirely midway through the season. Joan Collins also did not appear in nearly half of the ninth season's episodes, and claimed she only agreed to appear in the ninth season because it would give her more free time. In fact, the show's budget had been cut so much by then that the producers could not afford to have her in every episode at her existing salary.
- #026
Esther Shapiro claimed the series was inspired by I, Claudius (1976). Alexis was modeled on Livia.
- #027
Dame Joan Collins and Michael Nader announcing their departures from the series before it was cancelled also explains their characters falling from a balcony.
- #028
In a 2002 interview on Larry King Live (1985), Dame Joan Collins said that Jessica Walter was one of the top contenders for the role of Alexis before it was given to her.
- #029
Sophia Loren, Elizabeth Taylor and Raquel Welch were considered for the role of Alexis.
- #030
By the end of the series, Alexis's full name was Alexis Morrell Carrington Colby Dexter Rowan. Morrell was the character's maiden name.
- #031
In the late 1980s, this was the most popular television series in Yugoslavia.
- #032
John Forsythe routinely vetoed any storyline bringing Blake and Alexis together, because he did not want to involve himself personally in a story involving adultery. This included a planned storyline in the series' final days designed to revive interest in the show, in which Blake would suffer memory loss and fall in love with Alexis.
- #033
Richard Chamberlain was approached for the role of Daniel Reece. Rock Hudson accepted after Chamberlain turned it down.
- #034
Alexis and Sable are cousins, which makes Fallon and her second husband Miles second cousins. Because Jeff's mother is Sable's sister, this also makes Fallon and her first husband Jeff second cousins.
- #035
Raquel Welch, Angie Dickinson and Anne Archer were considered for the role of Lady Ashley Mitchell.
- #036
Jon-Erik Hexum, who appeared alongside Dame Joan Collins in Making of a Male Model (1983), lost the role of Dex Dexter to Michael Nader.
- #037
The mansion used for the Carrington estate was Filoli Mansion in Woodside, California, near San Francisco. The property was also used in the film Heaven Can Wait (1978). Filoli's exteriors were used in the opening title sequence and throughout the series, but a replica set was built for interior scenes.
- #038
Throughout the entire production, John Forsythe (Blake Carrington) was involved in writing the series' scripts.
- #039
Throughout the entire series, John Forsythe had a great on-screen and off-screen relationship with Linda Evans. In various interviews he said he was closer to her than to anyone else on set and that they shared a history extending beyond the series for almost its entire run, though Evans left only a few episodes before the finale.
- #040
Dame Joan Collins is only twelve years older than Gordon Thomson, who played her eldest son Adam on the series. When he was cast at the start of the third season, Collins told Thomson she was too old to play his mother. In the documentary After Dynasty (2002), Thomson said that although she was right, he thought she was a "cow" for saying it.
- #041
John James originally auditioned for the role of Steven.
- #042
Sophia Loren, Jessica Walter and Elizabeth Taylor were frontrunners to play Alexis and all turned down the offer before it was made to Dame Joan Collins.
- #043
Many of John Forsythe's friends appeared on the series: R. G. Armstrong, Lloyd Bochner, Pat Crowley, Ricardo Montalban, Peter Mark Richman, Richard Anderson, Charlton Heston and Barbara Stanwyck.
- #044
Pamela Sue Martin really wanted the role of Krystle but was too young for it, and was instead cast as Blake's daughter Fallon.
- #045
In the sixth season, Blake says his mother's name was Ellen Carrington. In an earlier season, however, Fallon stated that she was named after Blake's mother.
- #046
Originally, Blake's ex-wife was to be named Madeleine rather than Alexis.
- #047
Dynasty won the People's Choice Award for best series twice.
- #048
Michael Nader beat out 400 other actors for the role of Dex Dexter.
- #049
The series launched the acting careers of Heather Locklear and John James.
- #050
During his time on the series, George Hamilton was in a romantic relationship with his co-star Catherine Oxenberg.
- #051
First filmed in 1980, the series was planned to air later that year, but the pilot was among many shows delayed by a strike stemming from a dispute between the television networks and a coalition of the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, so it premiered in early 1981.
- #052
A devoted fan of Dallas (1978), in which she co-starred with Larry Hagman, Dame Joan Collins drew inspiration from Hagman's character to play Alexis.
- #053
The original plan after the Moldavian Massacre was for King Galen to propose to Alexis, who would refuse. Viewer reaction to the Moldavian storyline was negative, so several scenes across three episodes were replaced with new ones, including the royal wedding dream sequence.
- #054
In 1983, Pamela Bellwood agreed to rejoin the series only if Claudia recovered from her illness.
- #055
Maxwell Caulfield's character in Grease 2 (1982) is named Michael Carrington.
- #056
Running from 1981 to 1989, the series was the only one of the four major American prime time soap operas of the 1980s to air entirely within that decade: Dallas (1978) ran from 1978 to 1991, Knots Landing (1979) from 1979 to 1993, and Falcon Crest (1981) from 1981 to 1990.
- #057
Blake Carrington was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in real life; John Forsythe was born in Penns Grove, in Salem County, New Jersey, near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
- #058
In the sixth season, the producers tried to hide Pamela Bellwood's real-life pregnancy because it was not written into the script, but at times she was clearly visibly pregnant on screen. Bellwood also missed five episodes when she gave birth midway through the sixth season and left the series entirely at the end of the season. It was alleged that she was fired.
- #059
Wayne Rogers and Melissa Sue Anderson were offered the roles of Krystle's first husband, Mark Jennings, and Joseph's daughter, Kirby Anders.
- #060
Barbara Stanwyck and Linda Evans were reunited on the series. It was the first time in 16 years that they had worked together since their final roles on the popular 1960s Western The Big Valley (1965), in which Stanwyck played matriarch Victoria Barkley and Evans played her daughter, Audra Barkley.
- #061
It was the first prime time soap opera broadcast on ABC and the first prime time series created by Aaron Spelling.
- #062
Many of the crew who worked on the series also worked on the rival series Falcon Crest (1981), which premiered nearly a year later.
- #063
After the series was cancelled, Linda Evans, Gordon Thomson, Heather Locklear and John James remained close to John Forsythe until his death in 2010.
- #064
The series premiered on Monday, January 12, 1981, at 21:00 on ABC, EST/20:00 PST for the first airing. After the series later moved to Wednesday, it stayed there at 21:00 for the next seven years, ET/20:00 PT, the most frequent time slot, on the same day for four years.
- #065
When it first premiered, it was a quiet success among viewers and even brought in Dame Joan Collins for the following season, in which she became extremely popular.
- #066
Before Dame Joan Collins joined the cast, she was John Forsythe's acting student, having joined the Actors' Studio at the start of the second season, where she was the youngest member of the class.
- #067
The original title of this series was to be "Oil."
- #068
In the ninth season, Sable mentions that she met Krystle before (season six, episode five, "The Titans," at the launch of Dynasty II: The Colbys (1985)), but she actually met Rita Lesley (also played by Evans). In the previous episode, the character Krystle had been kidnapped and Rita was posing as her. Linda Evans never appeared in Dynasty II: The Colbys (1985), and Beacham did not appear in that series again until the final season, meaning the two characters had never met before.
- #069
Lee Bergere, who played the Carrington family butler Joseph for many years, was reportedly in a dispute with Spelling over screen time and salary, which led to his dismissal. This explains why Joseph, who had been as loyal as a lapdog and a perfect saint for four years, suddenly got into a strange fight with Alexis in season three. Alexis learns some damning information about Joseph's past from her detectives and throws it in his face in the kitchen, at which point Joseph goes berserk, locks Crystal and Alexis in a cabin and sets it on fire in one of the series' thrilling events. Joseph then disappears completely.
- #070
Heather Locklear's character was presented as the villain who worked overtime on Dynasty. Similarly, her character in the future TV series Melrose Place, the precursor to it, is another character who develops a "hard shell" and learns how to manipulate people so they won't hurt her. However, she also retains a pleasant and affectionate side that plays a prominent role in her character development.
- #071
When Linda Evans called for leaving the series early, with only the episodes before the finale remaining, she later admitted she regretted it.
- #072
While Linda Evans and Dame Joan Collins were filming that famous catfight scene in the pool, Linda Evans broke her finger and pushed her down very hard.
- #073
Angie Dickinson turned down the role of Krystle because she thought the series would not last more than one season and she perceived the character of Krystle as weak.
- #074
The series was cancelled after nine and a half seasons due to low ratings.
- #075
When the series began, John Forsythe was nearly sixty-three years old.
- #076
The cast of Dynasty appeared wealthier than the cast of Dallas (1978), and although Dynasty was a popular series with better ratings than Dallas, the one problem was that Dallas lasted longer, because Dynasty's ratings began to fall in its final two seasons.
- #077
Alexis and Blake's marriage is generally said to have lasted seven years, but this is inconsistent. In season 9 it was revealed that Alexis was still around when Fallon was eight years old, yet logically, following that timeline, Fallon should have been younger.
- #078
The series premiered almost a year before another series about two feuding upper-class families. That series was Falcon Crest (1981).
- #079
John Forsythe was the producers' second choice for the role of Blake Carrington because he was essentially under contract to both ABC and Aaron Spelling. He was finishing the final year of Charlie's Angels (1976).
- #080
Joan Collins hated her character's exit at the end of season 9 (when Alexis and Dex fell from a balcony and their fates were left unknown) and announced she would not return for the following season. Of course, the series was cancelled before that could happen. Like Al Corley, she returned two years later for the miniseries.
- #081
Although John Forsythe was the series' lead actor, he did his best to secure better stories for the show, but unfortunately the series' concept was not as strong as that of Dallas (1978), because that was a classic of its genre and depicting his show was much harder.
- #082
Angie Dickinson was among the frontrunners for the role of Krystle before Linda Evans was cast.
- #083
Although John Forsythe played a former husband and wife with Dame Joan Collins on the series, he was only 15 years older than her.
- #084
Karen Cellini replaced Catherine Oxenberg in the role of Amanda Bedford Carrington. Karen Cellini was spotted by the producers while working at a fast food restaurant and was hired because she resembled Catherine Oxenberg. Karen was a newcomer when she started on the series. It was not long, however, before Karen was fired from the role and the character of Amanda was abruptly written out after 13 episodes, never to be seen or mentioned again.
- #085
Krystle had a sister named Iris who married Frank Dean; Krystle never liked Frank. Krystle said she wished she had persuaded Iris not to marry Frank in order to stop him from ruining her life.
- #086
Sandra Wilson, one of Joan Collins's stunt doubles, occasionally doubled for Collins many times throughout the series. It was not common for both her and Linda Evans to have multiple doubles. Sandra was the only one who stood out when Michael caught her as she tried to escape from La Mirage.
- #087
In interviews, Dame Joan Collins said Alexis was a "female Donald Trump."
- #088
The series was mentioned in the lyrics of Black Flag's song "TV Party." It was also mentioned in Prince's song "Kiss."
- #089
Krystle Carrington is a woman who wants her husband Blake more than anything, whether he is rich or not.
- #090
After the second season began, the character of Alexis Carrington was added at the last minute because Aaron Spelling was waiting for Jessica Walter to come in for an audition; she suggested Joan Collins for the role, and Collins was hired two weeks later. Collins was a friend of Spelling.
- #091
The series had low ratings when it first aired, but after Dame Joan Collins was hired for the second season, its ratings rose over the following six seasons.
- #092
There was talk that Stella Stevens would join the cast as Krystle's sister and Sammy Jo's mother, Iris, but the storyline was dropped.
- #093
John Forsythe was nearly 25 years older than Linda Evans, who played his wife on the series. When she was Aaron Spelling's second choice in the auditions for Krystle, the series not only reunited her with Forsythe, but she also liked the script, which gave her the chance to work with him. Before this series, Evans had admitted that she was in love with him in real life when she was a young adult.
- #094
Dame Joan Collins (Alexis) is 15 years younger than actor John Forsythe (Blake Carrington).
- #095
Krystle Grant Jennings Carrington was originally from Dayton, Ohio, while in real life Linda Evans was originally from Hartford, Connecticut.
- #096
Krystle's maiden name was Grant.
- #097
Dynasty was parodied as "Die-Nasty" in Mag Magazine.
- #098
John Forsythe was nearly 25 years older than Linda Evans, who played his on-screen wife Krystle, in real life.
- #099
The series was considered a copy of Dallas (1978). Both series dealt with feuding families and the oil business.
- #100
Markus Hoffmann appeared as an extra in the series.
- #101
Kirby's middle name was Alicia, Adam's middle name was Alexander, and Cecil's middle name was Baldwin. Kirby's late mother was named Alicia Rowan Anders, Rowan being her maiden name.
- #102
John Forsythe was born on December 29, 1918, and was 63 years old when Dynasty first aired on January 12, 1981. Blake can be assumed to have been 62 when he first appeared in the pilot episode. Linda Evans was born on November 18, 1942, and the age difference between Blake and Krystle was a surprising more than 23 years. Dame Joan Collins was born on May 23, 1933, making her fourteen years younger than Blake. John Forsythe's "distinguished gentleman" appearance certainly helped, because the pairings here do not look as mismatched as the age difference suggests.
- #103
Casting Geoffrey Scott as Mark Jennings for the third season was certainly inspired by his striking resemblance to Tom Selleck of the highly successful Magnum PI series and by the basic similarity between their respective characters.
- #104
In his big hit "Kiss," Prince sang the famous line "You don't have to watch Dynasty to have an attitude."
Continue through the archive
Sources & editorial notes
Reference databases
Sources for the entries on this page
- IMDb IMDb kaydı
Information from external sources is independently selected, consolidated and edited by Arka Evren. Sources are listed for verification and further reading. Encyclopedia text is used under its licence (CC BY-SA). How we work