Dallas star Linda Gray recently reflected on the “devastating” death of her son, Jeff Trasher, and why it prompted her to embark on a new chapter of her life.
In an interview with Hello! published on September 15, Gray, 86 — who played Sue Ellen Ewing in the primetime soap opera — opened up about the impact of losing her son in 2020.
Jeff, a documentarian, died at 56, following a battle with leukemia. Not long afterward, Gray decided to move out of her California ranch, her home of 50 years, and into a condo in Palm Springs.
“I thought, what am I doing here?” she explained, pointing out that she was “alone in this big house on three acres of land,” where her farm animals were “slowly dying.”
Gray’s daughter, Kehly Sloane, 60, also suggested that a new home would help her move forward and “away from the memories of seeing my son every day out there, riding his bicycle and all that.”
Still, Gray admitted that losing her son, whom she described as “filled with love and life and humour,” is something “you never come to terms with.” She added, “He never leaves your heart. I was the one that brought him onto the earth and that never goes away.”
Gray continued, “As the mother, you brought them on the planet and then you escorted them out, and that’s devastating. “To be taken away with this stupid disease was heartbreaking. I feel him in a room. I’ll see a picture of him and it brings back all those memories.”
Dallas aired for 14 seasons from 1978 to 1991. In addition to Gray, the show starred Larry Hagman, Ken Kercheval, Patrick Duffy, Barbara Bel Geddes, Steve Kanaly, Howard Keel, Victoria Principal, Charlene Tilton, Susan Howard, and Deborah Rennard, among others. It also sparked a spinoff, Knots Landing, which ran for 14 seasons from 1979 to 1993.