Life theArts From ‘Happy Days’ to ‘Matlock’

Ensemble Theatre Company actress Linda Purl recalls working with Andy Griffith, Ron Howard and Henry Winkler

By DAVE MASON NEWS-PRESS MANAGING EDITOR

Linda Purl loved playing Charlene, attorney Ben Matlock’s daughter, on the first season of NBC’s “Matlock.”

The character was a smart lawyer in her own right in the 1986-95 series, and Ms. Purl got to act with none other than Andy Griffith.

“Andy was a very fascinating person,” Ms. Purl told the NewsPress. “He was charming. He had a magnetism about him. He was a big, big magnet with charisma that he could turn on or off at will.”

Ms. Purl, who’s now acting in Ensemble Theatre Company’s production of “The Children” at the New Vic, also acted with Mr. Griffith’s former co-star, Ron Howard, on “Happy Days.” the son of a touring actress,” Ms. Purl said. “My grandfather had been a vaudevillian.”

Her first job in Hollywood was playing the girlfriend of Richie Cunningham, Mr. Howard’s character on the series set in the 1950s.

She said her maternal grandmother was a founding member of Equity, the union for stage actors and actresses.

“My mother had been a ballerina,” Ms. Purl said. “My dad had a career as an engineer. His first love was the theater.”

Ms. Purl inherited that love and is known for her Ensemble Theatre Company roles such as the title role of “Tenderly, the Rosemary Clooney Musical.”

Ms. Clooney (1928-2002) starred in movies such as “A White Christmas” (1954).

The Ensemble Theatre Company is performing “The Children” through April 23 at The New Vic, 33 W. Victoria St., Santa Barbara. Tickets cost $40 to $84. To purchase, go to etcsb.org or call 805-965-5400.

Performances are 7:30 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays, 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays, with an additional performance at 7:30 p.m. today and 4 p.m. April 15.

ETC is partnering with the nonprofit One Tree Planted to plant one tree in California for every ticket sold for this play. You can catch one of the play’s stars, Linda Purl, in “Matlock” reruns streaming on Pluto.

“That was fun,” said Ms. Purl, who grew up in the 1960s in Japan in a family devoted to entertainment.

“We were not a church-going family. We did do theater,” Ms. Purl said. “My parents would turn the house inside out for summer stock.

“We had a big house, a ton of room,” she said, noting that they would host guests such as Oscar-winning composer Henry Mancini. “We had sculptors, painters and dancers. Everyone was welcome.

“My dad was raised on the road,

“It was fun,” Ms. Purl said. “I knew Rosemary. She was a remarkable woman, talent, mother and a friend to so many people. I wouldn’t say we were close, but I knew her over a number of years. I’m close to a couple of her children.”

Ms. Purl said “Happy Days” was her first TV acting job when she moved to Los Angeles, first playing Richie Cunningham’s girlfriend. When Mr. Howard left the show to focus on his movie directing career in 1980, Mr. Winkler’s Fonzie became the show’s main focus, and Ms. Purl said the producers were looking for what they called a “Linda Purl-type” actress to play Fonzie’s girlfriend. Ms. Purl asked if she could audition for it. Garry Marshall, the show’s creator and executive producer, let her come back as a different character who was Fonzie’s girlfriend.

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