Linda Carlson

Linda Carlson (May 12, 1945 – October 26, 2021) was an American actress.

Early life Carlson was born in Knoxville, Tennessee, on May 12, 1945, and raised in Minnesota; she was of Swedish descent. She attended the University of Iowa, where she received a bachelor's degree in speech and dramatic arts. She went on to teach for several months at a high school in Flint, Michigan, before moving to New York City, where she attended the NYU School of the Arts and received a master's degree. She later taught acting at NYU.

Stage Carlson broke into professional theater with the Negro Ensemble Company in New York, then spent a season at the Repertory Theatre in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. On Broadway, she portrayed Crete in Full Circle (1973) and was an understudy in A Memory of Two Mondays / 27 Wagons Full of Cotton (1976), and They Knew What They Wanted (1976).

Television Carlson starred on Westside Medical, and appeared on Murder One.

Carlson played the part of Ellen Sherback in the Kojak episode "Cry for the Kids" in 1977.

In the episode "Hotel Oceanview" of the series WKRP in Cincinnati, which premiered on November 28, 1980, Carlson played a woman attracted to station salesman Herb Tarlek (Frank Bonner). He is deeply shaken when she tells him that they were on the football team together in high school, she having since undergone a sex change.

On the series Newhart, Carlson had a recurring role as Bev Dutton, the manager of the small Vermont television station where Bob Newhart hosted a Sunday afternoon interview program.

Carlson appeared in the episode "Comings and Goings" of the 1995 situation comedy Double Rush.

Personal life She was married to actor-director Philip Charles MacKenzie, whom she met at NYU. She went on to marry Jim Hart, a former Marine Corps tank officer turned IT specialist.

Partial filmography Honey, I Blew Up the Kid (1992) ... Nosy neighbor The Pickle (1993) ... Bernadette The Beverly Hillbillies (1993) ... Aunt Pearl Murder One (1995–1997) ... Judge Beth Bornstein Roadside Assistance (2001) ... Queen of Hearts