Exclusive Interview
Inside the Real-Life ‘Knots Landing’ & ‘Dallas’ Romance You Never Knew About
When Ray Krebbs (Steve Kanaly) on Dallas thought he wasn’t good enough to be an Ewing, he began hanging out at the Longview bar and pushed away his wife, Donna Culver Krebbs (Susan Howard). He took up with Bonnie (Lindsay Bloom), an old flame. Bonnie’s remembered for throwing a drink in Donna’s face, only to get knocked down by Ray’s territorial wife! “Drinks are on Bonnie!” Donna triumphantly exclaimed after tossing some cash on the bar.
A few years later on Knots Landing, Ray’s sister-in-law Valene Ewing (Joan Van Ark) had a breakdown after being told her twins were stillborn. (They were not!) Val experienced a mental break from reality, assumed the identity of one of her novel characters – Verna Ellers – and became a waitress in Shula, Tennessee. There, Parker Winslow (Mayf Nutter) fell for Verna, but like Bonnie did with Ray, failed to keep her in his life. After Gary arrived at the church and called out Val’s name, she left Parker at the altar.
Fortunately, Bonnie and Parker – or rather, their portrayers – had a much happier ending in real life! Bloom and Nutter have been married off-screen since December 8, 1979! Swooon caught up with the couple at a Dallas reunion last year at The Hollywood Show in Burbank and spoke to them exclusively about their real-life love story.
“We’ve been married for 45 years, and we met 48 years ago when my husband and I had the same acting agent,” Bloom revealed. “He was headlining at the Palomino Club in North Hollywood where all the people played back in the day. We started going out, and we’ve been going out ever since!”
Sure, Bonnie and Parker were obstacles to Ray and Valene’s true paths to love – but they were far from villains. Bonnie truly did love Ray, and Parker truly loved Valene.
“I played it that way,” Bloom said of Bonnie’s genuine feelings for Ray. “She sincerely did love him, and she loved their friendship. They were from cut from the same kind of cloth, so to speak.”
After offering to pay Bonnie to leave Dallas, Donna hauled off and punched Bonnie, sending her flying. A bowl of popcorn went airborne during the stunt, adding to the visual impact of the scene. Bloom recalled discussing the action with the episode’s director – none other than J.R. Ewing himself, Larry Hagman!
“I said, ‘Larry, I’m a cowgirl! I’m tough! I’d get up and finish her off!'” Bloom remembered with a smile. “He said, ‘Lindsay, that’s not in the script. But if you want, I can have her hit you so you go up on the bar and slide all the way down to the register!’ [Laughs] I said, ‘Okay, Larry. You made your point!'”
Over in Shula, Parker kept quiet even after discovering Verna was truly Valene Ewing. He was that afraid of losing her. “Joan is just a terrific actress,” Nutter said. “When our scenes were over, we’d laugh and we had a great time. Seeing her today here at this event has been just great.”
“She gave him a big hug,” Bloom said of her husband reconnecting with Van Ark at The Hollywood Show. “[Steve] and I got some pictures together, and we talked about some of our scenes and what we remembered.”
These days, Bloom and Nutter are staying busy with their five grandchildren! “Our nine-year-old granddaughter has taken after her ‘Nana,’ who got her start on The Dean Martin Show as one of the ‘Ding-a-ling Sisters’ that sang and danced with Dean Martin,” Bloom shared.
The couple has more in common professionally than the nighttime serials of the 1980s. Both Bloom and Nutter appeared on the pop sensation crime drama Charlie’s Angels. Nutter appeared as Eddie Durko in “Hellride,” the first episode of Season 1. “[Eddie] was the first bad guy the Angels ever caught,” Bloom said proudly of her husband’s role in Charlie’s Angels series history.
Bloom appeared in Season 4 (when Shelley Hack had joined as Tiffany Welles) in “Dancin’ Angels.” She played Sally Fairgate, who met an untimely end courtesy of evil Elton Mills, played by special guest star Cesar Romero (aka the Joker on Batman).
Ray and Donna may not have gone the distance on Dallas. They divorced, and she moved to Washington D.C. with their daughter Margaret, named after Ray’s mother. Ray then married Jenna Wade (Priscilla Presley), and they eventually moved to Europe. Gary and Val did end up together in the finale of Knots Landing in 1993.
Meanwhile, Parker and Bonnie’s fates remain unknown. However, isn’t it nice to know that their real-life portrayers, Nutter and Bloom, found an off-screen happily ever after?
