fter the untimely passing of her son, Linda Gray decided to leave her family ranch in California after 50 years and embark on a new chapter in Palm Springs.
The 86-year-old actress lost her son, documentary maker Jeff Thrasher, in 2020. Following his death at age 56 from leukemia, Linda found herself “alone in this big house on three acres of land,” where the animals were “slowly dying”.
“I thought, what am I doing here?” the Dallas star told HELLO! in an exclusive interview.
Linda had lived on the land, which was home to an array of animals, including horses, chickens, dogs, cats, a pig and a goat, since 1973.
Her daughter Kehly Sloane, 60, whom she shares with her ex-husband, the late art director Ed Thrasher, suggested that a new home would help her move on “away from the memories of seeing my son every day out there, riding his bicycle and all that”.
Reflecting on the loss of her son, Linda said it’s something “you never come to terms with”. “He never leaves your heart. I was the one that brought him onto the earth and that never goes away,” she said.
“As the mother, you brought them on the planet and then you escorted them out, and that’s devastating,” said Linda, who cherishes memories of her son as a child “filled with love and life and humour” and watching him grow.
“To be taken away with this stupid disease was heartbreaking,” she said. “I feel him in a room. I’ll see a picture of him and it brings back all those memories.”
Linda’s new home in Palm Springs
After leaving her California ranch, Linda turned over a new leaf at a condominium in Palm Springs, which overlooks a golf course.
The actress, who loves seeing the ducks on the pond outside her window and friends driving past on golf carts, feels “a sense of serenity and peace that I haven’t had in a long time”.
She is visited by Kehly’s children, Ryder, 32, a photographer, and Jack, 22, in April, who stay with her during the Coachella festival.
“There’s clothes and shoes and stuff all over the house. It looks like a train wreck,” said Linda. “It is awful. I just laugh and don’t even look at it. Every bed is filled. They get home at like 3am or 4am, and the rule is: whatever time you get home, do not wake up your grandmother.
“The next rule is: when am I going to wake you up? I got up to make breakfast and I was not quiet. Those are the joys of being a grandmother.”