Linda Carlson, ‘Newhart’ Actress, Dead at 76

Linda Carlson, the actress best known for her role as Vermont TV station manager Bev Dutton on Newhart, has died. Carlson passed away in Gaylordsville, Connecticut on Tuesday, Oct. 26 following a battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a nervous system disease otherwise known as ALS or Lou Gehrig’s Disease, her family confirmed. She was 76.

Born in Knoxville, Tennessee on May 12, 1945, and raised in Edina, Minnesota, Carlson got her start in the world of entertainment as a teenager in high school, performing in plays at Edina Morningside High School. After graduating from the University of Iowa, she earned her master’s from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. Not long after, Carlson broke into the professional theater world, appearing off-Broadway in the Negro Ensemble Company’s The Harangues in 1969, according to The Hollywood Reporter, Carlson later making her Broadway debut in 1973 in a revival of Full Circle, directed by Otto Preminger.

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Carlson moved to the small screen in the ’70s. After moving to California to audition for Katharine Hepburn’s role in a TV series remake of The African Queen, a role she ultimately lost to Mariette Hartley, Carlson made her TV debut in 1977’s Westside Medical. On the series, she starred as Dr. Janet Cottrell, a role she held throughout the show’s 13-episode run. The following year, Carlson appeared as Katie McKenna, the reporter girlfriend of Ron Leibman’s attorney Martin “Kaz” Kazinsky, on the legal drama Kaz, which aired from 1978 until 1979. Carlson later earned a number of guest appearances, including roles on WKRP in Cincinnati, Lou Grant, Remington Steele, Scarecrow and Mrs. King, Brothers, My Two Dads, St. Elsewhere, Cagney & Lacey, Clueless, Days of Our Lives, NYPD Blue, and Passions. In 1985, she began appearing as Bev Dutton on Newhart, recurring in the role for three seasons. She appeared as Judge Beth Bornstein on the legal drama Murder One in 1995. Her film credits include Honey, I Blew Up the Kid and The Beverly Hillbillies.

In addition to acting, Carlson was also a writer who was published in The New York Times. She also funded scholarships at the Village for Children & Families in Hartford, Connecticut, as well as at the Virginia Avenue Project in Los Angeles, where she also served as a board member and president. Carlson is survived by her husband, James A. V. Hart, her sister Janet Carlson Ouren, brother James Hale Carlson, and four nieces and nephews. Donations in her name may be made to the Village for Children & Families or the ALS Association.