‘Dynasty’ Star Pat Crowley Dead at 91

Pat Crowley, a well-known actress with over 100 credited roles to her name, died at the age of 91, only days before her 92nd birthday. The TV star, whose many memorable roles included Joan Nash in Please Don’t Eat the Daisies and Mary Scanlon in Port Charles, died of natural causes in Los Angeles, Calif.

Her death was announced by her son, Jon Hookstratten. No further details of her death were shared. Crowley is survived by her husband, Andy Friendly, and her children.

Crowley Earned a Golden Globe a Few Years After She Started Acting

Crowley gained major success soon after she first started acting in the early 1950s. After a handful of television roles, she made an impact with her performances in 1953’s Forever Female and Money from Home. At the next Golden Globe Awards, Crowley was awarded the award for Most Promising Newcomer – Female, tying with fellow actresses Bella Darvi and Barbara Rush.

She continued acting in various roles, appearing in shows like 77 Sunset Strip, Mr. Kildare, and The Twilight Zone, before she nabbed what would become one of her most memorable roles, playing Joan Nash in the sitcom Please Don’t Eat the Daisies.

Publicity handout of Pat Crowley starring in television series ‘Please Don’t Eat the Daisies’ (1965-1967).

The show follows Joan, her husband Jim (Mark Miller), and their four sons throughout their chaotic day-to-day lives in an old house in Ridgemont, New York. Please Don’t Eat the Daisies ran for two seasons between 1965 and 1967.

The Late Actress Continued to Act in Many Landmark Shows

For the next couple of decades, Crowley kept busy with appearances in numerous popular television shows. Just a few of the shows that Crowley acted in over the years are Columbo, Police Story, Happy Days, Hawaii Five-O, Charlie’s Angels, and The Love Boat.

Then in 1986, she appeared on Dynasty as the character Emily Fallmont, the wife of Senator Buck Fallmont, played by Richard Anderson. While her husband is away campaigning, Emily, who is a bit younger than her husband, connects with Ben Carrington, played by Christopher Cazenove, and the two start an affair. They eventually call it off and separate, but the affair comes back to bite them both years later.

Crowley Was a Big Name in the Soap Opera World

In the years after Dynasty, Crowley starred in multiple soap operas, starting with her role as Rebecca Whitmore in Generations in 1989. She then played Mary Scanlon in Port Charles from 1997 to 2003. The show was a spinoff of the long-running show General Hospital, which is still on television.

While Port Charles was one of Crowley’s last roles, she also acted in a few episodes of The Bold and the Beautiful in 2005, followed by appearances in The Closer in 2006, Cold Case in 2009, and, most recently, Mont Reve in 2012.

This story was originally reported by Parade on Sep 15, 2025, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.