Knots Landing: Where Are The Actors Now?

A Broadway veteran who was nominated for two Tony Awards, Michele Lee played the upbeat Karen Fairgate MacKenzie, the only character to appear in all 344 episodes of the series. Karen was a hopeless optimist with a cheery disposition that could rival even that of Mary Tyler Moore and Kathie Lee Gifford. 

Alongside co-stars Joan Van Ark and Donna Mills, Lee was arguably the most important member of the trio of divas on the show. Indeed, in 1986, Joan Rivers even proclaimed Lee the "First Lady of 'Knots Landing.'" She won five Soap Opera Digest Awards for her work and, along with Julie Harris, was one of only two actors nominated for Emmy Awards for work in the show. Following the show's cancelation, Lee made guest appearances on a variety of comedy series, including "Something Wilder," "Will & Grace," and "Family Guy."

In the 1980s, at the height of Nancy Reagan's "Just Say No" campaign against drug use, Lee was an outspoken anti-drug advocate. Lee explained she was "trying to help educate the public through celebrity . . . and to deglamorize drug usage, of which alcohol is a part, on television and in motion pictures" (via "It's Great To Be Alive"). In 1998, Lee was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Two years later, she joined fellow veteran actors Linda Lavin and Tony Roberts on Broadway in Charles Busch's play "The Tale of the Allergist's Wife," earning a Tony nomination for best-featured actress in a play as Lavin's flighty, Bohemian childhood friend.

A ruggedly handsome actor best known for playing Telly Savalas' young partner Det. Bobby Crocker on "Kojak," Kevin Dobson joined "Knots Landing" in its fourth season as good-guy federal prosecutor/detective Mack MacKenzie, who investigates the death of Karen Fairgate's (Michele Lee) husband. He eventually falls in love with and marries Karen. Dobson's rapport with Lee was so strong that they twice were named favorite super couple by the Soap Opera Digest Awards (Dobson also won three additional solo awards for his role).

A New York City native, Dobson worked a number of non-showbiz jobs early on, including bartending, waiting tables, and a seven-year stint as a conductor on the Long Island Rail Road. His acting career started when someone suggested he audition for an acting job. "I got the job ... it was a fluke," he told BOOMER Magazine in 2016. "I continued to work on the railroad but due to that job, they cast me in a commercial. I went to the SAG [Screen Actors Guild] office and they let me join. I was punching [railroad] tickets with a SAG card in my wallet."

Dobson's first feature film was a small uncredited part in 1971's "Klute" starring Jane Fonda. His most notable movie role was in 1981's "All Night Long," in which he played Barbra Streisand's short-tempered firefighter husband. Hobson suffered from an autoimmune deficiency and died on September 6, 2020, at age 77, per the New York Times.

A revered stage actor, Julie Harris gained a whole generation of television fans as Lilimae Clements, the estranged mother of Joan Van Ark's Valene and Alec Baldwin's Joshua, who she abandoned when he was young. Harris added a definite air of gravitas to "Knots Landing," and joins Michele Lee as the only two actors nominated for Emmy Awards for the show, both in 1982.

Harris had an extensive Broadway career starting in the 1940s, appearing in such plays as "The Playboy of the Western World," "I Am a Camera," and "The Member of the Wedding" (she reprised her role in the 1953 screen version of the latter, earning a best actress Oscar nomination). With five Tony Award wins and a lifetime achievement Tony, she joins Audra McDonald and Angela Lansbury as Tony's most honored actors. In 2005, she was a Kennedy Center honoree.

Harris died on August 24, 2013, at age 87 from congestive heart failure, per the New York Times. A memorial service was held for Harris on December 3, 2013, at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre in New York. Her "Knots Landing" co-stars Michele Lee and Joan Van Ark flew in from L.A. to attend, according to Showbiz411. The Julie Harris Scholarship at the Yale School of Drama was established following her death, with Alec Baldwin contributing the first $25,000 (per Broadway World).

Before starring in "Knots Landing" as Abby, Donna Mills' Hollywood career took a fairly typical route. After appearing in a small role in Woody Allen's 1966 Broadway play "Don't Drink the Water," she guest starred in dozens of series in the 1970s. These included classic series as varied as "The Six Million Dollar Man," "Barnaby Jones," and "The Love Boat." Veteran moviegoers might also remember catching Mills playing Clint Eastwood's girlfriend in Eastwood's 1971 directorial debut "Play Misty for Me."

As the oft-married and divorced Abby, Mills saw her character become the victim of a kidnapping plot. Unlike fellow leading ladies Michele Lee and Joan Van Ark, Mills' Abby was manipulative and self-centered, a contrast to the good nature of Lee and Van Ark's characters. Mills maintains she is still close with her female co-stars. "Joan and Michele and I are actually really good friends," she said. "It's turned into a real deep friendship for all of us now" (via the New York Post).

In 1994, Mills, then 53, decided to take a break from acting to raise her adopted daughter Chloe, who is now 28 and a model and social media influencer, per The Sun. Although Mills still occasionally took on small roles after this, she went for several years without a starring role. However, in 2014, Mills joined the cast of ABC's "General Hospital" as wealthy and conniving Madeline Reeves, a role which earned her a Daytime Emmy Award for outstanding guest performer in a drama series. More recently, she appeared in Jordan Peele's 2022 sci-fi thriller "Nope."

Nicollette Sheridan won two Soap Opera Digest Awards for her portrayal of Paige Matheson, who arrived in "Knots Landing" in 1986, claiming to be the daughter of Mack MacKenzie (Kevin Dobson). Paige (who staged her own death prior to entering the cul-de-sac) moves in with the MacKenzies, has an affair with her stepbrother, dumps him, then gets a job working for Greg Sumner (William Devane), with whom she also has an affair. 

Although she didn't appear in the first six seasons of the series, she quickly became a beloved cast member and was invited back for the 1997 miniseries. In the years since the convoluted scheming of "Knots Landing" came to an end, Sheridan has appeared in a variety of Hollywood productions. Beginning in 2018, Sheridan appeared in a total of 22 episodes of The CW's "Dynasty" reboot. However, her most well-known role since "Knots Landing" earned her enough tabloid talk to be worthy of its own soap opera.

From 2004 to 2008, Sheridan played Edie Britt on "Desperate Housewives," a role which earned her a Golden Globe nomination and two Screen Actors Guild Awards as part of outstanding performance by an ensemble in a comedy series. Sheridan's character was killed off the show in 2009. She sued ABC, Touchstone Television, and producer Marc Cherry for wrongful termination, claiming that Cherry had physically abused her and she was let go after reporting it (per Entertainment Weekly). Cherry denied the allegations that he struck her in the head, and the case dragged on for several years, with Los Angeles Superior Court ultimately dismissing the case after determining Sheridan was not wrongfully terminated. Sheridan's request for a retrial was denied in 2014, per The Hollywood Reporter.

Joan Van Ark played Valene Ewing, a role she originated on "Dallas," who married and divorced her husband Gary (Ted Shackelford) three times, as well as having two other marriages during the show's run. One of Valene's most dramatic storylines came when her newborn twins were kidnapped in seasons six and seven. Van Ark decided to leave the show in 1992 but returned for the last two episodes of the show's final season in 1993. Van Ark won two Soap Opera Digest Awards for "Knots Landing," and in 1985, she was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award as one of the co-hosts of the televised Tournament of Roses Parade on CBS.

After "Knots Landing," Van Ark made occasional guest appearances on such series as "The Nanny," "My Name Is Earl," and "Nip/Tuck." From 2004 to 2005, she played Gloria Fisher on "The Young and the Restless." Van Ark has acknowledged going under the knife on more than one occasion, as many of her contemporaries of an advancing age have. Sadly, some have also speculated that Van Ark's plastic surgery damaged her career. In fact, her appearance in recent years has left some concerned. "Everybody fixes," Van Ark said of having work done (via Studio 10). "The guys even. But you have to be careful and you have to be responsible, you have to be smart. And I'm as guilty as anybody of making horrible mistakes."