Blake Carrington
| Blake Carrington | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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John Forsythe as Blake Carrington | |||||||||||||||||
| DYNASTY character | |||||||||||||||||
| Portrayed by | John Forsythe | ||||||||||||||||
| Duration | 1981–89, 1991 | ||||||||||||||||
| First appearance |
Episode 1 "Oil" | ||||||||||||||||
| Last appearance |
Episode 220 "Catch 22" | ||||||||||||||||
| Created by | Richard and Esther Shapiro | ||||||||||||||||
| Spin-off appearances |
The Colbys (1985, 1986) Dynasty: The Reunion (1991) | ||||||||||||||||
| Profile | |||||||||||||||||
| Occupation | CEO of Denver-Carrington | ||||||||||||||||
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Blake Alexander Carrington is a fictional character on the American TV series Dynasty. The role was portrayed by John Forsythe from the first episode of the series in 1981 until the finale in 1989. Forsythe returned for the 1991 miniseries Dynasty: The Reunion.[1] Forsythe is the only actor to appear in every episode of the series.
Patriarch of the Carrington family, self-made CEO of monolithic Denver-Carrington, and the principal character of the series, oil tycoon Blake Carrington is initially a ruthless man in both business and family matters. The character soon softens into a more benevolent patriarchal figure due to the influence of actor Forsythe.
Background
Blake Alexander Carrington was born to Thomas and Ellen Lucy Carrington in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He has a younger brother, Benjamin. While working in the oilfields with his father, his ailing mother died in a house fire, which was blamed on Ben. This caused a rift between the brothers as Ben felt as if Blake had their father turn his back on him.
He served in World War II, having mentioned in a season one episode, of being part of the Normandy landings.
While attending the Colorado School of Mines at night, he worked as an oil rigger by day.
In 1955, while with Cecil Colby at an event, he met Alexis Morrell and he asked her dance to Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered. Three days later, Blake proposed and within a month, they were married. In 1956, he and Alexis had their first born, Adam. Less than a year later, Alexis gave birth to their second born, Fallon, but shortly before Adam's first birthday, he was kidnapped by Kate Torrance. Some time after, Steven was born.
In 1959, Blake founded Denver-Carrington with a single oil well. Throughout the years, the company expanded oil wells in the American Southwest, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia and expanded interests in refineries, tankers and reclamation, including an exclusive pioneering oil-shale extraction process. His success with Denver-Carrington often resulted in many competitors and enemies, such as Jason and Cecil Colby.
He was injured in an oil rig explosion in 1964.
In 1965, he discovered Alexis in bed with the Carrington estates architect Roger Grimes and nearly beat him to death. He bribed a great number of people, including Grimes and Alexis, to make sure this affair was not publicized.
Season one
In the series premiere, Blake marries his secretary Krystle Jennings. Their marriage is strained by her discomfort as she learns about Blake's ruthless side, especially in business. Blake rapes Krystle when she is reluctant to have sex with him. Blake struggles with his daughter Fallon's promiscuity and his son Steven's homosexuality. He catches his son in an embrace with another man, and in a fit of anger pushes them apart. Steven's lover falls, hits his head, and dies. Blake is arrested and charged with murder. In the season finale, a mysterious witness enters the courtroom. Visibly agitated, Blake turns to his lawyer and asks, "What's she doing here?"
Season two
The mystery witness is Blake's ex-wife, Alexis. She testifies to Blake's violent temper. He is found guilty, but given a suspended sentence. While Blake struggles to save Denver-Carrington from financial troubles, he is thrilled to learn that Krystle is pregnant. Krystle loses her baby in a horse riding accident. Blake suggests that Krystle meet with his friend, psychiatrist Nick Toscanni.
Later, Blake is blinded after mobster Logan Rhinewood bombs his car. Blake suspects that Krystle is having an affair with Nick, so after his sight returns he continues to feign blindness in order spy on her. In the season finale, he confronts Nick. The men are on horseback, and Blake is thrown from his horse. Nick leaves him unconscious on the ground.
Season three
Krystle finds Blake and gets him to help. Blake learns that Fallon's son, his namesake "Little Blake" has been kidnapped. Blake and Alexis make a televised plea for the return of their kidnapped infant grandson L.B. Colby. While on the air, Alexis confesses a dark secret from their past: their firstborn son, Adam, had been kidnapped as a baby and never recovered. Traumatized by the event, they had hidden his existence from their subsequent children Fallon and Steven. Weeks later, an attorney from Billings, Montana, approaches Blake and claims to be Adam. Blake does not believe him, but eventually accepts him as his son - especially when Alexis does.
Blake learns that Krystle's divorce from her first husband was never official. He and Krystle are going through a bad patch and they separate.
Blake learns that Steven is missing and presumed dead in an oil rig explosion. He refuses to believe that Steven is dead. When Steven's ex-wife appears with a baby that she says is Steven's, Blake offers to keep the child. Later, he learns that Steven is alive. He flies to Singapore to convince him to return to Denver. In the third season finale, Blake learns that Steven is living with another man. Blake decides to sue for custody of his grandson.
Season four
Blake loses his custody fight when Steven marries Claudia Blaisdel. However, they reconcile when Blake and Krystle remarry.
Season five
Blake mourns the death of his daughter, Fallon. Blake also learns that he has an illegitimate half-sister, Dominique. He accepts his sister after his father, Tom Carrington, admits on his deathbed that she is his daughter.
A few months later, Blake learns that Alexis had another child after they divorced, a daughter Amanda. Although Alexis denies that he is Amanda's father, he learns that she is, in fact, his daughter.
At Christmas, Blake is thrilled when Krystle has a baby girl. Although her health is fragile at first, she survives and thrives.
Blake grows jealous of Krystle's friendship with Daniel Reece. Meanwhile, Lady Ashley Mitchell attempts to seduce Blake. Someone has photos taken of both Blake with Ashley and Krystle with Daniel and has them sent to each other. However, both Blake and Krystle declare their love for each other.
The entire family attends the wedding of Amanda and Prince Michael of Moldavia, and rebels storm the chapel and spray the church with bullets.
Season six
Blake and his family survive the attack. Upon returning to Denver, Blake enters a business deal with Jason Colby and is shocked to discover that Fallon is alive, suffering from amnesia, and married to his son, Miles. Blake's health starts to deteriorate and he becomes almost completely incapacitated. It turns out that Krystle has been kidnapped and replaced with a look-alike named Rita Lesley, who has been slowly poisoning him. Sammy Jo (Krystle's niece) had hired her to help gain control over her inheritance, which is overseen by her aunt. However, Sammy Jo was unaware of the plot to kill Blake and upon learning the truth, helps Krystle escape captivity and informs Blake's doctor about the poisoning when he is rushed to the hospital after falling down the stairs during an attack. When the truth is exposed, Rita disappears and Krystle returns.
Blake is furious when his brother Ben returns to Denver. In league with Alexis, he sues for his share of their late father's estate. He mortgages his house and holdings on the hope that he will gain control over ColbyCo. Thanks to Ben and Alexis's interference, he loses both the house and the holdings and also his lucrative South China Sea oil leases. In the season finale, he learns that Alexis has bought his house. Furious, he grabs her by the throat and starts to strangle her.
Season seven
Krystle pulls Blake off of Alexis. Blake learns that his hotel, La Mirage, has burned down and that several people, including Claudia, have perished in the fire. Blake is charged with arson, but eventually the charges are dropped when it is revealed that Claudia was responsible for the blaze.
As Blake continues to try and regain his empire, he discovers that the land he inherited from his mother is rich in natural gas. However, he is forced to temporarily halt his plans to develop on the land when Alexis and Ben learn of its existence. Soon after, Emily Fallmont gives Blake damning information on Alexis and Ben and uses it to force them to relinquish their ownership of Denver-Carrington and all its holdings back to him.
Later on, Blake, Alexis, and Ben are in southeast Asia visiting an oil rig when it catches on fire. Ben rescues a trapped Blake moments before the rig explodes. Blake awakens in the hospital with no memories of the last 25 years. Alexis has him discharged from the hospital and convinces him that they're still married. However, when Krystle finds them, Blake's memories return. Blake and Krystle's daughter, Krystina, falls ill and needs a heart transplant. A donor is found, Krystina is fine, but the donor's mother kidnaps Krystina. However, she is found unharmed.
In the season finale, at Adam's wedding, Blake and Alexis legally adopt Adam.
Season eight
Blake runs for governor, against the incumbent and Alexis running as an independent. He loses. Not long after, he returns home to find his bedroom trashed and Krystle missing. He cries out: "Oh, Krystle, I thought we had more time!"
Season nine
Krystle has a serious brain tumor and must have risky surgery. They fly to Switzerland, where the surgery is successful but Krystle is left in a coma.
A body is found at the bottom of a lake on the Carrington property. The dead body turns out to be Roger Grimes, the man with whom Alexis was sleeping when she and Blake divorced. He had been dead for 20 years but the cold temperatures in the lake preserved his body. Ultimately, it is revealed that 8-year-old Fallon had shot Roger Grimes after finding him beating Alexis, and Blake's late father had hidden the body in a mine under the lake to protect Fallon. The situation is complicated by the fact that the mine is full of stolen Nazi treasure, hidden there by Blake's late father. Roger's body had been disturbed from its hiding place by someone looking for the treasure.
In the last episode of the series, Blake learns that the police captain investigating the murder of Roger Grimes is behind the search for the treasure. Blake attempts to force a confession. The captain pulls a gun, and they both shoot. Blake is left lying in a pool of blood.
The Reunion
Three years later, in Dynasty: The Reunion, Blake is being released from jail for the murder of Captain Handler. Along with his sons, Steven and Adam, and former son-in-law Jeff, Blake attempts to regain control of Denver-Carrington from an international consortium. He is also thrilled to find that Krystle has recovered from her coma. However, it is soon revealed that the Consortium has planted subliminal commands in Krystle's mind during the course of her recovery to assassinate Blake. Fortunately, her love for Blake proves to be too strong and she breaks their control over her.
See also
References
- ↑ Corliss, Richard (2010-04-03). "Charlie's an Angel Now: John Forsythe Dies at 92". Time. Retrieved 2010-09-01.