Linda Cristal, Actress on 'The High Chaparral,' Dies at 89
Linda Cristal, the Golden Globe-winning actress who portrayed Victoria Cannon, the wife of Leif Erickson's character, on the 1967-71 NBC Western The High Chaparral, has died. She was 89.
Cristal died Saturday at her home in Beverly Hills, her son Jordan Wexler told The New York Times.
On the big screen, Cristal appeared with Jock Mahoney in The Last of the Fast Guns (1958), with John Wayne in The Alamo (1960), with James Stewart in John Ford's Two Rode Together (1961) and with Charles Bronson in Mr. Majestyk (1974).
In 1959, she won her first Golden Globe — as most promising newcomer (female) — for her turn as an Argentine beauty who takes a trip to Paris with Tony Curtis' character in the comedy The Perfect Furlough (1958), directed by Blake Edwards.
According to her 2019 memoir, A Life Unexpected, Cristal read about a new series being shot called The High Chaparral one morning in The Hollywood Reporter and barged into a meeting of studio execs led by David Dortort, creator of the show (as well as Bonanza).
She went on to appear on 96 episodes of The High Chaparral as the strong-willed daughter of a powerful Mexican rancher and young wife of Erickson's "Big John" Cannon. She was nominated for two Globes, winning in 1970, and two Emmys, for her performance.
Marta Victoria Moya was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina on Feb. 23, 1931, and raised in Uruguay. When she was 13, her parents died of carbon monoxide poisoning while in their car. She appeared in several Mexican films before working alongside Dana Andrews in Comanche (1956).
Her résumé also included the films The Fiend Who Walked the West (1958) and Panic in the City (1968), a run on the soap opera General Hospital and guest-starring stints on such TV shows as Rawhide, Bonanza, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Barnaby Jones and Fantasy Island.
She was married to industrialist Robert W. Champion, half-brother of dancer Gower Champion, from 1958-59 and to actor Yale Wexler, with whom she had sons Gregory and Jordan, from 1960-66.
Filmography
Film
Year Title Role Notes
1952 Cuando levanta la niebla amiga de Silvia Uncredited
1953 Fruto de tentación Julia Uncredited
1953 El lunar de la familia Rosita
1953 La bestia magnifica (Lucha libre) Uncredited
1953 Genio y figura Rosita
1954 Con el diablo en el cuerpo Emilia
1955 El 7 leguas Blanca
1955 La venganza del diablo Uncredited
1956 Comanche Margarita
1956 Enemigos Chabela
1957 El diablo desaparece Laura
1958 The Last of the Fast Guns Maria O'Reilly
1958 The Fiend Who Walked the West Ellen Hardy
1958 The Perfect Furlough Sandra Roca
1959 Siete pecados Irene
1959 Cry Tough Sarita
1959 Legions of the Nile Cleopatra alias Berenice
1960 The Alamo Flaca
1960 The Pharaohs' Woman Akis
1961 Two Rode Together Elena de la Madriaga
1963 Slave Girls of Sheba Olivia
1968 Panic in the City Dr. Paula Stevens
1974 Mr. Majestyk Nancy Chavez
1977 Love and the Midnight Auto Supply Annie
Television
Year Title Role Notes
1959 Rawhide Louise Episode: "Incident of a Burst of Evil"
1961 The Tab Hunter Show Gitana Episode: "Holiday in Spain"
1964 Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea Melina Gounaris Episode: "City Beneath the Sea"
1967–1971 The High Chaparral Victoria Cannon 96 episodes
1971 Cade's County Celsa Dobbs Episode: "A Gun for Billy"
1974 Police Story Estrella Episode: "Across The Line"
1974 El chofer Julia telenovela
1975 The Dead Don't Die Vera LaValle TV movie
1980 Condominium Carlotta Churchbridge 2 episodes
1981 The Love Boat Evita Monteverde Episode: "The Duel"
1985 Rossé Victoria "Rossé" Wilson Argentina, lead character
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