One Of The Best TV Characters Of All Time Came From Montana

Forget about the characters on the TV show 'Yellowstone'. One of the greatest TV villains of all time was from Montana, and they were on one of the most popular shows of the '80s. Millions of Americans and millions more worldwide watched this show.

The Dutton family has some well crafted characters, some of which have a strikingly evil streak and menacing storylines. However, some classic dramas from decades ago mastered the art of giving their actors elaborate histories and downright corrupt plots.

Interesting parallels can be drawn between 'Yellowstone' and this Denver-based drama that aired from 1981 to 1989. Ranching vs. big oil. Feuding families. Old school values and new-on-the-money-scene attitudes.

The character in question was played by Gordon Thomson, and later by Robin Sachs - and was part of one of the most famous families in television history. Remember the Carringtons, anyone? Of course you do...the ultra wealthy family that 'Dynasty' was based upon.

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Producer Aaron Spelling crafted dramatic storylines for the main 'Dynasty' characters played by John Forsythe, Linda Evans, and Joan Collins (Blake Carrington, Krystle Carrington, and Alexis Carrington, respectively). But it was a surprise character that grew up in Billings, Montana that became the true villain of the series. Like, really bad stuff.

NOTE: Alexis Carrington was the first wife of Blake Carrington. Linda Evans' character, the mild-mannered Krystle Carrington, was Blake's second wife. (Somehow this is important when explaining this dramatic train wreck.)

SURPRISE! THIS MONTANA CITY HAS THE HIGHEST EARNERS

Turns out that Blake and Alexis Carrington had a long-lost son who was kidnapped as a baby, and was raised by his captors until adulthood in Billings, Montana. A dying 'family member' spilled the beans about his real identity as her last words. That kidnapped son was Adam Carrington, who was introduced in Season 3. According to Wikipedia:

In "The Plea", former spouses Blake and Alexis Carrington 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 was never recovered. Traumatized by the event, they had hidden his existence from their subsequent children Fallon and Steven. Meanwhile, in Billings, Montana, an elderly woman named Kate Torrance watches the broadcast from her deathbed. She tearfully tells her grandson Michael—whom she has raised since he was a baby after his parents supposedly died in a car crash—that he is really Adam Carrington.

So, Adam Carrington, of the famous Dynasty family, was raised in Billings. Fast forward to him joining the rest of his real family and all the bad stuff he did? Well, as I stated, he was an inherently evil dude. Wikipedia states:

In 1986, the New Sunday Times called Adam "one of the truly imaginative, despicable villains on television", noting that "Adam has raped the butler's daughter, painted poor Jeff Colby's office with poisonous, lead-based paint, tricked Blake into signing over power of attorney while he lay at death's door—and blew a competitor out of the water by plastering his son's homosexuality all over Denver's front pages."