Pat Colbert Dies: ‘Dallas’ & ‘Fall Guy’ Actress Was 77

Pat Colbert
Everett Collection

Pat Colbert, who played the role of the Oil Baron’s Club host Dora Mae in the CBS soap Dallas, has died. She was 77.

Colbert died on June 23 in her Compton, California home. She had three strokes in the last 10 years, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Colbert’s first television appearance was in 1979. She played a model in Eischied, the series which starred Joe Don Baker. The actress would then go on to co-star in the NBC soap opera Flamingo Road, sharing credits with actors such as John Beck, Howard Duff, Morgan Fairchild, Barbara Rush, and Mark Harmon. She appeared in the two-hour pilot and was a recurring role throughout the first season. Her character was eliminated in Season 2 when the brothel was turned into a supper club.

Through the 1980s, Colbert appeared in other television series such as Benson, The Fall Guy, Knots Landing, and A Death in California. Colbert also played the wife of Bill Cosby’s character in the 1987 spy spoof Leonard Part 6.

From 1983 though 1991, Colbert appeared on 67 episodes of Dallas, beginning with an uncredited role in Season 6, as the host of the Old Baron’s Club, an upscale restaurant that was a favorite hangout spot of the Ewing family and their colleagues.

The actress would go on to accumulate film credits including Thorn & Dusty Go to Mexico: The Lost Treasure in 2014 and If Not for His Grace in 2015.

Colbert was born in Los Angeles on January 16, 1947. Her father, LeRoy Colbert, was in construction while her mother, Eula Colbert, worked in foster care. Colbert attended Centennial High School in Compton and then junior college. She worked as a model for department store campaigns and as a fashion consultant before becoming an actress.

A funeral for Colbert is set for July 20. Flowers can be sent to the Grace Memorial Chapel and Funeral Home in Inglewood, California. She is survived by her three siblings Tami, Aaron, and Johnetta Colbert, as well as her son Michael.