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Pat Colbert (Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)

Pat Colbert (1947–2024), actress who played Dora Mae on Dallas

by Linnea Crowther

Pat Colbert was an actress best known for her performance on “Dallas” as Dora Mae, host of the Oil Baron’s Club. 

Pat Colbert’s legacy 

Colbert’s first notable role came in the short-lived TV show “Flamingo Road,” on which she played a young woman working at the town bordello. She recurred in the show’s first season, written out when the roadhouse went legitimate. Her role on “Dallas” was much more substantial, appearing as Dora Mae in 67 episodes over several seasons of the popular primetime soap opera. She was the only Black regular character on “Dallas” and was a fixture at the swanky restaurant where the Ewings often dined. 

While appearing on “Dallas,” Colbert took a role in her most notable film, the 1987 Bill Cosby flop “Leonard Part 6,” in which she played the wife of spy Leonard Parker. She also made appearances on such TV shows as “Benson,” “The Fall Guy,” “Knots Landing” and “Sisters.” In the early 1980s, Colbert had a brief run on “The Price Is Right” as one of its “Barker’s Beauties” models assisting host Bob Barker (1923–2023), the first Black woman to do so. 

Tributes to Pat Colbert 

Dallasfanzine is sad to report the passing of Pat Colbert, who played hostess and queen of the Oil Barons Club, Dora Mae…

Posted by Dallas Fanzine on Tuesday, July 9, 2024

Full obituary: The Hollywood Reporter 

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