Canadian actor, Gordon Thomson may be best-known worldwide for his role as the evil, yet dashing Adam Carrington from 1982 to 1989 on the ABC Television prime-time drama "Dynasty", one of the most popular prime-time shows in television history. This role earned him a Golden Globe nomination in 1988, along with Soap Opera Digest award nominations for Dynasty in 1986, 1988, 1989.
For a while during the second season Dr. Nick Toscani (played by James Farentino) was the main villain on the show, not Alexis/Joan Collins. But Alexis so upstaged Toscani that she took over as the Big Bad before the second season ended. After Farentino left, Adam Carrington, Blake and Alexis' long lost son, took over as the main male villain; him being psychopathic; although Alexis still outflanked him in terms of villain status for the remainder of the show.
Gordon Thomson originated the role of Adam Carrington in "The Plea", the September 1982 season premiere of Dynasty's third season. According to Thomson, "They had planned on Adam being an impostor but they liked him so much they decided to keep him on. They tested me for 13 shows, then extended that to 24." Thomson played the character until the series finale in 1989.
Joan Collins is only twelve years older than Gordon Thomson, who played her eldest son Adam on the show. When he was cast at the start of season 3, Collins told Thomson he was too old to play her son.
Kirby's middle name is Alicia, Adam's middle name is Alexander, and Cecil's middle name is Baldwin.
The character of Adam was added so that there would be a male villain to counter-act female villain Alexis.
The character of Adam Carrington was homophobic, and often bullied his gay brother Steven about his sexual orientation. Ironically, Gordon Thomson came out as gay in 2017 in real life, and the two actors who played Steven are not.
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."
The Moldavian Massacre finale of season 5 had mixed reactions in hindsight from the cast and crew. Gordon Thomson (Adam) thought the follow-up, but not the massacre itself, was a letdown. John James (Jeff) believed this was the moment the show "maxed out on outrageness". Series creator Esther Shapiro believed that the finale was "well-produced" but they could've done something else.
The original plans after the infamous Moldavian Massacre were for King Galen to propose Alexis to marry him and become Queen of Moldavia. Alexis would have refused the proposal, however a dream sequence of the wedding had been shot. Because the viewer response to the entire Moldavian storyline was highly unfavorable, several scenes of three episodes were replaced by new scenes, including the royal wedding dream sequence.
Comparing Adam to J.R. Ewing (Larry Hagman), the villainous oil baron on "Dallas", Gordon Thomson said, "Adam doesn't have as much money or power. But Adam is more underhanded and he isn't as blatant." He added, "Ruthless men usually attain power." Thomson explained that soap operas need villains to drive story, and said, ""I've played heavies before but none as demonic as Adam. He's the most rotten guy in prime time."
Thomson attempted to sue Aaron Spelling Productions in the early 1990s for not telling him early enough about the mini-series "Dynasty: The Reunion". In the years following the original "Dynasty," Thomson had become a cast member of the daytime soap Santa Barbara and was unable to take time off because of the conflicting schedules. His role on "Dynasty: The Reunion" was recast with actor Robin Sachs.
After cancelation of the show, Linda Evans, Gordon Thomson, Heather Locklear and John James, all remained close to John Forsythe, until Forsythe's death in 2010.
Trivia items from IMDB
Listen to my fascinating conversation with actor Gordon Thomson by clicking on the links below. Enjoy!
Episode 35 - HERE
Episode 36 - HERE
