Patrick Duffy ‘Wishes’ He and Late Wife Carlyn ‘Had More’ Time Together

From the time he met her on a bus when he was 22, Patrick Duffy was always in tune with his wife, Carlyn Rosser. The two lovebirds got married in 1974, amassed an impressive art collection and raised two sons, Padraic, 45, and Conor, 39. Carlyn was 10 years Patrick’s senior, but it didn’t bother him one bit.

Sadly, Carlyn died at 77 in 2017. “Patrick doesn’t hide his feelings about it,” an insider revealed to Closer Weekly in the magazine’s latest issue, on newsstands now. “He’s grateful for the years they had together, but wishes they had more.”

Patrick, 70, has suffered devastating family traumas before. Growing up as the son of bar owners Terence and Marie Duffy in Townsend, Montana, he had to cope with his father’s battles against alcoholism. “Dad would try to stop and he would, for a couple of months,” Patrick once recalled to The Daily Telegraph. “But then he would start again.”

In 1986, after Patrick had left home and found fame as Bobby Ewing on Dallas, his parents were murdered by drugged-up drifters at their tavern in Boulder, Montana. His belief in Buddhism, which Carlyn had introduced him to, helped him cope with their sudden loss. “My concept of death is different from most people’s” he once explained. “Because I know it is the most inevitable thing there is.”

Now he’s relying on that same faith to help him learn to live without Carlyn. “Buddhism is everything to him,” said the insider. “He’s a calm, centered man because of it.”

Patrick’s also leaning on his children, both of whom work in show business. “His sons and their families are over all the time,” said the insider. “He hates being alone, so they’re a wonderfully close family. He loves having them around.” He also remains close with many of his former co-stars. His best friend, Dallas’ Larry Hagman, died at 81 in 2012, but he keeps in touch with Linda Gray. “We were the trio,” he told AV/TV Club in 2014 of Larry, Linda and himself. “We called ourselves the Musketeers.”

Patrick also considers Suzanne Somers and many of the young actors who played their children on the 1991–’98 sitcom Step by Step to be family members. While he’s tentatively started dating again, he hasn’t met a new match yet. “His kids are encouraging him to find love again,” the insider dished. “They’ve even tried to set him up, but it didn’t work out.”

He’s open to the idea of remarrying. “Patrick would love to grow old with someone who has the same interests,” the source added. “He’s always hopeful, positive and seeing what’s next.” And when it comes to aging, the prospect of getting older doesn’t scare him. “I actually look forward to it. That slows it. When you fight against it, that creates negativity and is detrimental,” the dad-of-two revealed to Parade in August 2014. “I can see myself as a very old person and that’s better than being dead at 40 — it’s a beautiful process.”

He’s still acting, but he balances his career with more spiritual pursuits. “He loves nature and meditating,” the insider shared. “Patrick allows himself to be sad, but he doesn’t allow himself to wallow in it. He’s really a wonderful, complicated, funny man.”

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