Linda Cristal Dies: ‘The High Chaparral’ Actress Was 89
Greg Evans Associate Editor/Broadway CriticLinda Cristal, the Argentine-born actress who played Victoria Cannon, wife of Leif Erickson’s stoic, heroic rancher Big John Cannon on NBC’s popular 1967-71 Western The High Chaparral, died in her sleep at her Beverly Hills home Saturday. She was 89.Her death was reported to The New York Times by son Jordan Wexler.Cristal had built a career as an actress during the 1950s in Mexico’s film industry when she was cast in an English-speaking role in 1956’s Comanche, directed by George Sherman and starring Dana Andrews.Film and TV credits throughout the late 1950s and early 1960s included roles in Rawhide, Seven Sins, The Alamo, The Tab Hunter Show and Iron Horse, among others.