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In the end, these actresses may be making a bigger impact off-screen than on. Linda Evans, 41, the striking beauty who plays Krystle Carrington on Dynasty, in particular has become a sort of matron saint for the over-40 crowd. Says she: "I'm thrilled to be able to say to women, 'I'm 41, and I love it. Come along down the road. It's not horrible.' " Adds Dallas' Linda Gray, 44: "I feel grateful that Joan and Linda and I are role models for women in America. We are saying 'Don't give up. You can get that sense of self whether you stay at home and be a housewife or go out in the work force. You have to honor the uniqueness within yourself and have the guts to persevere.' " Guts, perseverance and a few thousand dollars' worth of designer clothes, and the sky is the limit.
—By Richard Zoglin.
Reported by Dense Worrell/Los Angeles