Broadway: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer; Getting and Spending. Off-Broadway: Mr. Toole, The Baby Dance. Regional (partial listing): The Children, Romeo and Juliet, The Merchant of Venice, Hedda Gabler, The Real Thing, A Glass Menagerie, The Little Foxes, A Streetcar Named Desire, The Tempest, The Road to Mecca with Miss Julie Harris, A Doll’s House, Dinner with Friends (original production), The Year of Magical Thinking, Hippolytus, Camille, Copenhagen, Beyond Therapy, Love, Loss and What I Wore, Tenderly, The Children, Oliver, Grease, On a Clear Day, Three Penny Opera, The King and I…at such theatres as Long Wharf, Actors Theatre of Louisville, The Old Globe, Mark Taper, Santa Fe Opera, Cleveland Playhouse, Laguna Playhouse, Santa Barbara Ensemble Theatre Company, The Lensic Santa Fe, Berkeley Rep, Williamstown Theatre Festival (six seasons); The Other Palace, London; Theatre Princesse Grace, Monaco; Imperial Theatre, Tokyo, Japan. 2022 UK tour of Catch Me If You Can.
Partial film: True Grit, Mighty Joe Young, Bender, The Walking Major, Leo and Loree, Sundays, Paul’s Promise.
Purl has starred in over 45 US made-for-TV movies. TV recurring roles: Hacks (Kathy Vance), Matlock (Charlene Matlock), Happy Days (Ashley Pfister/Fonzie’s fiancée), The Office (US version, Helene Beesly), The Oath with Sean Bean. Homeland (Elizabeth Gaines). Current recurring: The Bold and the Beautiful, After Forever.
Born in Connecticut, Purl grew up in Japan, becoming the only foreigner to have trained at the Toho Geino Academy. Her studies continued at Neighborhood Playhouse and Lee Strasberg Institute. She was Co-Founder of the Colorado Festival of World Theatre, Executive Director from 2004-2008. She was Founder of the California International Theatre Festival and served as Artistic Director from 2008-2014. In 2022 along with her partner Patrick Duffy, she founded Duffy’s Dough. All net proceeds are given to food scarcity programs. Purl and Music Director Tedd Firth currently tour in concert. Their fourth and latest album is This Could Be the Start. Past concert venue appearances include Catalina Jazz Club, 54 Below, Dizzy’s and Rose Hall at Lincoln Center Jazz, Birdland, Naples Philharmonic, Colorado Springs Symphony, Crazy Coqs (London), Club Raye (Paris) and Satin Doll (Tokyo).