As Matlock hits its 40th anniversary, we’re solving the Mystery of the Disappearing Daughter. For the NBC legal drama’s first season — which kicked off on March 3, 1986 — Linda Purl played Charlene Matlock, daughter of Andy Griffith’s Ben Matlock and the junior partner at his legal practice. But by Season 2, Purl was gone.
Matlock started its life as the 1986 TV movie Diary of a Perfect Murder, in which Charlene was played by Lori Lethin. When the TV movie became a full-fledged series months later, Purl replaced Lethin in the role, telling the San Antonio Light, “They wanted someone older.”
This story originally appeared on TV Insider
