Dallas star Graduates to West End

Gray is a UN goodwill ambassador

Actress Linda Gray, who starred as the drunken Sue Ellen in the US TV soap Dallas, is to tread the boards as Mrs Robinson in the hit West End show The Graduate.

Gray, 60, will be the oldest star to play the seductress so far, following in the footsteps of Anne Archer, Amanda Donohoe, Jerry Hall and Kathleen Turner.

The role has whipped up media interest due to both its crop of film stars in the female lead, and the fact that she appears nude on stage.

Sue Ellen was married to the infamous JR Ewing

Gray's first involvement with the production was more than 30 years ago, when - as an unknown model - her stocking-clad leg was pictured on the poster for the original film, starring Anne Bancroft.

But the actress is best-known for her 11-year portrayal of the quivering-lipped Sue Ellen, who was married to dastardly oil baron JR Ewing in Dallas.

Dallas was watched by millions of people around the world during its heyday in the late 1970s and 1980s.

As well as garnering her international fame, the series also led to Gray being voted Woman of the Year by the Hollywood and Radio Television Society.

Her other film and television credits include a guest star role in Aaron Spelling's series Melrose Place and a part in the BBC drama Lovejoy with Ian McShane.

Turner's performance divided critics

Gray's stage credits include The Vagina Monologues and Love Letters.

She is currently an Ambassador of Goodwill for the United Nations.

The Graduate, a West End adaptation of the 1967 film, has proved hugely successful after opening at London's Gielgud Theatre in April.

The show sold more than £2m in advance bookings, before it had even opened, and has gone on to break the theatre's box office records.

Gray will take over from Anne Archer as Mrs Robinson on 1 October.