Jeff Colby is a key supporting character in the CW series Dynasty as well as the original '80s series. He is a young and wealthy man who has a never-ending rivalry with the tycoon Blake Carrington. Jeff also has an on-and-off relationship with Blake's daughter Fallon.
Despite having the appearance of a calm person, Jeff is an expert at manipulating people and playing dirty games. While the character has been explored in detail in both the original series and the reboot, there are a couple of things viewers might have missed about him.
Bilingual
Jeff Colby speaks both English and the West African dialect of Yoruba quite fluently. Jeff was first seen speaking Yoruba to his father who he had just been reunited with. While keen viewers might have realized what language it was, several might have wondered what Jeff was saying.
Jeff speaks Yoruba because he is of Nigerian descent. The Jeff Colby in the original Dynasty series didn't speak Yoruba because he was born and raised in America.
Rivalry With Blake
Jeff totally hates Blake for a number of reasons. The feeling is mutual on Blake's side. But in the original series, it was Jeff's uncle Cecil Colby, who had a rivalry with Blake. Jeff was in good terms with the multimillionaire.
Cecil Colby was rewritten to be Jeff's father in the reboot and not his uncle. Part of the reason why Jeff hates Blake is because he paid a judge to put give his father Cecil a ten-year prison sentence. Cecil also accused Blake of having an affair with his wife.
Jeff And Fallon's Relationship
Jeff had a crush on Fallon ever since they were kids. As adults, they became business partners and founded the Morell Green Energy Corporation together. They soon began mixing work and play and even considered getting married. However, things turned sour when Fallon discovered Jeff was using her to get revenge on Blake.
In the original series, their relationship was a lot deeper. Jeff and Fallon got married and even had a baby, though Fallon initially wanted to abort the child. The two were also not related, while in the reboot, it is revealed that Jeff is Fallon's distant cousin.
The Character Has Been Portrayed By Three Actors In The Reboot
Whenever there is a need to show a character through various stages of their lives. two options can be taken. First is the costly anti-aging technology that Scorsese used in The Irishman. The second option is just to get actors of different ages to play the character.
Nigerian-born American actor Sam Adegoke has portrayed the adult Jeff ever since the start of the series. Another actor named Ezekiel Ajeigbe also portrayed a teenage Jeff. Baby Jeff was also portrayed briefly by the child actor Jamir Vega.
How He Became A Billionaire
Jeff is super-rich. This might seem odd for a man who doesn't spend a lot of time doing business deals. But there is a reason why he has so much money. It is briefly mentioned that Jeff used to work at Carrington Atlantic's I.T. department.
While there, he developed a music software that Blake felt belonged to the company. Jeff disagreed so the two went to court. Jeff won the case, earning himself a billion dollars. From that time, he became a proper rival to Blake and there's been no love lost ever since.
Youth Years
When Jeff was a teen, he tried to pursue Fallon. He even planned on taking her to a prom dance but Blake wanted him nowhere near his daughter. He even blackmailed Jeff so that he could stay away.
This never works and it didn't work here either. Jeff was still determined to go through with the plan but Alexis blocked it by lying that Fallon had gone with another boy. Jeff was thus left heartbroken. He would only come to know the truth when he was an adult.
There Was A Spinoff Series Revolving Around Jeff
Back in the late '80s a Dynasty spinoff series titled The Colbys was created. The series sees Jeff relocating to California to start new business ventures there. Fallon, who had been presumed dead, reappears and ends up marrying Jeff's cousin Miles.
Despite having an extremely high production budget, the series was canceled after only two seasons due to disappointing ratings. After the series cancellation, the characters of Jeff and Fallon were reintroduced in Dynasty while the rest were discarded.
Number Companies He Has Owned
Given how quickly the plot moves, it might be hard to keep up with the total number of business ventures that Jeff Colby has been involved in. Well, he has been the CEO of ColbyCo since the start of the series up until now.
Jeff is also a shareholder of The Atlantix soccer club which is currently owned by Michael Culhane. He also co-owned Morell Green Energy with Fallon. At the moment, he is also the owner of a new streaming service. It has been implied that he's also been featured several times on Forbes magazine.
Love Life
Jeff has had his fair share of romantic relationships. He has been involved with Fallon Carrington, Alexis Carrington, Mia, and Kirby Andrews in the reboot.
In the original series, Jeff was romantically involved with Fallon Carrington, Nicole Simpson, Claudi Blaisdel, Leslie Carrington, Sammy Jo (who was a woman then), and a photojournalist named Lady Ashley Mitchell. Maybe he'll hook up with even more people in the reboot.
Race Change
In the original Dynasty series, Jeff was white. He was portrayed by actor John James. However, in the reboot, the races of he and several characters were changed. Another character that was also turned from white to Black was Michael Culhane.
Sammy Jo was not only turned from white to Latin American but there was a gender change as well. The character was rewritten to be a male gay man instead of a woman.