Linda Williams

Linda Williams with her co-star and lover Jeremy.

Linda Williams is the mother of Sarah, and the ex-wife of Robert Williams. She is seen only in the form of newspaper and magazine clippings at the start of Labyrinth, however her role is somewhat expanded in the film's novelization.

Role In The Film

A scrap-book in Sarah's room features multiple clippings and articles that feature a woman called Linda Williams, who is revealed in the novelization of the film to be Sarah's absent mother. Clippings referring to Linda are also stuck to Sarah's vanity. While she is never referred to explicitly in the film, it is implied that Sarah idolizes Linda and her apparent success as an actress. As well as featuring in the scrap-book and in the clippings tacked to Sarah's vanity, Linda is seen in photos in other parts of Sarah's room.

The magazine clippings featuring Linda largely appear to be taken from theatre magazines such as Playbill, which features Linda on the cover. The headlines of the clippings include 'A Theatregoer's Notebook', 'Linda Williams: On-Off Romance Back Together?', 'Williams: Love, It's All Over' and 'The Onstage Kiss'. The clippings titled 'On-Off Romance' and 'The Onstage Kiss' both feature Linda with her lover Jeremy, who is only named in the film's novelization.

Appearances In Other Media

Return To Labyrinth

In the fourth volume of Return to Labyrinth, Linda is featured in three distinct scenes with a young Sarah. The first is a dream of Moppet's that features Linda, Robert and Sarah, whose appearance alternates between that of a teenaged Sarah and Moppet herself. Linda is shown encouraging Sarah's passion for theatre, and tells Sarah of her plans to take her away so she can learn to be actress. When Sarah questions Linda about her relationship with her father, Linda replies that she and Robert are still happy together and in love.

In the second sequence to feature Linda, an adult Sarah witnesses a grotesque puppet show where caricatures of herself and her family appear. In the show, Linda is shown to callously abandon Sarah to run away with her boyfriend Jeremy.

The final scene to feature Linda is a continuation of Moppet's dream, and shows Linda becoming gradually more frustrated with Sarah/Moppet as she rapidly recovers the painful memories taken from her when Mizumi split her soul. In this scene, it is revealed that 'Moppet' was the affectionate nickname Linda had for Sarah when she was a child.

The veracity of all of the scenes in Return to Labyrinth that feature Linda is highly dubious, with the first and third taking place in a dream of Moppet's and the second being a puppet show put on by Jareth to stir Sarah's memories of him.