Saturday, November 24, 2012

Larry Hagman, R. I. P.

Larry Hagman dead: J.R. Ewing was a business cheat, faithless husband and bottomless well of corruption. Yet with his sparkling grin, Larry Hagman masterfully created the charmingly loathsome oil baron — and coaxed forth a Texas-size gusher of ratings — on television's long-running and hugely successful nighttime soap, "Dallas." 

Although he first gained fame as nice guy Capt. Tony Nelson on the fluffy 1965-70 NBC comedy "I Dream of Jeannie," Hagman earned his greatest stardom with J.R. The CBS serial drama about the Ewing family and those in their orbit aired from April 1978 to May 1991, and broke viewing records with its "Who shot J.R.?" 1980 cliffhanger that left unclear if Hagman's character was dead.

2 comments:

Cap'n Bob said...

I saw exactly zero episodes of Dallas.

Brent McKee said...

Hagman had some very interesting friends. His best friend was Peter Fonda - he was Bridget Fonda's godfather - and he started smoking pot at the suggestion of his friend Jack Nicholson. Nicholson thought he drank too much (he was right) and offered Pot as a substitute. Hey, it worked for Bing Crosby.