The Texas Film Hall of Fame
March 11-13, 2009, Austin, Texas
Larry Hagman was inducted into the Austin Film Society's Texas Film Hall of Fame on March 12, 2009. His friend and Dallas co-star Linda Gray presented the award to him.
The stars, Billy Bob Thornton, Dennis Quaid, Keith Carradine, Powers Boothe, Luke Wilson, Brendan Fraser, Thomas Haden Church, director Catherine Hardwicke, the cast of Friday Night Lights and, of course, Larry Hagman and Linda Gray, were all staying at the Four Seasons. There was a VIP party for them on March 11th, at a private home.
The awards ceremony was held at a movie studio in Austin. The media lined the red carpet, read to grab photos of the stars as they appeared. Larry, Maj and Linda arrived, slowly, very slowly walking down the red carpet. They were interviewed every step of the way! After getting through the crush of reporters, they mingled at the cocktail party. The party featured an open bar and high tables scattered throughout the room.
There was another room, packed with tables, for the dinner and awards ceremony. The dinner was catered by The Four Seasons, and included steak, mashed potatoes, green beans and mushrooms. The cast of Friday Night Lights auctioned off several very expensive items, then the Master of Ceremonies, Thomas Haden Church, came out. He was very funny! He spoke about the poster for The Graduate which features Linda Gray's leg, and imagining the "heiney attached to that leg." When Linda came out and they passed each other, she grabbed HIS "heiney"! She gave a wonderful speech about "Mr. Hagman" as she refers to him (she is "Ms. Gray"), calling him a consummate actor, funny, adorable and her best friend.
They showed clips from Larry's career, starting with I Dream of Jeannie, followed by several of his movies, Fail-Safe, Mother Jugs and Speed, Superman, S.O.B, Nixon and Primary Colors. Next came more TV, Nip/Tuck and lots and lots of Dallas mostly with Linda Gray, of course!
When Larry Hagman came out, to the Dallas theme, he got a well deserved standing ovation! He thanked Linda Gray, introduced his wife Maj, talked about how many people have never seen Dallas but everyone has seen I Dream of Jeannie. Earlier, Thomas Haden Church mentioned something about residuals from I Dream of Jeannie, so Larry straightened that one out, saying they got none, and blasted Ronald Reagan, who was president of SAG and didn't believe in residuals, in the process! He praised fellow honoree Catherine Hardwicke's movie Twilight, and encouraged people to contribute to the Austin Film Society's goal of having more movies filmed in Texas. He then threw his "Hagman money" into the audience!
The next day, Larry, Maj and Linda were on the cover of the Austin American-Statesman!