Larry Hagman's Career

Larry Hagman was born in Fort Worth, Texas on September 21, 1931, the son Broadway legend Mary Martin and attorney Ben Hagman. Appropriately enough, Hagman's first acting experience was in Dallas, at Margo Jones' Theatre in the Round in 1950. In 1951, after performing in the City Center production of The Taming of the Shrew in New York, and in numerous regional theater productions, he traveled to London to appear with his mother in South Pacific. A four year stint in the Air Force followed, during which he produced and directed shows for service members.

In 1956, Larry Hagman returned to New York, where he appeared in many Broadway and Off-Broadway productions, as well as a large number of television shows, most of them live. In 1961 he joined the cast of The Edge of Night as Ed Gibson, and stayed in that role until 1963. While still in New York, he played the memorable role of Buck the Russian interpreter, opposite Henry Fonda's president, in the cold war masterpiece, Fail-Safe. When New York based television work dried up in the early to mid sixties, Hagman moved west to try his luck in Hollywood.

There he landed the role of Tony Nelson in I Dream of Jeannie, giving Hagman some measure of fame as the handsome astronaut who finds a beautiful genie on a deserted island after an aborted mission. The show lasted five years, from 1965 to 1970. After I Dream of Jeannie, Hagman starred in two sitcoms, The Good Life and Here We Go Again. Unfortunately, neither lasted more than a half season, leaving Hagman to make his living in TV movies, numerous guest appearances on TV series, and the occasional movie. In the late 1970s his luck was to change dramatically, when he took the role of J.R. Ewing on Dallas.

Dallas premiered on April 2, 1978 as five part mini-series. The cast of Dallas was large, and J.R. Ewing was not originally the focus of the show. However, it didn't take long for Hagman's portrayal of the charming villain to draw attention, as he was both fun and fascinating to watch. The show's ratings continued to climb in it's first full season, and by the second season, it had reached the top ten. The second season cliff-hanger had J.R. Ewing gunned down, with nearly everyone in the show a suspect. The mystery of "Who Shot J.R." became a world-wide phenomenon, making Larry Hagman an international star. The episode that revealed the shooter was aired on November 21, 1980 and was the highest rated U.S. television program ever, until the finale of M*A*S*H beat it a few years later. Dallas lasted 13 years, ending in 1991.

After Dallas, Larry Hagman appeared in two films and a number of TV movies, as well as the short-lived TV series Orleans. He also returned to the stage, touring the U.S. and Europe in Love Letters with his Dallas co-star Linda Gray in 1991, and appearing in Murder in the First in 2000, which was directed by Gray. In 2006, he starred in Love Letters again, this time re-uniting with Barbara Eden of I Dream of Jeannie. Hagman was back on TV in a recurring role in the fourth season of Nip/Tuck in the fall of 2006, and two episodes of Desperate Housewives in 2011.

On June 13, 2012, Dallas returned to television on TNT. Larry Hagman was once again featured as J.R. Ewing in this continuation of the series, which includes a mix of original cast members and younger actors playing the next generation of Ewings.

On November 23, 2012, Larry Hagman passed away due to complications of cancer treatment. He was in the midst of shooting the second season of Dallas, completing seven epsodes, for a total of 17. The show limped along for a third season before being cancelled. You can't have Dallas without J.R. Larry made an idelible impact on television history and will be sorely missed.

- Linda McIntyre