Larry Hagman

Actor, Producer, and Director. He will be remembered for two iconic television roles: As the comical Major Anthony Nelson in the sitcom I Dream of Jeannie, and for the villainous Texas oil tycoon, J.R. Ewing on the prime-time hit Dallas. Hagman was born in Weatherford, Texas, near Fort Worth. His parents divorced in 1936, when he was five years old. He lived with his grandmother in Texas while his mother, Mary Martin, became an actress. Hagman was sent to boarding schools, where he first started drinking alcohol in his teens. A habit that would become a problem for him later in life. He would return to Texas for the last two years of high school. He lived with his father, on his Weatherford, Texas ranch. During those years, he developed an interest in theater. He briefly spent a year at Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York, and spent some time doing regional theater during the early 1950s. Hagman was drafted into the U.S. Air Force in 1952. He found time for theater during his time in the service Hagman worked on productions for his fellow soldiers. After leaving the Air Force in 1956, Hagman returned to New York City, where he landed roles in several plays. His big break came in 1965, when he landed a leading role in his first major television series, I Dream of Jeannie, which co-starred actress Barbara Eden. The series ran for five seasons. After I Dream of Jeannie, he starred in two short-lived series in the 1970s: Here We Go Again and The Good Life. He also appeared in various television films, including Getting Away from It All, Sidekicks, The Return Of The World’s Greatest Detective, and Intimate Strangers. He appeared in motion pictures Harry and Tonto, Mother, Jugs & Speed, and Primary Colors. He directed, and also made a brief appearance, in a low-budget comedy/horror film in 1972 called Beware! The Blob. In 1977, Hagman was given a script for a new show that would change his life and television as well, Dallas. It debuted in the spring of 1978, and followed the lives of the Ewings, a wealthy Texas family. As J. R. Ewing, Hagman played the man viewers would “love to hate.” At the end of the 1979-1980 season, viewers had to puzzle over one of the most riveting cliffhangers of television history: “Who shot J.R.?” The show ran from 1978-1991, during which Hagman was nominated for two Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series in 1980 and 1981, and was also nominated for four Golden Globe Awards, between 1981-1985. Hagman was the only actor to appear in all 357 episodes. He had also made five guest appearances on the Dallas spin-off series Knots Landing in the early 1980s. Hagman appeared in two Dallas television movies: J.R. Returns in 1996, and War of the Ewings in 1998. He reprised his role as J.R. Ewing in TNT’s continuation of Dallas, which began in 2012. Hagman had his own real-life drama when in August 1995, he underwent a life-saving liver transplant after being diagnosed with liver cancer. In June 2011, Hagman reported he had stage 2 throat cancer, he described it as, “a very common and treatable form of cancer.” With his children and wife of 57 years and some cast members of his Dallas family, Larry Hagman succumbed to the throat cancer. He was the chairman of the American Cancer Society’s annual Great American Smokeout for many years, and also worked on behalf of the National Kidney Foundation. Larry Hagman has a ‘Star’ on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contributions to television.