45 Years Later...
RETURN TO DALLAS
MORE THAN FOUR DECADES AFTER THE SOAPY DRAMA'S DEBUT, THE EWING CLAN REUNITE AND REFLECT ON THE MAGIC OF ONE OF TV'S MOST GROUNDBREAKING HITS
By JASON SHEELER
All in the Family From left: Audrey Landers, Linda Gray, Patrick Duffy, Joan Van Ark, Charlene Tilton and Steve Kanaly at Oscar’s restaurant in Palm Springs, Calif., in June 2023.
Back at South Fork . . . The original cast of Dallas in 1978: clockwise from top left, Patrick Duffy, Victoria Principal, Barbara Bel Geddes, Larry Hagman, Linda Gray, Jim Davis and Charlene Tilton
Patrick DUFFY
Duffy, 74, left after season 8 and returned for season 10 with an unforgettable shower scene. When Pam Ewing (Victoria Principal), the wife of Duffy’s Bobby, woke up and found him in the bathroom, she realized his death (and thus all of season 9) had been a dream. “I did it because Haggy asked,” he recalls of his return. “Larry said, ‘I can’t go on without my brother.’ ”
Audrey LANDERS
Landers, 67, played Afton Cooper, a lounge singer who was involved with both J.R. and Cliff Barnes, played by Ken Kercheval (above). " was a child actor," says Landers, who worked on the daytime soap Somerset and often appeared onscreen with her sister Judy. "I had soaped my whole life. Dallas offered me the opportunity to sing the songs I wrote on the show. And all of a sudden had this incredible recording career."
Dallas by the Numbers
357 Total episodes over 13 years
2 Actresses—Victoria Principal and Margaret Michaels—who played Pamela Ewing
33.3 Million viewers of the series finale on May 3, 1991 (the 12th-mostwatched series finale in TV history)
4 Episodes featuring a young actor named Brad Pitt
Linda GRAY
Gray's Sue Ellen Ewing was famously on and off the wagon. "I liked all my drunk scenes," Gray, 83, says,"especially the ones in the alley with the bag lady!" But it was Sue Ellen's on-off relationship with J.R. that defined her experience. “J.R. was such an a--hole," Gray says. "But Larry, he was wonderful." And mischievous, Gray adds. Hagman was famous for his "silent Sundays," when he wouldn't talk."It wasn't vocal rest," she says with a laugh. "It was bulls--!”
Joan VAN ARK
Van Ark, 80, was supposed to film just one episode as Valene Ewing (the sweet ex-wife of J.R.’s brother Gary), but her character stayed for the first season and then led the spin-off Knots Landing from 1979 to 1993. “They said, ‘Dallas is so good, we’ll take one character and plunk them down in the middle of a cul-de-sac for all of it: the good, the bad and the ugly of marriage.’ ”
Steve KANALY
Kanaly, 77, played Ray Krebbs, a foreman on Southfork Ranch who was discovered to be J.R. and Bobby's half-brother. He recalls behind-the-scenes fallout from at least one of the show's many twists: When season 9 was made a dream in order to bring back Bobby, some actors "were pissed because their storylines were lost," he says. "It had a big impact."
Charlene TILTON
“We laughed so much,” Tilton, 64, remembers. She also appreciates how the writers and producers harnessed the show’s power. “I loved when Lucy was engaged to Kit. He had to come out of the closet because J.R. was going to out him as gay, and Lucy said, ‘No, I’ll handle it.’ The writing was so beautiful—and before that type of storyline was really on television.”
WHO LOVED J.R.?
“He was never meant to be likable, but everyone loved to hate J.R.,” says Dallas director Paulsen of the character who graced the cover of People in 1980 (inset). Adds Victoria Principal, who was not at the reunion: “I don’t think the public is aware of how perceptive and thoughtful Larry was to other people’s feelings.” Hagman died of cancer in 2012 at 81. “He’s always with us,” says Duffy, who believes Hagman was with him before they even met. “When I shook Larry’s hand, it was like, ‘Oh s---, this is not the first time. This is my best friend.’ Haggy was probably my best friend many times.” •