The Dallas cast brought life and drama to the popular soap opera, which originally aired
on April 2nd, 1978, on CBS.
The show followed the stories of the Ewing family, the often immoral and exploitative
owners of a massive oil company.
When it first aired, the show was intended to be a miniseries, and it aired very late
at night.
The entire miniseries only had five episodes, and unfortunately, received rather low ratings.
Still, the low ratings were mostly due to its unfortunate timeslot, and producers were
impressed and surprised by the ratings it got.
Since the show performed better than they originally expected, the creators realized
they had something more valuable and decided to make it into a full-fledged series.
Dallas may have gotten off to a rocky start, but once it was moved to a better timeslot,
it performed so well that it aired for a total of 14 seasons.
Overall, this made it one of the longest-running hour-long shows in the history of American
television.
Throughout the show's runtime, a total of 357 episodes were aired until the show's eventual
end on May 3rd, 1991.
In fact, it became so popular that it inspired a spin-off series called Knots Landing, which
was also popular enough to run for 14 seasons.
Finally, in 2012, Dallas aired as a revival series for a total of three seasons until
it ended in 2014.
Dallas was famous for its dramatic plot points, which often revolved around sex, affairs,
exploitation, wealth, and unfair power structures.
At the beginning of the show, the pivotal story arc centered around Pamela Barnes and
Bobby Ewing, two members of the feuding Barnes and Ewing families.
Audience members tuned in every week to learn more about the tense, clandestine relationship
between the two forbidden lovers.
Eventually, their character arc exploded in a dramatic episode where they eloped.
But after their tense relationship was resolved, creators knew they could still keep the audience's
interest.
After that, the show began to center more around the breakout character J.R. Ewing,
Bobby's unscrupulous older brother.
Unfortunately, Dallas aired decades ago, which means that some of the most beloved cast members
are no longer with us today.
In this video, we’re going to take a look at the cast members of Dallas that you didn't
know died, and we're also going to dive into what the remaining cast members are up to
today.
Make sure you stick around to the end because we're going to reveal how the death of the
one cast member left the show's writers and creators scrambling to explain his sudden
disappearance.
1.
Larry Hagman
Larry Hagman played the most frequently appearing character in the entire series, J.R. Ewing.
At first, the character was overshadowed by his younger brother, Bobby Ewing, who was
involved in a secret relationship with Pamela Barnes.
Over time, however, J.R. Ewing became more interesting to audience members, who were
fascinated by his unscrupulous persona.
He became a breakout character and soon became the most important character in the entire
show- in fact, he was one of only two people to appear in every episode of the original
14 seasons of Dallas.
In the 2012 revival series, Larry Hagman was asked to reprise his role.
During the first year of the show, however, he tragically died of leukemia at age 81.
The writers were left scrambling to come up with some way to explain his unexpected death
and decided to create an intense and dramatic murder mystery.
Overall, the new plot point was a major success, but his former cast members were still filled
with grief over his untimely death.
2.
Ken Kercheval
Ken Kercheval was the other actor who appeared in every single episode of the original Dallas
series.
On the show, he played Cliff Barnes, a member of the rival Barnes family and the major rival
to J.R. Ewing.
His sad character, who was more suited for bureaucracy than the ruthless life of oil
business, was always outsmarted by the cunning J.R. Ewing, which only fueled his bitterness
towards him.
In real life, though, Ken Kercheval was sweet and kind, and he actually got along quite
well with J.R. Ewing's actor, Larry Hagman.
He was also best friends with Barbara Bel Geddes, who played the role of Miss Ellie
Ewing.
In 2019, however, he died of pneumonia at age 83.
3.
Barbara Bel Geddes
Barbara Bel Geddes played Miss Ellie Ewing, the matriarch of the Ewing family.
She was the very first cast member to land a role on Dallas but sadly didn’t spend
as much time on the show as she would have liked.
Sadly, she began suffering from a variety of health issues once the show began filming.
She had to leave the show for a few seasons while undergoing and recovering from heart
surgery, and her character was temporarily portrayed by actress Donna Reed instead.
Barbara Bel Geddes was the only actor to receive any formal recognition for her work on Dallas,
having received a Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Television
Series.
One year before the show ended, in 1990, Barbara Bel Geddes decided to retire from acting.
She lived a quiet, peaceful life until her death in 2005 from lung cancer.
4.
Howard Keel
Howard Keel had a hugely successful career for a time, appearing in films like Showboat,
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, and Annie Get Your Gun.
However, eventually, the roles began to dry up, and he realized he had reached a low point
in his career.
Then, he was offered to play the role of Clayton Farlow on Dallas, which helped revive his
career as an actor.
He had a great run for a total of ten years on the show, but once the series ended, he
realized his acting career was mostly at an end.
He found a few more roles before finally retiring.
Then, in 2004, he died after a long battle with colon cancer at age 85.
Sadly, many of the cast members of Dallas are no longer with us today, but there are
a few cast members who are alive and well, and still have successful careers!
Be sure you stick around until the very end, because we're going to reveal how Linda Gray,
the actress behind Sue Ellen Ewing, is doing today!
And if you're enjoying this video so far, please take a moment to like this video, and
don't forget to subscribe to Facts Verse!
5.
Sherril Lynn Rettino
Sherril Lynn Rettino was virtually unknown to the world when she first landed the role
of Jackie on Dallas.
However, her role as Cliff Barnes’ secretary soon became more and more popular among fans,
and before long, everybody knew who she was!
The show was a huge opportunity for her acting career, and she could have easily landed many
more roles after Dallas.
Tragically, however, just four years after the program ended, she was diagnosed with
breast cancer and died when she was just 39 years old in 1995.
6.
Jim Davis
Jim Davis played the role of Jock Ewing, the patriarch of the Ewing family.
He acted alongside Barbara Bel Geddes and was a pivotal part of the series.
He was cast onto the show while he was in his late 60s, however, and the show's creators
soon began to realize that his health was failing.
After four seasons on the show, even audience members noticed that something was wrong as
well.
Sensing his acting years were drawing to a close, the writers knew something had to be
done.
Much of the show revolved around Ellie and Jock’s marital problems, but they decided
to have the two reconcile their differences and go on a second honeymoon.
During the honeymoon, however, Jock died in a helicopter crash, effectively removing his
character from the show.
In real life, Jim Davis died a few years later at age 71.
7.
Patrick Duffy
Today, the majority of the original cast members of Dallas have unfortunately passed away,
but there are still a few who are alive and well today!
Patrick Duffy played the pivotal role of Bobby Ewing, a younger brother of the Ewing family
who fell in love with Pamela Barnes, a woman from the family of a rival oil company.
Much of the early seasons of the show revolved around their forbidden romance.
Patrick Duffy’s career as an actor has slowed a bit since Dallas, but he’s still making
guest appearances on shows like NCIS.
His last appearance was in 2020, but since he hasn’t officially announced his retirement,
there’s still a chance we’ll see more from him!
8.
Linda Gray
Linda Gray is famous for playing the role of Sue Ellen Ewing, the wife of the show’s
most popular character, J.R. Ewing.
In 1981, her portrayal of Sue Ellen Ewing earned her a Primetime Emmy Award nomination
for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series.
Later, she was also nominated for two Golden Globe Awards.
Today, she still works as an actor, but she’s also started working as a producer and director,
as well.
Sadly, many of the Dallas cast members have passed away, but two of them had to be written
out of the show because they had died or because their health was failing.
Were you more impressed to learn how the writers handled the characters of Larry Hagman or
Jim Davis?
Let us know in the comments below, and don’t forget to subscribe to Facts Verse for more!