The Dallas and I Dream Of Jeannie star passes at age 81!
Larry Martin Hagman (September 21, 1931 November 23, 2012) was an American film and television actor, producer and director most known for playing J. R. Ewing in the 1980s primetime television soap opera Dallas and for playing Major Anthony "Tony" Nelson in the 1960s sitcom I Dream of Jeannie. His films include Fail-Safe, Superman, JFK, Nixon and Primary Colors. His television appearances continued in international soap operas and with guest roles on shows such as Desperate Housewives into the 21st century. In 2012, he reprised his role as J.R. Ewing in an updated version of Dallas.
Hagman was the son of the actress Mary Martin. A long-time drinker, he underwent a life-saving liver transplant in 1995, and although a member of a 12-step program, he publicly advocated marijuana as a better alternative to alcohol. He died on November 23, 2012, of complications from throat cancer.
After years of guest-starring in many television roles, and starring in a less successful series the previous year, Hagman hit the jackpot in 1965 playing Barbara Eden's television "master" and eventual love interest, Air Force Captain (later Major) Anthony Nelson in the highly successful sitcom I Dream of Jeannie for NBC. The show had climbed into the Top 30 in its first year and was NBC's answer to both successful 1960s magical comedies, Bewitched on ABC and My Favorite Martian on CBS. The show ran until 1970, and continues to be shown on TV networks around the world. Two reunion movies were later made, both televised on NBC: I Dream of Jeannie: 15 Years Later (1985) and I Still Dream of Jeannie (1991), though Hagman did not appear in either of them.
In November 1999, after 29 years, Hagman agreed to reunite with Jeannie co-stars Barbara Eden and Bill Daily and creator/producer Sidney Sheldon on the The Donny and Marie Show. In 2002, when I Dream of Jeannie was set to join the cable channel TV Land, Hagman once again took part in a I Dream of Jeannie reunion with Eden and Daily, this time on Larry King Live. On the TV Land Awards in March 2004, Hagman and Eden were the first presenters to reunite on stage. The following October, Hagman and Daily appeared at The Ray Courts Hollywood Autograph Show. And the following year, 2005 brought all three surviving stars from I Dream of Jeannie to the first ever cast reunion at The Chiller Expo Show.
Hagman reunited with Eden in March 2006 for a publicity tour in New York City to promote the first season DVD of I Dream of Jeannie. He reunited once again with Eden on stage in the play Love Letters at the College of Staten Island in New York and the United States Military Academy, West Point, New York. The appearance marked the first time the two had acted together since Eden appeared with Hagman on Dallas in 1990.
Dallas
In 1977, Hagman was offered two roles on two television series that were debuting. One was for The Waverly Wonders and the other for Dallas. Maj Hagman told Larry Hagman to take the role in Dallas.[8] In Dallas, Hagman was cast as the conniving elder son and businessman J. R. Ewing, a man whom everybody loved to hate. When Hagman read the script for the role of J.R. at his wife's suggestion,[8] they both concluded it was perfect for him. Seen in over 90 countries, the show became a worldwide success and Hagman became one of the best known television stars of the era. By the end of its second season, Dallas was a hit. Producers were keen to capitalize on that love/hate family relationship of J.R.'s, building anticipation to a fever-pitch in the 1980 cliffhanger season finale in which J.R. is shot.[citation needed]At the beginning of the fourth season of Dallas, audience and actors were guessing "Who shot J.R.?", now one of fictional TV's most famous questions to have ever been asked. During the media buildup, Hagman was involved in contract negotiations, delaying his return in the fourth season. Holding out for a higher salary, Hagman did not appear in the first episode of the show until the final few minutes. Producers were faced with a dilemma whether to pay the greatly increased salary or to write J.R. out of the picture. Lorimar Productions, the makers of the series, began shooting different episodes of Dallas which did not include Hagman. In the midst of negotiations, Hagman took his family to London for their July vacation.[9] He continued to fight for his demands and network executives conceded that they wanted J.R. to remain in Dallas. From then on, Hagman became one of the highest-paid stars on television. At the beginning of the third season, writers were told to keep the storylines away from the actors until they really found out who actually shot J.R., and it took three weeks until the culprit was revealed on November 21, 1980 in a ratings record-breaking episode.
For his performance as J.R. Ewing, Hagman was nominated for two Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series in 1980 and 1981, but did not win. He was also nominated for four Golden Globe Awards, between 1981 and 1985. He was nominated for a Soap Opera Digest Award seven times for Outstanding Villain on a Prime Time Serial, Outstanding Actor in a Leading Role on a Prime Time Serial, Favorite Super Couple: Prime Time and Outstanding Actor in a Comic Relief Role on a Prime Time Serial, and won five times. In 1984, co-star (Barbara Bel Geddes) left the show after suffering a heart attack. At one point, Hagman suggested to his real-life mother (Mary Martin) that she play Miss Ellie, but she refused and Bel Geddes was replaced with veteran actress Donna Reed. Reed was fired from the show, just months before her death in 1986, aged 64, from pancreatic cancer.[citation needed] Bel Geddes returned to the role in 1985 and stayed until 1990. By the end of its thirteenth season in 1991, ratings had slipped to the extent that CBS decided to end Dallas. 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. Some years after Dallas ended, Hagman appeared in two subsequent Dallas television movies: J.R. Returns in 1996, and War of the Ewings in 1998.
Hagman reprised his role as J.R. Ewing in TNT's continuation of Dallas, which began in 2012
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