In Memory of J. R. Ewing: The Man you loved to Hate

Last year by my friend John Bloom aka Joe Bob Briggs wrote a fantastic article for D Magazine. In that article John writes that a city can’t pick their Icons the Icons pick the city.

In 2012 one if those Icons returned for one last Hurrah and that Icon was John Ross Ewing II but known to all of us by the name of J.R. Ewing portrayed by Larry Hagman.

 You don’t live in Dallas nearly all of your life and not hear about the legend of J.R. Ewing. I have to admit that I didn’t watch the show during its original run, I was simply too young. I was watching Masters of the Universe and GI Joe.

I remember many of my family coming here and they all wanted to visit Southfork Ranch which had at that point had become a tourist attraction. The only thing that I knew about J.R. at that time was that he got shot at some point.

Over time and when I grew older and I began doing more business within the city of Dallas I began to hear more about the show and how it helped the Dallas community but also how it painted the image of the Texas Business Man.

In 2011 it was announced that TNT was going to be producing a continuation of the series I have to admit that I was keenly interested because Dallas needs some good productions here and that many members of the original cast were returning to the series as well as a new cast I was keenly interested and when it premiered in June of 2012 I was watching along with millions of other viewers

That is when I started looking into the character of J. R. Ewing and I began to understand the appeal of the character.

Sadly this was short-lived as Larry Hagman who played the character passed away on Thanksgiving weekend in 2012 from complications of throat cancer. It was made clear that J.R. would meet his end  in the second season of the continuation series.

Now first off to look into the character of J.R. we need to look at the man that portrayed him, the late Larry Hagman.

Unlike many of his costars on the original Dallas Hangman was actually from Texas.

Larry Hagman was born in Ft Worth Texas on September 21, 1931 to Attorney Benjamin Hagman and actress Mary Martin. Hagman’s parents divorced in 1936 and he remained in Texas with his Grandmother while his mother went on to become a Broadway star. After his Grandmother died Hagman was sent a strict military school and also lived with his mother and her new husband. Deciding that he could not live with his stepfather Hagman returned to Texas and lived with his father and despite his father’s desire for him to become an attorney Hagman decided to go into acting.

Before Dallas Larry Hagman is best known for his role of Major Nelson on I Dream of Genie and was the Director of the B Film Son of the Blob that was later rereleased as Beware the Blob. which had the tagline on it's re release The film that J.R. Shot

Hagman even filmed a cameo scene in Richard Donner’s Superman film.

Hagman took the role of J. R. Ewing thinking that it would be a small supporting role to the lead actor Patrick Duffy as his younger brother Bobby Ewing.

The original focus on the series was the Hatfield and McCoy style feud between the wealthy Ewing and the lower class Barnes families. After Duffy’s handlers decided that his character should not be an antagonist all of the “Evil” characteristics were given to Hagman turning him into what TV Guide voted as “Televisions number 1 Villain”.

J.R. Ewing became the show’s breakout star becoming the lead character and remaining with the show for its entire 14 Season run.  

The character was dubbed “The man that everyone loved to hate”. Hagman later stated in an interview that “J. R. Ewing was a silence to steal.

Hagman became fast friends with many of his Dallas costars particularly Patrick Duffy and the two would take frequent fishing trips together. When Duffy left the series in 1985 the ratings dropped many felt that this drop was caused because a Hero is only as good as his Villain and the same rule applies.

The Dallas series frequently featured J.R.’s doing wrong having to be countered by Bobby’s doing right. It was Larry Hagman that convinced Patrick Duffy to return to the series and the writers made the controversial decision to make an entire season of the show to be a long dream had by Bobby’s wife Pamela.

Hagman also maintained a close relationship with Linda Gray who played his onscreen off and on wife Sue Ellen.

Always the ham Hagman, Duffy and Gray frequently cut up on set playing pranks on each other as well as their fellow cast mates.

Larry Hagman struggled with alcoholism his entire life as he started drinking at the age of 14 and continued to drink for the entire run of Dallas and he even stated that he was drinking four bottles of champagne a day on the set of Dallas.

Jack Nicholson introduced Hagman to Marijuana as a healthier alternative to his heavy drinking with Hagman saying that he “liked it because it was fun, it made me feel good, and I never had a hangover."

 David Crosby introduced him to LSD after a concert in 1969 Hagman said that "LSD was such a profound experience in my life that it changed my pattern of life and my way of thinking and I could not exclude it."

In 1995 Larry Hagman after years of heavy drinking had to undergo a lifesaving liver transplant and had not touched Alcohol since then and even stopped smoking becoming chairman of the American Cancer Society's annual Great American Smoke out.

Larry Hagman reprised the role of J. R. Ewing for 3 made for television reunion movies including a cameo as the character for the series prequel DALLAS: The Early Years and finally reprised the role for the 2012 Continuation series while battling throat cancer.

Hagman passed away on November 23, 2012 at the age of 81 from Complications from acute myeloid leukemia. He was surrounded by both his families of his Wife of 52 years Maj Axelsson and his children as well as his television family as Patrick Duffy and Linda Gray were with him when he passed.

As I stated in the days after his death that Hagman played one of Television’s greatest villains but he was a hero in real life.

The opposite of Larry Hagman was his television alter ego J. R. Ewing.

The story of J.R. begins years before his birth when his father John Ross Ewing aka Jock took purchased a stretch of land that was rich with oil so that he could drill that oil was the beginning of Ewing Oil. Jock had a partner in Willard “Digger” Barnes.  The love of Barnes’ life was Miss Ellie Southworth whose father owned Southfork Ranch and times were hard for her family with the bank trying to take away the Ranch from her family.

Jock Ewing was a wildcatter and Digger had the ability to find the oil. Digger was a notorious drunk and gambler and Jock feared that Digger would gamble away his end of the lease or trade it in for a drink and signed the lease in his own name and when Digger found that out he tried to kill Jock and failed setting off the infamous Ewing/Barnes feud as Barnes thought that Jock had stolen his share of Ewing Oil and Jock thought that Digger would ruin the company if he was a partner.

To make matters worse for Digger, Miss Ellie agreed to marry Jock if he would pay off the debt and to save Southfork from the bankers. What started out as a marriage of convenience quickly turned into a romantic relationship and Jock and Miss Ellie and they have three sons. Their names were John Ross Ewing II aka J.R., Gary Ewing, and Robert James Ewing aka Bobby Ewing.

It was later revealed that while Jock was serving in WW2 that he had an affair while overseas and that affair produced another son Ray Krebbs who Jock didn’t know was his son until many years later on the series. Before his mother died when Ray was 14 years old she sent him to Southfork Ranch with a note for Jock to take him in. Jock gave Ray a job on the ranch and continued to raise him as one of his own eventually making him the Ranch foreman.

Miss Ellie raised J.R. until he was five and at that time Jock then took over the upbringing of his eldest son grooming him to take over the family business of Ewing Oil that had become a major power in the State of Texas oil industry. Teaching J.R. the business he raised him with ruthless ambition and cut throat tactics to ensure that he would continue to grow the business.

Jock’s relationship with his middle son Gary was never a good one and Gary often quarreled with J.R. as well. Gary always had a closer relationship with his mother who said that he was the Southworth of her three boys as well as he maintained a close relationship with his brother Bobby.

Gary eventually married a woman named Valene and they had a daughter Lucy. J.R.’s constant interference in their marriage drove Gary to walk out on his family and Southfork. Valene also fled out of fear of J.R. who followed her and hired some goons to take baby Lucy from her knowing that Miss Ellie wanted to raise her on Southfork.

The youngest son was Bobby Ewing clearly the baby of the family Bobby was the one that was spoiled and given all of the attention, However Bobby was raised primarily by his mother and developed a high sense or morality and the desire to always do the right thing the polar opposite of his brother J.R.

The Barnes/Ewing feud continued for the second generation after Digger married Rebecca Barnes and she gave birth to two children who Digger raised as his own. The children were Cliff Barnes and Pamela Barnes.

Cliff Barnes went on to become a lawyer who would try on behalf of his father would do all within his power to make life and business for Ewing Oil and earning the hatred of J.R.

Where the series begins Bobby Ewing and Pamela Barnes much to the dismay of J.R. and Cliff and the confusion of Jock and Digger get married and Pamela moves to Southfork.

J.R. makes his best efforts to end the marriage even trying to get Ray to make it look like he and Pam are having an affair. But none of these efforts work and J.R. ever accepts that his sister in law is a Barnes.

Gary and Pam take a trip to Vegas where they run into a now sober Gary and Bobby convinces him to return to Southfork and return to his family which includes his wife and daughter. It is J.R.’s conniving that almost makes Gary return to the fall off the wagon and again makes him leave Southfork.

Eventually Bobby and Pam are expecting their first child which would make him the father of the first Grandchild. This knowledge forces both J.R. and his wife Sue Ellen to get drunk at the annual Ewing Barbecue where a drunken J.R. accidently causes Pam to fall out of the loft of the barn making her have a miscarriage.

Now many of you will be asking what the appeal of the character of J.R. Ewing is. There is no particular answer. J.R. Ewing makes no bones about who and what he is He is an Oil Man first and everything second. However J.R. is not all evil.

J.R. wasn’t born he was created He was raised and trained by his father to have a thirst for power and he was taught by his father that “Real power isn’t something given to you, Real Power is something you take”.

There are scenes in the series where you believe that J.R. is about to change a then he turns again and you see that a leopard doesn’t change his spots.

One of the best examples of the human side of J.R. is the storyline where he neglected his wife Sue Ellen and she when to J.R.’s nemesis Cliff Barnes for comfort and began an affair. Eventually in the season Sue Ellen gets pregnant with who the viewers as well as J.R., Pam, Bobby, believe that the baby is Cliff’s child. After the baby is born J.R. wants nothing to do with the child and eventually a paternity test reveals that John Ross Ewing III is in fact J.R.’s son. Suddenly J.R. wants all to do with his son and that is continued through all of the series and in the continuation.

In the third season of Dallas, J.R.’s schemes go many steps further. J.R. has an affair with his sister in Law Kristen and when that goes south he runs both her and her lover out of town. Drives his wife back to the bottle and after angering the family by leveraging Southfork to open some Asian oil wells J.R. finds out that the Asian oil is about to be nationalized and tricks many of his fellow oilmen into buying the wells from him resulting in them all losing money and one oil man to suicide.

While all of this is going on Digger passes away and it is revealed that he did in fact have an oil well that belonged to him and Jock and the well goes to Cliff. When J.R. finds about that fact he quickly shuts down the well angering both Cliff and Bobby. This results in Bobby leaving Southfork.

This all comes to a head in the season finale when J.R. inside of his office is shot by an unseen assailant at the end of the episode resulting in the famous cliffhanger Who Shot J.R.?

Television audiences in 1980 constantly asked the question and waited with anticipation. Larry Hagman used this leverage to raise his salary and in October the shooter was revealed to be J.R.’s Sister in Law Kristen Sheppard who avoided prosecution by pretending to be pregnant with J.R.’s child.

In the 5^th season of Dallas actor Jim Davis who played Jock Ewing passed away and the character was killed off in a helicopter crash in South America and his will revealed that there was going to be a contest between Bobby and J.R. for control of Ewing Oil.

Bobby found it difficult to work the competition strait and narrow while J.R. resorted to his usual dirty tactics and in the end of the competition a year later people were dead Miss Ellie was in a Hospital Sue Ellen was back drinking, Pam had left Bobby and Southfork was in flames.

J.R. eventually lost the competition and control of Ewing Oil was split between Bobby and J.R.

Eventually throughout the series  J.R. divorced Sue Ellen yet again and was forced to marry his “Child Bride” Cally Harper and he was revelaed to have an Illitimate son James Beaumont who J.R. embrased as his son. Cally and James caused J.R. to be places in a mental institution and after J.R. got out he lost Ewing Oil to Cliff Barnes.  Sue Ellen moved to Europe taking John Ross with her and Miss Ellie presented the deed to Southfork to Bobby Ewing.

J.R. had a visit from what he believed to be his guardian angel who showed him the world where he had never been born. The angel as it turns out is a demon and convinces J.R. to shoot himself.

The last scene in the original Dallas series shows Bobby returning to Southfork after the loss of Ewing Oil and he hears the gunshot and rushes to J.R.’s room looking shocked saying “Ooh My God!!!”.

The cast of Dallas returned in the late 90s for two reunion movies the first was DALLAS: J.R. Returns where it is revealed that J.R. had shot a mirror and not himself in the Series Finale. In both made for Television movies J.R. schemes to have the Ewing family regain control of Ewing Oil and J.R. becomes the president of Wes Star Oil as well as reuniting with John Ross.

Apparently J.R. loses it all again or the events in the TV movies aren’t considered canon to the current series on TNT.

When we first see J.R. he is comatose and he is visited by Bobby who tells him that he both loves him and misses him.

John Ross now fully grown up and is the spinning image of his father wants to drill on Southfork without the permission of Bobby. With the help of his girlfriend Elana John Ross discovers a large amount of crude oil under Southfork and strikes oil in the series premiere.

Bobby decides to sell Southfork to prevent John Ross from drilling and preserving the land and using the money from the sell to finance his son Christopher’s alternative energy company.

John Ross goes to his father who is still in the coma and tells him all of the details. Upon hearing the news J.R. snaps out of his coma and begins to help John Ross against his uncle and cousin.

J.R. eventually finds out that John Ross is trying to keep him out of the new oil company and in a strange scene after He confronts his son about the betrayal he instead reconciles with his son because he doesn’t blame him for the betrayal since he was never there for him as a father.

Eventually J.R. obtains the deed to Southfork and takes John Ross’s name off the deed. However J.R. places John Ross in charge of the business and leaves for Vegas to continue his feud with Cliff Barnes.

When J.R. finds out that Bobby has cancer he returns and despite needing to be drunk to do right he returns the deed to Bobby.

John Ross and J.R.’s plot to steal Southfork is revealed to Bobby and Christopher and Bobby retains the information on a cloud drive to keep J.R. from trying to steal Southfork again.

The final shot of the season is in the offices that will be Ewing Energies J.R. and John Ross share a drink and J.R. tells John Ross that he is truly his son “From tip to tail”.

Larry Hagman passed on before the season 2 premiere and he had already filmed 5 of the episodes of the season and was featured quite prominently in the episodes that he filmed.

When we see the Ewings again they have started Ewing Energies and J.R. is in John Ross’s office after giving him advice on seducing the daughter of a trucking company owner to blackmailing him into doing business with him.

After Sue Ellen loses the election to be the Governor of the state of Texas she is hounded by the press J.R. gets involved and uses his classic tricks to get the state Attorney General off her back and begins to reconcile with her.

J.R. then manages to flip Cliff Barnes’ right hand man into betraying him and setting up Barnes’ daughter Pamela for the murder that she committed in the previous season. However John Ross who has begun an affair with Pamela warns Barnes of the plot and Pamela does not go to jail.

John Ross and J.R.’s relationship is on the rocks at this point while all of the Ewing families unite to support Bobby’s wife Ann who is on trial for attempted murder J.R. is asked by Bobby to help him bring down Ann’s ex-husband Harris Ryland to which J.R. claims that this will be his Masterpiece.

At this point in the series the producers were using stock footage of J.R. shot earlier in the season and the previous season to show that J.R. was learning to use computers to erase the cloud drive that Bobby was using to keep J.R. from trying to take over Ewing Energies.

At the urging of Sue Ellen J.R. and John Ross reconcile and convince Sue Ellen to help them remove John Ross’s now ex-girlfriend Elana from Ewing Energies which Sue Ellen does so by taking over her shares of the company.

J.R.’s role is cut significantly in these scenes but they are quite humorous when you see J.R. using a Tablet to send Bobby an email of two dogs playing basketball to upload a virus to Bobby’s computer erasing the cloud drive and allowing John Ross and Sue Ellen to take the lead in Ewing Energies with controlling shares in the company. 

The next episode titled "The Furious and Fast" J.R. is revealed to be in Abu Dhabi looking for oil wells and in the end of the episode John Ross and Sue Ellen loose control of Ewing Energies when John Ross’ plan to sabotage a race at Texas Motor Speedway and loose Christopher a contract with the city of Dallas doesn’t work he then receives a phone call from his father who tells him that he has a plan and that it will be his Masterpiece.

J.R. goes on to tell John Ross that he loves him and that he is proud of him and that he should not have to pay for his sins.

At that point you see J.R. reacting to some footsteps behind him and the scene cuts to John Ross on the phone hearing gunshots and screaming for his father.

The next episode opens in Nuevo Laredo where Christopher, John Ross, Bobby and Sue Ellen are being flown to a hotel in the city where they are told that J.R. was killed in a random mugging. The Ewings are then taken to the morgue where they identify J.R.’s body. The reactions of the family confirm to the audience that J.R. Ewing is dead.   

The episode titled J.R.’s Masterpiece features the Ewing family dealing with J.R.’s death. Many characters from the past return for this episode including Gary Ewing, Ray Krebbs, Lucy Ewing, and Cally Harper returning for the episode to pay their respects to J.R.

J.R.’s memorial service features cameos from Jerry Jones, Mark Cuban, and the Mayor of Dallas Mike Rawlings.

Contrary to the large gathering at the memorial service J.R.’s funeral is a small ceremony with just the Ewing family in attendance. Since J.R. was a veteran two soldiers are present to fold the flag that draped J.R.’s casket and to present it to John Ross.

After the funeral J.R.’s right hand man “Bum” arrives with a package from J.R. and in a meeting with John Ross, Christopher, and Bobby where he gives them all items that are parts of J.R.’s Master Plan.

Christopher is given information on the whereabouts of his mother Pamela, John Ross is given a gun with a letter telling him that now that he was dead Barnes and Ryland will be coming for them and Bobby will know what to do. Bobby also receives a letter from J.R. that is not read Bobby then walks into J.R.’s room where he drinks J.R.’s bourbon and tells his brother that he loves him.

Over the next few episodes the Ewings are attacked relentlessly by Barnes Global ending with Cliff Barnes taking over Ewing Energies however it turns out that this is all part of J.R.’s Master Plan.

In the Season 2 Finale J.R.’s full plan is revealed.

J.R. had his friend Carlos in Mexico purchase the gun used to kill him form the drug cartels and it is revealed that Cliff Barnes was in Nuevo Laredo the night that J.R. was killed.

John Ross has married Pamela taking a 3^rd of Barnes Global’s shares and Christopher has found that Cliff has covered up the death of his mother to keep he shares in the company because she left her shares to her son. Now with the Ewings in 2/3rds in control of Barnes Global, Bobby has J.R.’s stolen belt buckle placed in Barnes’ safety deposit box and the gun is planted in Barnes’ car by his own daughter.

The family confronts Cliff Barnes back in Nuevo Laredo and despite his proclamations of his innocence they have him arrested for the murder of J.R. Ewing. 

After J.R.’s master plan is completed Bobby and “Bum” stand at J.R.’s graveside and thank him for protecting the family “from beyond the grave”,  John Ross and Christopher arrive and confront Bobby on who really killed J.R..

Bobby then reveals what the contents of the letter were.

It turns out that J.R. was diagnosed with terminal cancer and that he had days to live and he hatched the master plan to finally defeat Barnes and finally end the Ewing/Barnes Feud.

It was J.R. who killed J.R.

Now I’m sure that many of you are wondering what the future of Dallas is now that J.R. is deceased and I have to say that I don’t know.

Hopefully the show will be renewed for another season and that it continues for a few years but only time will tell.

Both Larry Hagman and his on screen character have left a massive influence on both the world of television and the real world as well as the State of Texas.

Texas will always be associated with J.R. Ewing because the character is known throughout the world as well as the country. J.R. what they all view as the prime Texas business man.

The character’s legacy is continued with his son John Ross who anyone that watches the series will say that he is definitely his father’s son. “From Tip to Tail”.

Is J.R.’s saga complete? Ewing Energies may have to contend with the sins of J.R. in the future when people begin looking for revenge against the company that carries his son’s name.

We will all find out in the future so we’ll just have to stay tuned.