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 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 5th 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 3rd 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.
