RIP, Larry Hagman

November 23, 2012 7:57 PM

Actor Larry Hagman, notorious and beloved as 'Dallas' villain J.R. Ewing, dies.
posted by slater (92 comments total)

NOOOOOOooooooo...Major Tony Nelson!!!

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posted by NoMich at 8:03 PM on November 23, 2012 [11 favorites]

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posted by Melismata at 8:04 PM on November 23, 2012

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posted by Brody's chum at 8:07 PM on November 23, 2012

RIP He was amazing.
posted by mandystadt at 8:12 PM on November 23, 2012 [1 favorite]

Rest in Peace.

On the plus side, at least he wasn't afraid of death. (SLYT)
posted by pipian at 8:14 PM on November 23, 2012 [9 favorites]

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posted by mattbucher at 8:18 PM on November 23, 2012

He seemed like such a nice guy.

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posted by dotgirl at 8:18 PM on November 23, 2012

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posted by northtwilight at 8:19 PM on November 23, 2012

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posted by youknowwhatpart at 8:21 PM on November 23, 2012

I hope someone who reads of this and runs through his career history takes a moment to notice Fail Safe and watch it...it's truly an amazing film.
posted by trackofalljades at 8:24 PM on November 23, 2012 [18 favorites]

The most amazing thing about Larry Hagman was that Mary Martin was his mom.

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posted by SweetTeaAndABiscuit at 8:29 PM on November 23, 2012 [4 favorites]

Trackofalljades: That is a superb film. Highly recommended.
posted by quidividi at 8:31 PM on November 23, 2012

I was just coming in to recommend Fail Safe as well. Hagman held his own with Henry Fonda.
posted by pmurray63 at 8:31 PM on November 23, 2012 [1 favorite]

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A montage of some JR's best lines.
posted by myopicman at 8:35 PM on November 23, 2012 [5 favorites]

Dang, dang, dang. I loved him best as Major Nelson. I loved his mom, and he had that sparkly glint in his eye from her. He was a better actor than so many give him credit for, yet embraced the camp for the cult following from Dallas.

Love to his spark. Comfort to those who love him.

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posted by batmonkey at 8:35 PM on November 23, 2012 [2 favorites]

Goodness. Such a wide and varied career, and he was just starting to climb again in public consciousness due to his role in the revived Dallas.

His was a career to be reckoned with. He will be missed.

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posted by hippybear at 8:36 PM on November 23, 2012

(puts red rubber band around wrist; snaps it. HARD.)
posted by Guy Smiley at 8:40 PM on November 23, 2012 [5 favorites]

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posted by lord_wolf at 8:41 PM on November 23, 2012 [1 favorite]

On the plus side, at least he wasn't afraid of death.

What a weird and fun interview. I wish I knew more about him outside of television.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 8:41 PM on November 23, 2012 [1 favorite]

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posted by Mezentian at 8:42 PM on November 23, 2012

(also, orders Giblet Lunch for $4.19.)
posted by Guy Smiley at 8:44 PM on November 23, 2012 [1 favorite]

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posted by radwolf76 at 8:45 PM on November 23, 2012

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posted by fuse theorem at 8:45 PM on November 23, 2012

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I am thankful that one of the last things that he did before he died was publicly, once again, came out as a Professional Pot Smoker. Advocating weed till the end.
(As a 8 year old little queer, I use to play like I was Barbara Eden, and imagine I was dishing it out to an imaginary Major Nelson. Thanks Larry, for all the good times)
posted by QueerAngel28 at 8:54 PM on November 23, 2012 [3 favorites]

Larry Hagman, Barbara Eden and Bill Daily together in Australia last year.

And may you always dream of Jeannie.

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posted by crossoverman at 9:00 PM on November 23, 2012 [7 favorites]

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posted by ob1quixote at 9:01 PM on November 23, 2012

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Tinka tinka tee! Be at rest, Master.
posted by Graygorey at 9:02 PM on November 23, 2012 [1 favorite]

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posted by Mad_Carew at 9:28 PM on November 23, 2012

Sad. As an ex-resident of DFW, I've been getting OMG texts for the last few hours about this.

Did anyone else click the Texas family goes ‘Gangnam Style’ for their Christmas light display article linked at the end of the Dallas Morning News story? So insane.
posted by macrowave at 9:32 PM on November 23, 2012 [1 favorite]

Oh this is sad. I unabashedly love Dallas. I even got my car stuck in the mud at Southfork a few years back. We also saw Hagman and Linda Gray make a brief, surprise appearance at a weekly screening of the series they used to have at the Texas Theater here in Oak Cliff. It was the first we (or pretty much anyone) had heard of the new revamping of the show, and was absolutely a treat. Sometimes living in the real Dallas has its perks, for certain.

About a half-decade back I read an interview with Mark E. Smith where he talked about Dallas being his current favorite program to watch on television, going so far as to talk about plot points from where he was in his viewing of the run. If that's not an endorsement that something's awesome, goddamn nothing is.
posted by item at 9:41 PM on November 23, 2012 [4 favorites]

Oh, I am sad, but glad that he got another moment in the sun (and to work again with old friends) this last year.
posted by Sidhedevil at 9:46 PM on November 23, 2012 [2 favorites]

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For some reason I remember his performance in Primary Colors the most fondly.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 9:49 PM on November 23, 2012 [3 favorites]

Last enjoyed him, greatly, in Primary Colors. Will be missed.
posted by Durn Bronzefist at 9:49 PM on November 23, 2012

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I have to call my Mom...
posted by fshgrl at 9:49 PM on November 23, 2012 [1 favorite]

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Hagman is well-loved and, in the interviews linked above, one can clearly see why. He is gracious, humble, and unafraid, with wit beaming from his eyes.

RIP
posted by mistersquid at 9:57 PM on November 23, 2012 [1 favorite]

Not Nelson! Nooo!

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posted by Malice at 10:01 PM on November 23, 2012

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posted by bjgeiger at 10:04 PM on November 23, 2012

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posted by smirkette at 10:12 PM on November 23, 2012

I had a huge crush on him as Major Nelson when I was a little kid. So sad to see that he is gone.

Sleep sweet, Major Nelson.

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posted by MissySedai at 10:15 PM on November 23, 2012 [1 favorite]

Wow, that's sad. What a great loss. He was a staple of my TV growing up, as Dallas was huge in Sweden and it was one of those shows that everyone watched. Since moving to the US, I've been fortunate to see his other great work, and to see what a nice person he was. He will be missed.

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posted by gemmy at 10:18 PM on November 23, 2012 [1 favorite]

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posted by gomichild at 10:24 PM on November 23, 2012

*




'Lone Star'
posted by sfts2 at 10:31 PM on November 23, 2012 [2 favorites]

If you weren't alive at the time, Dallas was a constant topic of conversation. I didn't watch the show at all, didn't like it, but even so, I heard about it all. the. time. You how it is when people talk about Firefly on Metafilter? It was like that, but every week, everywhere, for at least a couple of years. I don't remember any fictional villain with the kind of emotional impact on the general public that J.R. had -- not even Darth Vader was that omnipresent.

Again, I can only talk about it as an outsider, because I didn't watch it, but when J.R. was finally shot, everyone was involved in that cliffhanger. Even if you didn't watch the show, you couldn't help but be interested in the outcome. In my personal life, that subject had more national attention than anything other than 9/11. That's how big it was. That's how big a star Hagman was. Old people, middle-aged people, young people, they were all watching.

You know, one of the things that really just sucks badly about aging is that it becomes impossible to share cultural experience in a meaningful way. With the fragmentation of media, it's hard to imagine any single story ever dominating American conciousness in that way again. I'm unable to explain how dominant that show, and that man in particular, were.

tl;dr version: In the list of things that the most Americans have paid attention to in my lifetime, the first entry is 9/11, and the second is wondering who shot J.R. And I think it was a close second.

Larry Hagman was that good. People hated the character that much.
posted by Malor at 10:50 PM on November 23, 2012 [27 favorites]

Sad news, makes me feel too damn old. I Dream of Jeannie was a childhood favorite. When I took a look at that show recently, I was blown away by what a gorgeous man Larry Hagman was.

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posted by Goofyy at 10:59 PM on November 23, 2012 [2 favorites]

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posted by scaryblackdeath at 11:02 PM on November 23, 2012

One more recommendation for his performance as the tragically conflicted Gov. Fred Picker in Primary Colors. Great confluence of actor and role.
posted by How the runs scored at 11:19 PM on November 23, 2012 [1 favorite]

BAH BAH! BAH BAH! BAH BAH-BADDA-BAH BAH! BAH BAH BAH BADDA BAH!!!!!
posted by roboton666 at 11:28 PM on November 23, 2012 [3 favorites]

I only remember him as Major Nelson. I also only learned just this week that he was closely related to an internet bike racer friend of mine who's become an IRL friend of mine in SoCal. My heart goes out to his family and friends; I gather he will be deeply mourned.

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posted by lonefrontranger at 11:34 PM on November 23, 2012 [1 favorite]

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posted by ZeusHumms at 11:39 PM on November 23, 2012

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah. He was so totally awesome as J.R. Brilliantly entertaining snarky cheerfully smirking evil. Dammit, I wanted that guy to hit a hundred. People used to call me JR as a kid, and even though I didn't have anything in common with him beyond the initials, I didn't mind at all.

I don't have cable, but I have seen a few episodes of the new Dallas here and there and will probably see the rest eventually. Even as an 80-year-old he was rocking that show and outshining the children, especially his schmucky-ass son. I don't know how their season ended yet*, but whatever will they do now?

* feel free to spoil, I'm not one of those people who whines about being spoiled for shit when it's my own fault for being too cheap to pay for cable.
posted by jenfullmoon at 11:52 PM on November 23, 2012 [3 favorites]

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posted by bz at 12:01 AM on November 24, 2012

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posted by Xoebe at 12:07 AM on November 24, 2012

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posted by Lynsey at 12:23 AM on November 24, 2012

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In the words of Bill Haverchuck: "You suck, Dallas rules!"
posted by dubold at 12:23 AM on November 24, 2012 [4 favorites]

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posted by dbiedny at 1:04 AM on November 24, 2012

Who should try LSD? All politicians.
posted by Guy Smiley at 1:34 AM on November 24, 2012 [1 favorite]

I feel sad about this. J.R may have saved my life. He was a huge education about domestic violence.
Maybe I would have kept giving my ex chances until I was dead.

Dallas was a good show. I lived in Texas when Dallas came on the air.
posted by Katjusa Roquette at 1:44 AM on November 24, 2012 [6 favorites]

I caught the sydicated reruns of him as Major Anthony Nelson, in I Dream of Jennie When Jennie was really going at it and driving him and his wacky friend Roger Healy nuts and he'd be screaming his head off...

Well, that was the best. It was one of the perks of being sick from school as they showed it every morning.

Also that theme song just burned itself into one's head, and I remember every note of it even now.

I couldn't deal with the Soap Opera-y aspects of Dallas. Although I;m intrigued that Mark E. Smith would like that show so much. Perhaps he identifies with J.R.

Good Bye Larry Hagman/Major Anthony Nelson.

May you land on a nice beach with a Genie where ever you are now.

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posted by Skygazer at 1:59 AM on November 24, 2012

For me, he stole Superman. What a brilliant, brilliant talent.
posted by specialbrew at 2:44 AM on November 24, 2012 [1 favorite]

No TV series was the same after Dallas, and no actor played the TV villain better than Hagman, just like no actor played the TV hero better than Alan Alda. Hollywood should have moved mountains to get both of them in a series, perhaps in a legal drama set in the South. Yep, that would have been awesome.
posted by Beholder at 2:55 AM on November 24, 2012 [4 favorites]

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posted by Mblue at 3:18 AM on November 24, 2012

Queerangel, making me laugh because that means this show was pushing buttons across the sexuality continuum. I'm pretty sure my youthful sexual feelings were shaped by Barbara Eden, Debbie Harry on the Muppet show, and Ginger from Gillian's Island
posted by C.A.S. at 3:49 AM on November 24, 2012 [1 favorite]

I grew up with Jeannie and then with Dallas. References to Dallas would make very serious Saudi oil men laugh, smile and talk about the show.

What a treat to meet the man a couple times in the course of doing newspaper journalism in Ventura County and get some quotes. It's generally thought of as inappropriate in that context to ask for a picture, but my mom was at least as much a fan as I was so that was the one exception I made to the no-pics thing in a lotta years of meeting notable people.

He could not have been nicer, took off his sunglasses for the photo and my mom was absolutely thrilled. I was pretty thrilled, too.
posted by ambient2 at 4:13 AM on November 24, 2012 [1 favorite]

Until the latest Dallas resurrection rooled-through, I honestly thought Hagman was already dead.

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posted by Thorzdad at 4:14 AM on November 24, 2012

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posted by Renoroc at 5:01 AM on November 24, 2012

Few shows have brought me such delight as "I Dream of Jeannie" -- a show embedded so deep in my consciousness that to this day, I catch myself sometimes falling into conversational patterns that still show traces of all that farcical banter between Hagman and Barbara Eden that I watched over and over in the seventies. (In fact, I'll admit that it doesn't take much Major-Nelsoning at all to trigger a full-out Jeannie Explosion on my part.)

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posted by ariel_caliban at 5:17 AM on November 24, 2012

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posted by cazoo at 6:34 AM on November 24, 2012

In the year 2000 I was working in a small photo store as the "digital imaging specialist", scanning photos, making archival digital prints, etc. Digital imaging was still relatively esoteric and expensive.

One day a young gentleman came into the store with a 3.5" floppy disk and asked if I could make prints from the images. I put the disc in and there were dozens of images of Ricky Schroeder from various stages of his career, obviously pulled from the internet.

I explained to the customer that these images were low resolution and wouldn't translate well to print. Additionally they would be very expensive. He was fine with these conditions and very happy when he received the final copies.

The next week he brought in another disk. This one was full of similar images, this time of the young Larry Hagman. Images from "I Dream of Jeannie" and "Dallas" of course, but many others as well.

In total, he paid over $100 for dozens of images of Larry Hagman (and Ricky too). I never asked the customer why he wanted the photos. I can only guess that right now there is a sad man kneeling in front of his shrine to Larry Hagman.
posted by jeremias at 6:37 AM on November 24, 2012 [3 favorites]

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posted by motty at 6:37 AM on November 24, 2012

I grew up watching him make it look easy and proving that show business runs in the blood. In the early 70s 'TV Guide' said he smoked pot and lived in a tree house in Malibu. I don't know if that was true but it was true for me and I moved here because of it. I deeply mourn his passing.

Barbara Eden's moving statement is here.

As an aside, I would give a thousand pelts for a time machine and a date with the woman who played Amanda Bellows.
posted by xowie at 7:10 AM on November 24, 2012 [2 favorites]

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posted by sammyo at 7:18 AM on November 24, 2012

Larry's just one of those guys that's an inspiration. He even turned in a great performance as David Essex's sleazy manager in Stardust after which he became firm friends with another co-star, Keith Moon. Here's the story of the night he drove Keith to rehab in Larry's own words. Priceless.

Whenever he pops up you know you're in for a treat. I was hoping for at least one buddy movie with him and William Shatner.

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posted by merocet at 7:20 AM on November 24, 2012 [1 favorite]

Who will drive Sue Ellen to drink and work their eyebrows on the new Dallas now?
posted by orange swan at 7:28 AM on November 24, 2012

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posted by Smart Dalek at 7:42 AM on November 24, 2012

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posted by Gelatin at 7:54 AM on November 24, 2012

When I was in the Army stationed over in Germany, every Monday night we'd all gather and watch (and drink) Dallas. For some reason, this show appealed to a group of early 20-somethings who bonded over Bier and Ewings.

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posted by tribalspice at 8:04 AM on November 24, 2012

. What a neat guy.

[BTW, Hagman gave up pot and turned against smoking more generally in his later years, carrying a mini-fan to blow back the smoke.]
posted by learnsome at 8:05 AM on November 24, 2012

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posted by Splunge at 8:55 AM on November 24, 2012

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My first . post. Fitting that it is him. There was nothing better than curling up with my Mom on Friday nights to watch Dallas, then Falcon Crest. The six year old 8-bit floozy wanted to either be a Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader or Pam Ewing more than anything else in the world, besides married to Rick Springfield.

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posted by 8-bit floozy at 9:05 AM on November 24, 2012 [3 favorites]

Don't fall for this "death" thing, people. Any second now, someone will wake up and... IT WAS ALL A DREAM.
posted by fungible at 9:50 AM on November 24, 2012

Lest we forget, he also directed "Son of the Blob", AKA "Beware! The Blob"

It was referred to as "The Film that JR Shot", and scarred me permanently as a child.

I grew up in the suburbs in Pittsburgh, PA. For kids birthday parties, they had some guy come out and show movies on a projector. We watched a lot of great stuff, notably the Sinbad films. But he also showed Son of the Blob, ostensibly a semi-comedic sequel to the original.

I went and bought the dvd of this recently to see why I was so terrified of it, thinking that maybe I was just an overly sensitive kid. Holy fuck, it's a terrifying film, and I have no idea why they showed it to 6 year olds.

It opens with the blob eating a goddamned kitten. A KITTEN. WHAT THE FUCK LARRY (and what the fuck parent who hired the guy to show this movie at their kids birthday party.)

Then it eats some guys wife, and that guy, and then goes downhill.

It eats a bunch of hobos played by Burgess Meredith, Del Close, Larry Hagman, then eats a very drunk and insane Scout master played by Dick Van Patten, and a truck full of chickens.

It ends in a scene at the ice skating rink where it melts itself and starts to eat the sherrifs foot.

Scarred for life I tell you. I don't even think it was a specific blob fear, but this broad spectrum nightmare fodder, afraid of the FUCKING BLOB for a bunch of years.

So thanks a million Larry. You had an amazingly formative impact on my youth, and are probably directly responsible for the most nightmares of my childhood.

Don't believe me? Watch the trailer,, and then the whole movie.(Yeah, that adorable kitten at the beginning? Blob eats him.)
posted by Lord_Pall at 10:54 AM on November 24, 2012 [6 favorites]

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posted by AstroGuy at 11:16 AM on November 24, 2012

With the fragmentation of media, it's hard to imagine any single story ever dominating American conciousness in that way again. I'm unable to explain how dominant that show, and that man in particular, were.

I'm tempted to say Don Draper gives J. R. Ewing a run for his money, but then I remember Mad Men is really only that popular among my friends and people similar to us.

(but we really are obsessed with it)
posted by Afroblanco at 11:51 AM on November 24, 2012

We watched Dallas religiously as a family when I was growing up in the UK. My mum loved it and JR was of course our favourite character. I know my mum will be very sad to hear of his passing.

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posted by arcticseal at 1:52 PM on November 24, 2012 [1 favorite]

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At our house when I was a kid, it was Dallas, Dynasty and Falcon Crest. We were banned from the room when they were on. Not because of the content, but because my mom didn't want to miss a single scene having to corral us. I remember the Who Shot JR phenomenon, and I don't think there's been anything like it since. He seemed like a genuinely nice guy, for as slimy as his character was supposed to be.
posted by jquinby at 2:56 PM on November 24, 2012

Writer Mark Evanier has met pretty much everyone in showbiz and he has a doozy of a story about Larry Hagman.

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posted by evilcolonel at 4:39 PM on November 24, 2012 [19 favorites]

evilcolonel: Writer Mark Evanier has met pretty much everyone in showbiz and he has a doozy of a story about Larry Hagman.

That's better than any eulogy. Thanks.
posted by ob1quixote at 5:15 PM on November 24, 2012 [1 favorite]

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posted by Not The Stig at 5:30 PM on November 24, 2012

Dallas will be adjusting the plotting of its second season to give JR "the proper sendoff he deserves".
posted by hippybear at 6:43 PM on November 24, 2012

Here's the story of the night he drove Keith to rehab in Larry's own words

Best comment on this article:

"Larry Hagman was a fucking legend, a real unappreciated gem, I'm well pissed off at his passing even if he isn't."

+1 on that.
posted by CosmicRayCharles at 9:21 AM on November 25, 2012

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posted by gingerbeer at 3:27 PM on November 25, 2012

A tribute to JR, from another fallen hero.
posted by Uther Bentrazor at 7:32 AM on November 26, 2012