Larry Hagman(1931-2012)
- Actor
- Producer
- Director
The son of a legendary actress
(Mary Martin) and a district
attorney, Larry Martin Hagman was born on September 21, 1931 in Fort
Worth, Texas. After his parents' divorce, he moved to Los Angeles,
California to live with his grandmother. When he was 12, his
grandmother died and he moved back to his mother's place, who had
remarried and was launching a Broadway career. After attending Bard
College in New York State, he decided to follow his mother's acting
road. His first stage tryout was with the
Margo Jones Theatre-in-the-Round in
Dallas, Texas. He then appeared in the New York City Center production
of "Taming the Shrew", followed by a year in regional theater. In his
early-to-mid twenties, Larry moved to England as a member of the cast
of his mother's stage show, "South Pacific", and was a member of the
cast for five years. After that, he enlisted in the United States Air
Force, where he produced and directed several series for members of the
service.
After completing his service in the Air Force, Larry returned to New
York City for a series of Broadway and off-Broadway plays, esp. "Once
Around the Block", "Career", "Comes a Day", "A Priest in the House",
"The Beauty Part", "The Warm Peninsula", "The Nervous Set" among many
others. He began his television career in 1961 with a number of guest
appearances on shows as "The ALCOA Hour". He was later chosen to be in
the popular daytime soap opera
The Edge of Night (1956),
in which he starred for two years. But that was his start, he later
went on to become the friendliest television star in the NBC sitcom
I Dream of Jeannie (1965),
in which he played the amiable astronaut Anthony Nelson. In the series,
his life was endangered by this gorgeous blonde bombshell genie played
by Barbara Eden. The series ran for five
years and after that, he continued his success in
The Good Life (1971) and
Here We Go Again (1973), as
well as a number of guest-starring roles on many series. He was also
with Lauren Bacall in the television
version of the hit Broadway musical
Applause (1973).
In 1977, the soap opera Dallas (1978)
came aboard and Larry's career was secured. He credits "Superchick" for
convincing him to do the show. This program of an excessively rich
Texas family, was one of the best, beloved, most-watched shows of all
time as he portrayed the role of the evil yet perverted millionaire
J.R. Ewing, the man who loved to be hated. The series ran for an
amazing 14 1/2 seasons and the "Who shot J.R.?" episode remains the
second highly-rated television show in the history of the satellite.
Since his name was familiar with Texas, it was suiting that he hosted
"Lone Star" (1985), an eight-part documentary series related to the
history of Texas, for the Public Television Stations. That aired while
celebrating the 150th anniversary of Texas as an independent republic.
In the spring of 1987, Kari-Lorimar released "Larry Hagman--Stop
Smoking for Life". Proceeds from this home video were donated to the
American Cancer Society.
In July 1995, he needed a liver transplant in order for him to regain
his life back after years of strong drinking that led to cirrhosis. He
went over to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center for this where he spent seven
weeks in the hospital, and an operation took 16 hours but saved his
life. In July 1996, one year after he had a new liver, he served as the
National Spokesperson for the 1996 U.S. Transplant Games presented by
the National Kidney Foundation and, on November 2, he later received
the Award for his efforts in escalating public awareness of the concept
of organ donation. He continued to serve as an advocate of organ
donation and transplantation until his death. In November 1996, he
starred in
Dallas: J.R. Returns (1996),
a 2-hour movie in which the ratings were a huge success for CBS, as
well as in the network's drama series
Orleans (1997) when his role of Judge
Luther Charbonnet gave him some of the best reviews of his
36-year-career.
When he was feeling better than he had for so many years, he completed
his two movie projects:
The Third Twin (1997), a
four-hour miniseries based on the author's best-selling novel, that
aired on CBS, and Mike Nichols's
Primary Colors (1998), a film
based on the best-selling book by a journalist,
Joe Klein. Starring in that film were
John Travolta,
Emma Thompson,
Billy Bob Thornton,
Kathy Bates and
Adrian Lester. Larry played Governor
Picker, an antipolitics politician who stands a grave danger crisis to
the governor's bid for office. Primary Colors was his second
presidential film having also appeared in
Oliver Stone's
Nixon (1995). Following these movies, his
second Dallas reunion movie,
Dallas: War of the Ewings (1998),
aired on CBS. He also served as executive producer.
Away from films, Larry was actively involved in a series of civic and
philanthropic events. An adamant non-smoker, he served as the
chairperson of the American Cancer Society's "Great American Smokeout",
from 1981 to 1992. Larry Hagman died at age 81 on November 23, 2012 at
Medical City Dallas Hospital in Dallas, Texas from complications of
throat cancer.
(Mary Martin) and a district
attorney, Larry Martin Hagman was born on September 21, 1931 in Fort
Worth, Texas. After his parents' divorce, he moved to Los Angeles,
California to live with his grandmother. When he was 12, his
grandmother died and he moved back to his mother's place, who had
remarried and was launching a Broadway career. After attending Bard
College in New York State, he decided to follow his mother's acting
road. His first stage tryout was with the
Margo Jones Theatre-in-the-Round in
Dallas, Texas. He then appeared in the New York City Center production
of "Taming the Shrew", followed by a year in regional theater. In his
early-to-mid twenties, Larry moved to England as a member of the cast
of his mother's stage show, "South Pacific", and was a member of the
cast for five years. After that, he enlisted in the United States Air
Force, where he produced and directed several series for members of the
service.
After completing his service in the Air Force, Larry returned to New
York City for a series of Broadway and off-Broadway plays, esp. "Once
Around the Block", "Career", "Comes a Day", "A Priest in the House",
"The Beauty Part", "The Warm Peninsula", "The Nervous Set" among many
others. He began his television career in 1961 with a number of guest
appearances on shows as "The ALCOA Hour". He was later chosen to be in
the popular daytime soap opera
The Edge of Night (1956),
in which he starred for two years. But that was his start, he later
went on to become the friendliest television star in the NBC sitcom
I Dream of Jeannie (1965),
in which he played the amiable astronaut Anthony Nelson. In the series,
his life was endangered by this gorgeous blonde bombshell genie played
by Barbara Eden. The series ran for five
years and after that, he continued his success in
The Good Life (1971) and
Here We Go Again (1973), as
well as a number of guest-starring roles on many series. He was also
with Lauren Bacall in the television
version of the hit Broadway musical
Applause (1973).
In 1977, the soap opera Dallas (1978)
came aboard and Larry's career was secured. He credits "Superchick" for
convincing him to do the show. This program of an excessively rich
Texas family, was one of the best, beloved, most-watched shows of all
time as he portrayed the role of the evil yet perverted millionaire
J.R. Ewing, the man who loved to be hated. The series ran for an
amazing 14 1/2 seasons and the "Who shot J.R.?" episode remains the
second highly-rated television show in the history of the satellite.
Since his name was familiar with Texas, it was suiting that he hosted
"Lone Star" (1985), an eight-part documentary series related to the
history of Texas, for the Public Television Stations. That aired while
celebrating the 150th anniversary of Texas as an independent republic.
In the spring of 1987, Kari-Lorimar released "Larry Hagman--Stop
Smoking for Life". Proceeds from this home video were donated to the
American Cancer Society.
In July 1995, he needed a liver transplant in order for him to regain
his life back after years of strong drinking that led to cirrhosis. He
went over to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center for this where he spent seven
weeks in the hospital, and an operation took 16 hours but saved his
life. In July 1996, one year after he had a new liver, he served as the
National Spokesperson for the 1996 U.S. Transplant Games presented by
the National Kidney Foundation and, on November 2, he later received
the Award for his efforts in escalating public awareness of the concept
of organ donation. He continued to serve as an advocate of organ
donation and transplantation until his death. In November 1996, he
starred in
Dallas: J.R. Returns (1996),
a 2-hour movie in which the ratings were a huge success for CBS, as
well as in the network's drama series
Orleans (1997) when his role of Judge
Luther Charbonnet gave him some of the best reviews of his
36-year-career.
When he was feeling better than he had for so many years, he completed
his two movie projects:
The Third Twin (1997), a
four-hour miniseries based on the author's best-selling novel, that
aired on CBS, and Mike Nichols's
Primary Colors (1998), a film
based on the best-selling book by a journalist,
Joe Klein. Starring in that film were
John Travolta,
Emma Thompson,
Billy Bob Thornton,
Kathy Bates and
Adrian Lester. Larry played Governor
Picker, an antipolitics politician who stands a grave danger crisis to
the governor's bid for office. Primary Colors was his second
presidential film having also appeared in
Oliver Stone's
Nixon (1995). Following these movies, his
second Dallas reunion movie,
Dallas: War of the Ewings (1998),
aired on CBS. He also served as executive producer.
Away from films, Larry was actively involved in a series of civic and
philanthropic events. An adamant non-smoker, he served as the
chairperson of the American Cancer Society's "Great American Smokeout",
from 1981 to 1992. Larry Hagman died at age 81 on November 23, 2012 at
Medical City Dallas Hospital in Dallas, Texas from complications of
throat cancer.