Larry Hagman (J.R. Ewing) is dead
Larry Hagman, who created one of American television's most supreme
villains in the conniving, amoral oilman J.R. Ewing of "Dallas," died on
Friday, the Dallas Morning News reported. He was 81.
Hagman died at a Dallas hospital of complications from
his battle with throat cancer, the newspaper said, quoting a statement
from his family. He had suffered from liver cancer and cirrhosis of the
liver in the 1990s after decades of drinking.
Hagman's mother was stage and movie star Mary Martin
and he became a star himself in 1965 on "I Dream of Jeannie," a popular
television sitcom in which he played Major Anthony Nelson, an astronaut
who discovers a beautiful genie in a bottle.
"Dallas," which made its premiere on the CBS network in
1978, made Hagman a superstar. The show quickly became one of the
network's top-rated programs, built an international following and
inspired a spin-off, imitators and a revival in 2012.
R.I.P Mr. Hagman.
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