Larry Hagman

Larry Martin Hagman September 21 1931 November 23 2012 Height 6 feet 1 inch 185 m was an American film and television actor director and producer He was best known for playing ruthless oil baron J R Ewing in the 19781991 primetime television soap opera Dallas and the befuddled astronaut Major Anthony Nelson in the 19651970 sitcom I Dream of Jeannie Hagman was born in Fort Worth Texas the son of actress Mary Martin After his parents divorced he lived with his grandmother in Texas while his mother pursued acting roles At age 16 Hagman followed his mother into acting and got his start in small theater productions and commercials He began his acting career in the early 1950s appearing in Broadway plays and television shows He had a supporting role in the 1964 film FailSafe In 1965 Hagman was cast as Major Anthony Nelson in the sitcom I Dream of Jeannie The show was a huge success and Hagman won two Golden Globe Awards for his performance He left the show in 1970 to pursue other projects In 1978 Hagman was cast as J R Ewing in the soap opera Dallas The show was an even bigger success than I Dream of Jeannie and Hagman won four Emmy Awards for his performance He remained with the show until it ended in 1991 In 1995 Hagman underwent a liver transplant He returned to Dallas in 2012 for a revival of the show He died of complications from leukemia later that year