Dallas Icon Larry Hagman Dead at 81, Remembered as ‘An Element of Pure Americana’-TVLine

According TVLine's Matt Webb Mitovich, Larry Hagman passed away on Friday at Medical City Dallas hospital from cancer complications at the age of 81. Here's an excerpt from the article:

“Larry was back in his beloved Dallas, re-enacting the iconic role he loved most,” the Hagman family said in a statement to the Dallas Morning News. “Larry’s family and close friends had joined him in Dallas for the Thanksgiving holiday. When he passed, he was surrounded by loved ones. It was a peaceful passing, just as he had wished for. The family requests privacy at this time.” (According to reports, Hagman’s Dallas co-stars Patrick Duffy and Linda Gray were among the loved ones by his side.)

UPDATE: Warner Bros. TV and Dallas executive producers Cynthia Cidre and Michael M. Robin, in a joint statement, remember Hagman as “a giant, a larger-than-life personality whose iconic performance as J.R. Ewing will endure as one of the most indelible in entertainment history. He truly loved portraying this globally recognized character, and he leaves a legacy of entertainment, generosity and grace.” TNT in turn touts the Dallas star as “a wonderful human being and an extremely gifted actor. We will be forever thankful that a whole new generation of people got to know and appreciate Larry through his performance as J.R. Ewing. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family at this very difficult time.”

Link to the full article:Dallas Icon Larry Hagman Dead at 81, Remembered as ‘An Element of Pure Americana’ - TVLine



My thoughts: I'm extremely saddened by the news that Larry Hagman passed away earlier tonight. I've only seen the first episode of the original Dallas, but he did an amazing job on the first season of TNT's Dallas. I probably don't have the same level appreciation for his acting as long-time fans of Larry Hagman do, but this is truly a sad day. Larry was an extremely talented actor. The weird thing is that I've been thinking a lot lately about doing an overall review of the first season of TNT's Dallas for my blog, and I was actually thinking about how great Larry Hagman was on the show's first season earlier this evening before the news of his death was announced. 

That being said, it will be really interesting to see how the writers of TNT's Dallas will handle writing Larry Hagman/J.R. off the show since he had filmed six out fifteen episodes for season two. The episodes pretty much all ended with at least one cliffhanger in season one, so writing him off the show could be tricky. I'm guessing the writers will have to go back and alter their plans for the remaining season two episodes that haven't been shot yet. They'll probably have to do at least a slight time jump so they can say that J.R. died off camera. Regardless of how of the writers decide to address Larry Hagman's death on the show, I'm confident that that the writers will find a way to make it work.

I have to say that the news of Larry Hagman's death does make me once again wonder if at least part of the decision to make Mitch Pileggi a series regular on the show was so the character Harris Ryland could fill the role of the show's main villain of sorts in the event that Larry Hagman's health declined to the point where he wouldn't be able to do the show anymore. Although, nobody will ever to be able to completely fill Larry Hagman's/J.R. Ewing's on the show. Rest in peace, Larry Hagman. You will definitely be missed. :(