Larry Hagman dead

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/11/24/larry-hagman-dead_n_2182951.html
Larry Hagman Dead: Dallas Star Dies, Aged 81 (VIDEO)
PA/Huffington Post UK | Posted: 24/11/2012 07:41 GMT Updated: 24/11/2012 10:00 GMT

UK Entertainment News Actor Larry Hagman, who for more than a decade played villainous patriarch JR Ewing in the TV soap Dallas, has died at the age of 81, his family said on Saturday.

Hagman, who had suffered from cancer and liver disease, died in hospital in Dallas, Texas, the Dallas Morning News reported.

Linda Gray, a long-time friend who starred alongside him in the TV show, called him her "best friend for 35 years", her agent told the BBC.

"Larry was back in his beloved Dallas re-enacting the iconic role he loved most," his family said in a statement carried by the 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."

Gray, who played Hagman's on-screen wife, Sue Ellen Ewing, was by his bedside when he died.

In a statement from her agent she said: "Larry Hagman was my best friend for 35 years.

"He was the Pied Piper of life and brought joy to everyone he knew. He was creative, generous, funny, loving and talented and I will miss him enormously.

"He was an original and lived life to the full."

Hagman was born in Fort Worth, Texas on September 21 1931, the son of actress Mary Martin and lawyer Ben Hagman, a biography on his official website said.

While in England with the US Air Force he met and married his wife of almost 60 years, Swedish designer Maj Axelsson. The couple later had two children.

He became a star in 1965 in the TV comedy series I Dream of Jeannie, in which he played an astronaut haunted by the beautiful blonde genie, played by Barbara Eden.

But it was in 1977 when he landed the role of merciless oil magnate JR Ewing, the character at the centre of the show Dallas, that his worldwide fame was cemented.

The series ran for 13 seasons and on November 21, 1980 more than 350 million people tuned in to find out "who shot JR".

Hagman refused to be defined by his most enduring role, acting in films such as Nixon and Primary Colors.

But he also had health problems. In 1992 he was diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver and three years later he had a liver transplant.

In October last year he discovered a tumour on his tongue and was diagnosed with cancer, and underwent six weeks of chemotherapy and radiation before it went into remission in March.

Earlier this year he appeared in a new 10-episode series of Dallas, with a second series in production and due to run next year.
Unquote.

RIP Larry Hagman.