Larry Hagman to join Dallas reunion

8:17pm Saturday 11th October 2008

Larry Hagman was reluctant to be on a new TV show called Dallas when he first read the script in the late 1970s, figuring there would not be any money in it.

But his wife persuaded him to give the role of conniving oil baron and cattle rancher JR Ewing a shot, saying they could "renegotiate" and that the job might pay off.

It did, eventually earning Hagman a reported 100,000 dollars (£59,000) or more per episode. And now fans from across the world are paying as much as 1,000 dollars (£590) apiece to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the debut of what became one of the most popular prime-time soap operas in TV history.

"People are crazy," Hagman said. "I guess it's a TV show people identify with."

On November 8, JR, Bobby, Sue Ellen and other members of the Ewing family will mark the anniversary with a reunion and barbecue at Southfork Ranch, where the long-running soap took place.

"This thing is going to be a lot of fun," said 77-year-old Hagman, seated in the formal living room of the Southfork mansion, a trademark cowboy hat on his head. "It's the first one we've ever done with fans. They're coming from everywhere."

Along with the barbecue, there will be country music, dancing, fireworks and a laser light show.

"This is a chance to live like and be a Ewing for a day," said Jason Hardison, the event's executive producer. "We're going to celebrate the excess and success of the 1980s, at least the oil boom, and the money that surrounded Dallas."

Hagman, who grew up in Weatherford, west of Fort Worth, said he based JR's twang, persona and family views on a businessman he worked for in high school who supplied oil drilling equipment.

Hagman, a former vegetarian and outspoken non-smoker who gave up alcohol after his 1995 liver transplant, is now an avocado farmer. He and Maj (pronounced My), his wife of nearly 54 years, rise with the sun and are often asleep by 7.30pm.