The popular CBS soap opera Dallas remains one of the longest-running TV series of all time. It ran for 14 seasons and followed the Ewing family on their Southfork Ranch in Texas. Though the drama series was filmed in California, the Dallas cast members did an excellent job making you feel like you fell right into an oil tycoon's family in the Lone Star State. The drama and frequent cliffhangers consistently kept viewers coming back for more.
In addition to a popular spinoff series, Knots Landing, which included guest appearances from some of the leads from Dallas, the TV show even got a reboot series in 2012. Here's what the main Dallas cast members have been up to since the show wrapped in 1991.
1. Barbara Bel Geddes
The matriarch of the Ewing family, Miss Ellie Ewing, is one of the most important characters in the Dallas cast. Barbara Bel Geddes played the role in 276 of the 300 episodes that featured her character, with Donna Reed stepping in while she recovered from health issues. Miss Ellie endured everything from a battle with breast cancer to discovering her husband had an illegitimate child.
Following Dallas, Bel Geddes decided to retire from acting. She settled down in Northeast Harbor, Maine where she focused on art, released a line of greeting cards and wrote two children's books, I Like to Be Me and So Do I. She passed away from lung cancer in 2005.
2. Jim Davis
Jock Ewing was the founder of Ewing Oil and the husband of Miss Ellie. He actually saved her family's Southfork Ranch from going under when they first married. Sadly, Davis was diagnosed with multiple myeloma during the filming of season four but tried to push through. He wore a wig to hide his hair loss due to chemotherapy and showed up to set every day. Sadly, he passed away after the season wrapped and the producers decided not to replace the character. Jock Ewing lived on off-screen throughout the remainder of the series.
3. Patrick Duffy
Kevin Parry/Invision/AP
The youngest son of the family, Bobby Ewing, was famously killed off at the end of the 1984-1985 season but brought back to life in an infamous "shower scene" a year later explaining that it was Pamela Barnes Ewing's dream. That's one way to clear it up!
Following the show, Duffy went on to star in the popular family sitcom Step by Step with Suzanne Somers and two Dallas reunion television movies. Duffy reprised his original Dallas cast character on the 2012 reboot as well.
4. Victoria Principal
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Pamela Barnes Ewing was the wife of Bobby Ewing on the show. Her romance with Bobby was very "Romeo and Juliet" due to the fact that she was from the rival Barnes family. Principal ended up winning a Golden Globe for her portal of Pamela. Margaret Michaels later played the character after Principal left the series.
Principal went on to appear in numerous TV shows, including Home Improvement, Family Guy, Providence, and The Practice. She also founded her own production company (Victoria Principal Productions) and a skincare company (Principal Secret), which has since been absorbed by Guthy Renker. She also established The Victoria Principal Foundation for Thoughtful Existence.
5. Larry Hagman
"Dallas" star Larry Hagman is seen, April 25, 1978, in his dressing room inside his custom van, on the location of the television series, in Dallas, Texas. Hagman says he is a van freak and has gone from California to Dallas to Maine in it. (AP Photo)
J.R. Ewing is a greedy oil tycoon and was easily the biggest character from the Dallas cast, central to regular conflict and drama within his family and the Barnes family. Until he passed away in 2012, he was the character who had appeared in the most episodes. It almost seemed like 1980 was defined by the question, "Who shot J.R.?" after he was shot by someone unknown to the audience. Though he was initially meant to play a supporting role, he became one of the most popular TV characters of all time.
Before he passed away, Hagman appeared in the film Nixon, Desperate Housewives and Nip/Tuck. He was also a spokesman for SolarWorld, a solar energy company based in Germany.
6. Charlene Tilton
Phil McCarten/Invision/AP
Lucy Ewing starts the series as a young teen having a secret relationship with the ranch foreman Ray, who is later revealed to be her uncle. Soap opera drama beats all other drama! She battles the Ewings on finishing school, abusing drugs and more.
Tilton reprised her original role in the reboot series and appeared in numerous films including Vengeance: A Love Story and Not Another Celebrity Movie.
7. Linda Gray
Kevin Parry/Invision/AP
Sue Ellen Ewing was unhappily married to J.R. and dealt with alcoholism, the birth of a son, an affair with her husband's nemesis Cliff Barnes and more. Sue Ellen was one of the most interesting characters on the show and you never knew what she would do next.
Gray later appeared in Melrose Place, Models Inc., The Bold and the Beautiful, 90210, Hollyoaks. She was also a series regular as Sue Ellen in the 2012 Dallas reboot.
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8. Steve Kanaly
Ranch hand Ray Krebbs was the illegitimate son of Jock. Jock had an affair when he was fighting in World War II and Ray's mother later sent him to Southfork as a young child with a note asking for help. Though Miss Ellie and Jock didn't realize at first that Ray was his son, there is obviously a dramatic reveal later. Ray ends up marrying Jenna Wade, which causes some issues with his relationship with Bobby.
Following his Dallas days, Kanaly appeared on The Division, All My Children, Walker, Texas Ranger, the Dallas reboot and numerous TV films.
9. Ken Kercheval
Pam's brother, Cliff Barnes, was from the competitor family to the Ewings. Cliff and J.R. continue the long-standing Ewing/Barnes feud that was originated by their fathers, Digger Barnes and Jock Ewing. The character was initially based on Robert F. Kennedy, but evolved into something totally different.
Kercheval later appeared on L.A. Law, Walker, Texas Ranger, ER, Diagnosis Murder and the 2012 Dallas reboot. He passed away from pneumonia in 2019.
10. Priscilla Presley
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Elvis's former wife stepped in as the third actress to play Jenna Wade on the show, following Morgan Fairchild and Francine Tacker. Jenna was Bobby Ewing's first love, but she left him at the alter to run away to Europe. She and Bobby get engaged multiple times over the years and end up having a child together, Lucas.
Presley later appeared in the Naked Gun films, Melrose Place, Touched by an Angel and Spin City.
11. Susan Howard
Donna Culver Krebbs was married to former Texas governor, Sam Culver, a former business partner of Jock. She ends up having an affair with Southfork's foreman, Ray Krebbs, and ends up in a love triangle with Ray and Cliff Barnes after her husband's death.
Howard only appeared on The Love Boat and Come the Morning after Dallas ended. Over the years she has become a passionate conservative political activist, citing her frustration with what she viewed as "pro-abortion" storylines on Dallas getting her character kicked off the show in 1987. She and her husband have lived in Boerne, Texas since the late '90s.
12. Howard Keel
The rich and sometimes temperamental rancher Clayton Farlow was the second husband to Miss Ellie on the show. Like any good soap opera, his sister Jessica (Alexis Smith) kidnapped Miss Ellie before their marriage. He is regularly depicted as being jealous of Jock's old life. He was actually not meant to be a regular on the show, but fans loved him so much, writers decided to keep him.
Dallas helped revive Keels' acting career and allowed him to pursue a recording career. He was the 12th President of the Screen Actors Guild and made numerous TV appearances before his death in 2004 — Fantasy Island, The Love Boat, Murder, She Wrote and Walker, Texas Ranger.
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This article was originally published on Sept. 9, 2020.
