Dallas stars all smiles as they reunite for iconic soap’s 45th anniversary
THE stars of Dallas are all smiles as they reunite for the hugely popular soap’s 45th anniversary.
Cast members reflected on the show, which centred on wealthy oil and cattle ranchers the Ewings.
Audrey Landers (Afton Cooper), 66, Linda Gray (Sue Ellen), 82, Patrick Duffy (Bobby), 74, Joan Van Ark (Valene), 79, Charlene Tilton (Lucy), 64, and Steve Kanaly (Ray Krebbs), 77, met up in California.
Dallas ran from 1978 to 1991 and was renowned for its catfights, rows and Who Shot J.R.? cliffhanger.
Ruthless J.R., played by Larry Hagman, was in the original line-up.
He died in 2012.
On the show’s legacy, Linda said: “Because the show ran for so many years, the audience got to know the characters so genuinely and they really cared for [them] and the characters all went through so much.
“I think the fans really loved to relate to the stories that were bigger than life.
“I think that they were definitely bigger than life so they could live vicariously through those characters. Dallas was so influential.”
Patrick added: “Sometimes I watch and think we did that.
“If you think about basically every family drama except for Breaking Bad, we latched onto the premise that was not started with Dallas, but with Peyton Place, but then that was forgotten and Dallas took over.
“The way Dallas was written, it’s standard writing template for shows that run any period of time from a few episodes onto years.
“But yeah, it all started with us. I really thought about it with Succession.”