The Moment That Hagman Became Ewing

6:00 AM PST 11/27/2012 by As Told to Bill Higgins

"Dallas" creator David Jacobs sets the record straight about the oilman's early prominence on one of TV's longest-running dramas.

I have heard it said that the role of J.R. Ewing was relatively minor at the beginning of Dallas. But that's not so. J.R. appears on Page 3 of the 1977 pilot script. He drives the main story, and he speaks the last words in his close-up during the last shot. But what Larry did in that final shot showed how he'd taken possession of his character.