RIP Larry Hagman

 

From the Chicago Tribune: Larry Hagman, who played the conniving and mischievous J.R. Ewing on the TV show "Dallas," died Friday afternoon at a Dallas hospital, the Dallas Morning News reported. He was 81.
Hagman died of complications of his recent battle with cancer, members of his family said.
“Larry was back in his beloved Dallas, re-enacting the iconic role he loved most,” the family said in a statement. “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.”
The iconic role of J.R. Ewing metamorphosed Hagman’s life. This past summer, TNT revived "Dallas," bringing back some of the original cast and introducing a new generation of the Ewing clan.
Hagman made his home in California with his wife of nearly 60 years, the former Maj Axelsson, now suffering from Alzheimer's disease. Despite obvious physical frailty, he gamely returned to Dallas to film season one of the new "Dallas" and part of season two.  http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-larry-hagman-jr-ewing-dies-20121123,0,5802886.story
I started watching Hagman when he played in "I Dream of Jeanie".
Here is his web site: http://www.larryhagman.com/
2012 continues to be a bad year for celebrities. 
Update from the Dallas Morning News: 

Friends were in shock Friday, especially those who saw him only days ago. But those close to him say he knew the end was coming and he was glad to have his family in town for Thanksgiving.

For Dallasites, Mr. Hagman’s recent return to film the TNT show was a pleasant reminiscence of the days when Dallas was the biggest TV program in the world, seen by an estimated 300 million people in 57 countries.

Mr. Hagman lived part of the year in a penthouse at the Mansion on Turtle Creek, now known as the J.R. Ewing Suite, and the actor became part of the fabric of the city — attending polo matches with restaurateur Norman Brinker, unwinding over cocktails with oilman Jake Hamon and his wife, Nancy, at their Bluffview home or dining with Mansion on Turtle Creek owner Caroline Rose Hunt, whose oil-rich family was the nonfiction version of the Ewings.

“Hagman in his role as J.R. was mythic, and as a human he was a hard-working ambassador for Dallas and the underdog,” Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings said Thursday night. “I had spent a couple of evenings with him recently … and he always pitched in to help the city.”  http://www.dallasnews.com/news/local-news/20121123-actor-larry-hagman-notorious-as-dallas-villain-j.r.-ewing-dies.ece