Larry Hagman, the actor who shot to international fame by playing villainous oil baron J.R. Ewing on the 1980s TV soap opera "Dallas," performed on Broadway and London stages early in his career. He was the son of Broadway star Mary Martin, who was 17 when she gave birth to him.
From 1965 to 1970, Mr. Hagman was the straight-arrow Air Force officer Tony Nelson in the TV sitcom "I Dream of Jeannie," in which his character uncorked a comely genie in a bottle (played by Barbara Eden). But he was white-hot in his middle-age years in the 1980s as the philandering J.R. Ewing, who was famously shot in the 1979-80 season finale of the series.
In the summer of 1980, the whole world seemed to be asking, "Who shot J.R.?"
Mr. Hagman penned a memoir called "Hello Darlin'." He was born in Weatherford, TX. His father was a 21-year-old attorney, Benjamin Hagman. Mother Mary Martin was the beloved Broadway and TV star known for her work in the musicals Peter Pan (on Broadway and television), Leave It to Me, One Touch of Venus, South Pacific, The Sound of Music, I Do! I Do! and more. Benjamin Hagman and Martin were married for five years; Larry Hagman was raised by his maternal grandmother during Martin's ascent to stardom and later lived with his mother. He appeared in the London run of South Pacific, in which she starred.
Mr. Hagman's Broadway credits included The Beauty Part (1962), The Warm Peninsula (1959), The Nervous Set (1959), God and Kate Murphy (1959), Comes a Day (1958) and a New York City Center production of The Taming of the Shrew (1951).
His film credits include "Nixon," "Primary Colors," "Ensign Pulver," "S.O.B." and "Fail-Safe." He also starred as Bill Sampson opposite Lauren Bacall in a 1973 TV version of her Broadway musical hit Applause.
