Dallas actress Linda Gray reveals how Larry…
Linda Gray is prepared to kiss and inform.
The actress, who performed Sue Ellen Ewing, the glamorous, famously troubled spouse of villain J.R. Ewing on “Dallas,” is teaming up with Julien’s Auctions for “Ladies of the ’80s,” which works live Aug. 12.
The sale offers bidders the prospect to own costumes, props, personal archives and other uncommon memorabilia from some of the last decade’s most beloved tv stars. It options two of Gray’s authentic “Dallas” scripts from the episodes surrounding the notorious “Who Shot J.R.?” saga.
Ahead of the public sale, Gray regarded back on her “Dallas” years, including the less-than-romantic kissing scenes she shared with her on-screen husband, Larry Hagman, who died in 2012 at 81.
“The first time we kissed, he had a mouthful of peanut butter,” the actress told Fox News Digital. “I thought, ‘Oh no.’ And I had to keep going with this kiss. The camera didn’t know what was going on. But here I was, kissing him with peanut butter. I almost killed him. I was like, ‘You are so bad and very inappropriate, Larry.’ And he didn’t care. He just kept laughing. He thought that was funny.”
“And then it was onions,” said the 85-year-old. “It was kissing him with peanut butter, onions, whatever he could find in a jar. That wasn’t some romantic thing. On camera, it looked pretty good, but that was not my reality.”
Larry Hagman, as John Ross “J.R.” Ewing, Jr., and Linda Gray, as Sue Ellen Ewing. Getty Images
Gray later found that Hagman wasn’t a fan of on-screen kisses. Rather than endure the awkward moments, he turned them into sensible jokes.
“He had told me quite honestly that he didn’t like kissing scenes,” said Gray. “And I thought, ‘Well, we’re going to be kissing a lot!’ So when there was a kissing scene, Larry cringed, just cringed. He did not like it. But I think the pranks, psychologically, were his way of getting over the anxiety of having to kiss me on camera.”
The “Dallas” set was infamous for its sensible jokes, and everybody acquired caught in the crossfire.
“It was a daily prank, if you can imagine,” said Gray. “And you never knew who it was going to come from. But it was mainly Larry. Larry was the prankster. I remember there was one episode where Sue Ellen was in the hospital. I was attached to all kinds of tubes and things on my wrists, arms and nose — all this hospital stuff. Larry came in, and he was supposed to talk to Sue Ellen. And Sue Ellen was out of it. She wasn’t speaking, which was great for me.”
Larry Hagman and Linda Grey attend the Channel 5 Dallas Launch Party at Old Billingsgate Market on Tuesday, August 21, 2012, in London, England. Getty Images
“So Larry sits beside my bed and starts telling Sue Ellen how much he loves her,” she shared. “Very soap opera dialogue. He’s going, ‘Oh, Sue Ellen!’ and I’m lying there with my eyes closed, my eyes rolling underneath my eyelids. Then the door opens again. I thought, ‘Who is in this scene that I didn’t know about?’ It’s Patrick Duffy. He stands next to Larry and says, ‘I did not know this was in the scene. Would it help if we sang that old song we used to sing?’ Larry says, ‘Yes.’ And then the two of them started singing this very inappropriate song. I can’t even repeat the words to you.”
“I just burst out laughing,” she continued. “The tube came flying out of my nose. I was totally blindsided. I thought I had ruined the scene, but everyone just started laughing hysterically. That was just how it was every day.”
Hagman’s sensible jokes had been one factor. Facing Texas girls in real life was another altogether.
“I was at a Dallas hotel for an event,” she recalled. “I went to the ladies’ room to put on lipstick. Next to me was this lovely lady with a little Judith Leiber bag. She opened it to put on her lipstick. I glanced down, and there was a gun in her purse. That was all she had in it: a gun and lipstick. I thought, ‘Oh boy, I’m in Texas. Who carries a gun around?’ So I said, ‘Excuse me, is that a gun?’ Really stupid, I know. She said, ‘Of course, darling. This is Texas!’”
Linda Gray, who performs Sue Ellen Ewing, leans over Larry Hagman, who performs John Ross “J.R.” Ewing Jr., in a promotional still from the tv collection “Dallas” in 1983. Getty Images
“I had never been to Dallas in my life,” she mirrored. “I remember landing in Texas. Everything was beige and flat. I thought, ‘I’ve got to know the women here.’ And where do the wealthy women of Texas go? Neiman Marcus, of course, to get their hair done. And that’s what I did. I remember seeing big, big hair. It was unlike anything I saw in California. These women dressed a certain way. Their shoes were always very stylish. And apparently, they carried guns in their tiny evening bags.”
Gray acquired a crash course in Texas high society over one unforgettable lunch.
“One woman invited me to lunch, and she wore a special outfit just for it,” said Gray. “I didn’t have any friends in California who would do that. We’re having lunch, and then she looks at her watch. She says, ‘Oh, I’m so sorry. I have to go home. I have to fluff and fold.’ I’m thinking, ‘She has to do laundry? Fluff her towels and fold them?’ No. She had to fluff her hair, put on her makeup and turn into the woman her husband expected.”
If studying Texas customs was intimidating, conserving the show’s greatest twist under wraps was downright terrifying.
The “Dallas” Season 3 finale ended with one of tv’s most well-known cliffhangers: J.R. was shot by an unseen gunman, leaving viewers to wait eight months to be taught not only who pulled the set off but whether or not he survived.
Larry Hagman and Linda Grey attend the sixth Annual People’s Choice Awards. Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images
Gray recalled that the writers had been looking for a jaw-dropping method to end the season with a bang when one of them blurted out, “Let’s just shoot the bastard.” After a transient silence, everybody agreed: “What a great idea. We’ll shoot him.”
As “Who Shot J.R.?” turned a worldwide obsession, Gray discovered herself fielding the query in every single place she went, including during an interview with David Hartman.
“I used to be not very good, but I said, ‘Yes, I do,’” Gray recalled when asked whether she knew the shooter’s identification. “‘I know, and one of my children knows.’ After that, I thought, ‘Oh my God, I just opened Pandora’s box. I thought everyone was going to call my house and one of my kids would answer the phone and reveal who it was. And then it would be all over.’”
The second the interview ended, Gray said she rushed to call home.
“I remember telling my kids, ‘Somebody’s going to call you, and they’re going to ask you who shot J.R. You cannot answer.’ My heart was racing because it all could have been ruined. But nobody called, thank God.”
Decades after “Dallas” first captivated audiences, Gray said the recollections had been meant to be shared.
“I don’t look at it as letting these items go,” she said about the public sale. “I look at it as sharing. There are a lot of people who still feel very connected with the show. And it feels good to share.”
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