Larry Hagman: Dallas to go on without JR

The new series of TV drama Dallas is to be rewritten to reflect the death of actor Larry Hagman, who played scheming oil tycoon JR Ewing.

Hagman, whose role as the stetson-wearing villain made him a global star in the 1980s, died on Friday aged 81, BBC reports.
He was on board when a new version of the show appeared earlier this year.

A statement from UK broadcaster Channel 5 said: "Dallas is midway in production on season two and this sad news will be incorporated into the storyline."

Hagman featured in a promotional video shot on the first day of filming for the new series and posted last month. The next season makes its premiere in the US on the TNT network on 28 January.

The show was resurrected in the summer, more than 20 years after the original ended, with Hagman starring alongside other original actors including Patrick Duffy and Linda Gray.

Gray was at Hagman's side when he passed away on Friday and described him as "my best friend for 35 years".
"He was the Pied Piper of life and brought joy to everyone he knew. He was creative, generous, funny, loving and talented and I will miss him enormously," she said. "He was an original and lived life to the full."

Ken Kercheval, who played Cliff Barnes, said the pair had "a great deal of fun" acting out their on-screen rivalry in the 1980s.
"That sparring back and forth, I think that's what kept the show going for as long as it did because everybody had to wait and see who was going to win and who was going to lose," he told BBC 5 live on Sunday.