Matinee Classics - Larry Hagman Biography & Filmography

Larry Hagman ACTOR

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LARRY HAGMAN BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:

Larry Hagman was born on September 21st, 1931 in Fort Worth, Texas with the middle name Martin. His mother was actress, Mary Martin (Peter Pan) and when his parents divorced he relocated to Los Angeles, California and was raised by his grandmother up until the age of twelve.

After his grandmother passed away, he moved back to Texas to live with his biological mother. After graduating from Weatherford High School, Hagman went on to study at Bard College in New York State and decided at that time to follow in his mothers footsteps and pursue a career as an actor.

He began by working as a stage actor appearing in such productions as, "Taming the Shrew" and "South Pacific" which he performed on the London stage for five years.

Hagman then took a brief break from his acting career to join the United States Air Force and upon completing his military service he relocated back to New York and began performing on Broadway.

Some of his stage credits at this time included, "Once Around the Block", "Career", "Comes A Day", "A Priest House" and "The Beauty Part". By the late 1950's he began working as a television actor appearing on such series as, "Decoy" starring Beverly Garland, The ALCOA Hour", "The Edge of Night", "I Dream of Jeanie" co-starring Barbara Eden as Jeanie, "The Good Life", "Here We Go Again", "Applause" and "Dallas", where he is the only actor to have appeared in all 357 episodes.

He later hosted the show, "Lone Star" (1985) for an eight part documentary that had to do with the history of Texas. In 1964 he made his film debut in "Ensign Pulver", which featured a young Jack Nicholson along with Robert Walker Jr., Burl Ives, Walter Matthau, Tommy Sands, Millie Perkins, Kay Medford, Peter Marshall, Richard Gautier, George Lindsey, James Farentino and James Coco, which was a sequel to the 1955 film "Mister Roberts". Along with stage and television work, he also worked on such feature films as, "The Cavern" (1964) with John Saxon and Rosanna Schiaffino, then an epic World War II film "In Harm's Way" (1965) starring John Wayne, Kirk Douglas, Tom Tryon, Paula Prentiss, Brandon de Wilde, Patricia Neal, Henry Fonda, Hugh O'Brian, Burgess Meredith and Dana Andrews just to name a few, "The Group" (1966) starring Candice Bergen, Joan Hackett, Elizabeth Hartman, Shirley Knight, Jessica Walter, Kathleen Widdoes, Joanna Pettet and features small roles for Hal Holbrook, Carrie Nye, James Broderick and Richard Mulligan, "Up in the Cellar" (1970), "Antonio" (1973), "Stardust" (1974) starring David Essex, Adam Faith, Marty Wilde, Edd Byrnes and Rosalind Ayres, "The Big Bus" (1976), "Superman" (1978) starring Christopher Reeve and Margot Kidder, "I Am Blushing" (1981), "Nixon" (1995) starring Anthony Hopkins as President Richard Nixon with Joan Allen, Annabeth Gish, Powers Boothe, J.T. Walsh, E.G. Marshall, James Woods, Paul Sorvino, David Hyde-Pierce, Joanna Going and Ed Harris and "Primary Colors" (1998) starring alongside John Travolta, Kathy Bates, Emma Thompson and Billy Bob Thornton.

More recently, Hagman has added more television roles to his resume appearing on, "Dallas: J.R. Returns", "Orleans", "Nip/Tuck", "Somos cómplices", "Desperate Housewives" and "Dallas", portraying J.R. Erwing and the most watched episode pertained to his role, 'Who Shot J.R.?'.

Larry Hagman has married only once to Maj Axelsson in 1954 and they have two children and remain married today. Along with his acting career he has been an advocate for "Stop Smoking For Life" and a National Spokesperson for the 1996 U.S. Transplant Games. He remains involved in issues such as organ donation, transplantation and served as chairperson of the American Cancer Society's, "Great American Smokeout".

Larry Hagman was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contribution to Television.

Larry Hagman passed away in a Dallas, Texas hospital on November 23, 2012 at the age of eighty-one, suffering complications from cancer with "Dallas" co-stars Patrick Duffy and Linda Gray at his bedside.

Filmography

2012 Dallas

2011 Desperate Housewives

2011 The Flight of the Swan

2010 Das Traumschiff

2009 Somos cómplices

2006 Nip/Tuck

2006 The Simpsons

2005 Sheer Dallas

1998 Dallas: War of the Ewings

1998 Primary Colors

1997 The Third Twi

1997 Orleans

1996 Dallas: J.R. Returns

1995 Nixon

1993 Staying Afloat

1978-1991 Dallas

1986 Dallas: The Early Years

1986 Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color