1935 - 1943

Too young to be a mother and too much ambition for Weatherford, Mary wanted to be a movie star. In 1935 she divorced Larry’s father and headed to Hollywood to chase her dreams of stardom, leaving behind her ex-husband and her 4-year-old son.

Nicknamed “Lukey,” Larry was raised mainly by his maternal grandmother, Juanita, and her housekeeper until the age of 6.

In 1938 Mary landed a movie deal at Paramount. She brought young Larry and Juanita to live with her in Hollywood and enrolled Larry in the Black Fox Military School. Larry attended alongside the sons of such stars as Bing Crosby, who had given his mother one of her first big breaks on his radio show.

In 1940 Larry’s mother, who was now a contract player with Paramount remarried Richard Halliday, a story editor at Paramount. Because of Mary’s career, Larry rarely saw his mother.

On November 4, 1941 Mary gave birth to a second child, a daughter she named Heller.

In 1943, after Mary Martin got her first real starring role on Broadway in One touch of Venus, the three of them moved to New York. Since Larry was in school in Los Angeles and accustomed to living with his grandmother, he and his grandmother stayed behind in California.

1943 -
New York and The Boarding School Years

At the age of 12, Larry’s grandmother became seriously ill and passed away. Larry moved to New York to live with his mother where his mother was now a successful Broadway star.

Larry was shunted from one boarding school to another and bounced around a lot, going with his mother to New York, then getting sent off to boarding school Trinity Prep School and later to Woodstock Country Day School, Vermont.

1946 -
Weatherford, Texas and the Cowboy Years

In 1946 Larry’s mother met him at Woodstock Country Day School and told him she was going on the road in Annie Get Your Gun. She asked Larry to come with her. At that time, Larry had no aspiration to be onstage. He told his mom that he really wanted to be a cowboy. That summer, after school ended, he left New York and moved back to his hometown of Weatherford, Texas. Stepping off the train into a new world, wearing a Brooks Brothers suit and tie, thick glasses and his hair in a New York style big wavy pompadour, his father’s first decision was to take him to the barbershop and get him a buzz cut.

During his early to mid teen years, Larry’s father taught him how to hunt and fish what it meant to be a Texan.

Larry attended Weatherford High School, and in his last two years of high school, Larry developed an interest in theater. As a senior, he wrote for the school newspaper and acted in the school play, This Girl Business, getting lots of favorable attention and quite a few laughs.

Larry graduated from high school in 1949. After graduation, Larry’s father wanted Larry to go to law school and take over the family practice, but a happy experience acting in the school play proved to Larry that he was, at heart, his mother’s son.

Larry tried to live up to his father’s expectations by working as a cowboy - hunting, fishing, and raising hell in the Texas hills. Larry got a job for oil field-equipment maker Antelope Tool Company and witnessed the eldest son of the company founder win a battle to succeed his father, a story that would resonate with him in the role that would make him internationally famous years in the coming future.

To his father’s chagrin, Larry left town to attend Bard College, a small college in Annandale-on-Hudson in upstate New York.

1950 –
Larry Begins his Acting Career

When Larry entered Bard College in the fall, he decided he would major in drama and dance, and acted in several plays. During a two month winter break from Bard and with his mother’s help, he got an apprenticeship with the prestigious Margot Jones Theater Company in Dallas, Texas. Later that summer, he began his apprenticeship in earnest, putting in time with Margaret Webster’s Shakespeare workshop in Woodstock, New York, and St. John Terrell’s traveling Music Circus, where he did everything from singing in the chorus to driving tent stakes with a sledgehammer.

1951 - 1956
The London Years, Military Service and Marriage

In 1951 Larry moved to London, joining his mother on the stage in the production of South Pacific.  His mother was the star and Larry had a small speaking part.

In 1952 Larry was called to serve in the U.S. Air Force. He was stationed in London, spending the majority of his military service arranging the entertainment the U.S. troops in the United Kingdom and at bases in Europe.

One evening in 1953 he met the love of his life: Maj (pronounced “My”) Axelsson, a blond, blue-eyed 25-year-old Swedish-born clothing designer. Larry wrote in his autobiography, "I liked what I saw from the moment I looked into her blue eyes."

In 1954 Larry and Maj were married in London. They had two ceremonies: a civil ceremony on December 8th and on December 18th, a religious service at London’s Swedish Church .

1956 – 1958
Family and the Theater Years

In 1956, after leaving the Air Force, Larry and his wife moved to New York’s Greenwich Village where they had two children: a girl, Heidi Kristina, born in 1958, and then a boy, Preston, born 1962.

In New York, Larry appeared in the Off-Broadway play Once Around the Block, by William Saroyan. That was followed by a year in another Off-Broadway play, James Lee’s Career.

In 1958 his Broadway debut occurred in Comes a Day, by Speed Lamkin, also starring Judith Anderson and George C. Scott, who was also starring in his first Broadway play.

Larry appeared in four other Broadway plays, God and Kate Murphy, The Nervous Set, The Warm Peninsula and The Beauty Part.

1956 –
Television and Movie Years Begin

During this period, Larry also appeared in numerous, mostly live, television programs. At age 25, Larry made his television debut on an episode of Decoy.

In 1958, he joined Barbara Bain as a guest star in the short-lived adventure-drama series Harbormaster. Larry joined the cast of daytime soap opera The Edge of Night in 1961 as Ed Gibson, and stayed in that role for two years.

In 1964, he made his film debut in the Navy comedy Ensign Pulver, a sequel to the 1955 film Mister Roberts, which featured a young Robert Walker, Jr, Burl Ives, Walter Matthau, Peter Marshall, James Farentino and James Coco.

That same year, Larry also appeared in Fail-Safe, with Henry Fonda, a 1964 Cold War thriller that portrayed a fictional account of a Cold War nuclear crisis. The film also featured performances by veteran actors Dan O'Herlihy, Walter Matthau and Frank Overton.

A string of small movie roles followed including The Cavern (1964), an adventure drama set during WW2 in Italy.

In 1965 Larry appeared in the American epic war film, In Harm’s Way, produced and directed by Otto Preminger and starring John Wayne, Kirk Douglas, Patricia Neal, Tom Tryon, Paula Prentiss, Stanley Holloway, Burgess Meredith, Brandon deWilde, Jill Haworth, Dana Andrews, and Henry Fonda. It was the last black-and-white World War II epic and the last black-and-white John Wayne film.

1965 – 1970
The Jeannie Years

In January 1965, after nearly eight years of guest-starring in various television series and small movie roles, Larry got his first really big break when he landed a role in his first major television series, I Dream of Jeannie, which was created by Sidney Sheldon. Larry played Tony Nelson, an astronaut who finds a bottle with a genie, played by Barbara Eden. So off to Hollywood as Larry and his family move to Los Angeles.

The sitcom was on air for five years and gave Larry a chance to show off his comedic talents and work behind the camera, directing several episodes. It became a top ten hit.

Larry’s on and off screen life always included his family. As he and Maj moved when Larry’s work changed, he took his family with him everywhere – whether on the set of I Dream of Jeanne, or shooting on another location, or on family camping or fishing trips, they traveled together as a family.

The last original episode of Jeannie aired on May 26, 1970.

During the filming of Jeannie, Larry appeared in The Group(1966), Larry playing the alcoholic husband of Joanna Petet and shares a memorable confrontation with Candice Bergen.

The 1960s –
The Mad Monk of Malibu

During this time, Larry and his family moved to a beachfront outpost called Malibu Colony, a haven for surfers and hippies. Larry developed a reputation as a fun loving eccentric. He wore flowing caftans made by his wife to lead flag parades down the beach and dressed up in a chicken suit to ride his Harley-Davidson to the grocery store. In these fun years, Larry, who was always close with his family and friends, developed his motto, 'Don’t Worry, Be Happy, Feel Good'.

The 1970s -
After Jeannie

Larry described his years following Jeannie as a constant hustle for parts.

In the 1970s Larry starred in two short-lived series in Here We Go Again and The Good Life.

In 1972 Larry directed his only feature film, Beware! The Blob, also called Son of Blob, a semi-sequel to the classic 1958 horror film The Blob. Notable mostly for being the sole feature film directed by Larry, it is also notable for its oddball cast. Larry briefly steps in front of the camera to play a hobo. Christian musician Randy Stonehill shows up to play a song called "Captain Coke" with Cindy Williams (Shirley out of sitcom Laverne & Shirley). Del Close also makes an appearance as a homeless person.  Robert Walker (Easy Rider), Richard Stahl (Five Easy Pieces) and Richard Webb (Out Of The Past) were all respected actors who unaccountably agreed to show up here. Then there's Dean Cundey, the cinematographer who would soon make such films as John Carpenter's Halloween and The Thing look so spectacular, and later worked on the Back To The Future trilogy and Jurassic Park. Cundey created Beware! The Blob's gloopy special effects which, like the original film, were achieved with silicone and red dye and served as a camera operator.

Other appearances include Applause (1973), Stardust (1974), Sidekicks (1974), Hurricane (1974), Mother Jugs and Speed (1976), The Big Bus (1976), The Eagle has Landed (1976), Checkered Flag or Crash(1977), and Superman(1978).

1978 - 1991 –
DALLAS

After finding sitcom stardom, Larry found success in his most famous role: playing J.R. Ewing, the villainous oil tycoon, on the hugely popular night-time soap opera Dallas. The show, which debuted in the spring of 1978, followed the lives of the Ewings, a wealthy Texas family. As J.R. Ewing, Larry clashed with his brothers Bobby, played by Patrick Duffy, and Gary, played by Ted Shackelford, over the family's business. Linda Gray played his alcoholic wife, Sue Ellen.

J.R. Ewing was the kind of character that audiences loved to hate. At the end of the 1979-1980 season, viewers had to puzzle over one of the most riveting cliffhangers of television history: "Who shot J.R.?"

On November 21, 1980 - "Who Done It?" aired drawing an estimated 350 million viewers worldwide who tuned in to find out Who Shot JR? It was revealed that Kristin Shepard, J.R.'s scheming sister-in-law and mistress, played by Mary Crosby, shot him in a fit of anger. "Who Done It?" was, at the time, the highest-rated television episode in U.S. history. As one of the most popular characters on TV, J.R. survived his injuries and remained on the show until its end in 1991.

Larry based his portrayal in part on memories of the eldest son who had won the Antelope Tool Company succession battle, where Larry had worked as a teenager in Weatherford. Seen in more than 90 countries, the show became a worldwide success, inspiring several prime-time soaps. Larry became one of the best known television stars of the era.

On May 3, 1991 the last and 357th installment of Dallas aired. A drunk and angry J.R. pulled out his late daddy’s Colt Peacemaker, intent on committing suicide. Then an angel played by Joel Grey showed him what the Ewing family saga would have been like if he had never existed. J.R. fingered the trigger of the Colt, a gunshot sounded, and the credits rolled on yet another cliffhanger.

The 1980’s –
Larry’s Other Endeavors

In 1980 Larry recorded a single 45 record called The Ballad of the Good Luck Charm released on Epic records.

Also in the 1980s Larry was featured in a national televised Schlitz beer campaign, playing on the J.R. character. He wore the same kind of western business outfit – complete with cowboy hat – that he wore in his role as J.R. The end of each 30-second spot featured a male voice-over saying, "Refreshing Schlitz beer ... the gusto's back ..." Larry, grinning into the camera, added: "... and I'm gonna get it!" He also made commercials for BVD brand underwear.

From 1981 to 1982, Larry was the chairman of the American Cancer Society’s “Great American Smoke Out”. He was the original anti-smoking crusader long before it became fashionable to campaign against cigarettes.

On 1981, Larry starred as a caricatured Hollywood studio executive in Blake Edwards's S.O.B.

In 1985 Larry hosted “Lone Star”, and eight-part documentary series related to the history of Texas, for Public Television Stations. That aired while celebrating the 150th anniversary of Texas as an independent republic.

In the spring of 1987 Kari-Lorimar released "Larry Hagman --Stop Smoking for Life". Proceeds from this home video were donated to the American Cancer Society. During this time, Larry started traveling around with his noteable Stop Smoking For Life fan to 'blow' cigarette smoke away from him.

Larry was the biggest star on TV as J.R. on Dallas and as his popularity surged, he was often asked for autographs by his fans. But unlike many other stars, he remained genuinely appreciative of his fans. He coped with the avalanche of letter writers requesting his autograph by sending them “J.R. Dollars” – play money emblazoned with his likeness - and when meeting fans he would ask them to either sing him a song or tell him a joke in exchange for his signature.

1990s – After Dallas
The Ojai Years

On November 3, 1990 Larry’s mother, the legendary Mary Martin, passed away of colon cancer at the age of 76 in Palm Springs.

In 1991 Larry and his wife Maj decided it was time to move from their Malibu beach home to Ojai. He and Maj had first come to Ojai more than 30 years before when they took their two children there to camp. "Ojai has got a special quality. I don't really know what it is but it's a unique little town," he said.

Maj directed the building of a spectacular Mediterranean style ranch atop a 2,500 foot peak above Ojai with views of the Pacific Ocean and gorgeous sunsets. They affectionately called it "Heaven" and entertained often, hosting small gatherings or parties of 200 to 300 - many of them fundraisers for charities or for local or environmental causes. 

At 18,000 square feet, Heaven became the country’s largest solar-powered home.

Larry had by now become a grandfather of five lovely granddaughters - Noel, Tara, Rebecca, Kaya and Nora. Larry loved being a granddad, and affectionately called grandchildren “his blondies”, saying ‘My happiness comes from being a husband, father and grandfather of five, not from stardom, which is a fluke.’

Larry had fun. He was a devout art collector. He loved motorcycles, especially his beloved Harley. He took up paragliding and continued to hunt, fish, and tour around in his custom-designed motor home. In Ojai, he appeared annually in the Ojai Independence Day Parade on his restored Ahrens Fox Fire truck inviting neighbors, family and friends to join him.

In 1992 Larry joined Linda Gray in performing the Pulitzer Prize-winning play Love Letters in the US and Europe.

Also in 1992 Larry directed several episodes of In the Heat of the Night with Carroll O’Connor as the show’s star. In the Heat of the Night was an American television series based on the film and the novel of the same title. It was broadcast on NBC from 1988 until 1992, and then on CBS until 1994.

In 1993 Larry starred in Staying Afloat as a down-on-his-luck former millionaire who agrees to work undercover with the FBI to maintain his playboy lifestyle. Originally ordered for two TV movies and a weekly series by NBC, the pilot movie aired in November 1993 to critical drubbing and low ratings, which ending its production.

DALLAS
The TV Movies

November 15, 1996 Dallas: J.R. Returns aired, a 2-hour TV movie in which the ratings were a huge success for CBS. It was the first of two Dallas reunion movies, produced after the series went off the air in 1991. The cliffhanger ending of the 1991 Dallas series finale is resolved in 26 minutes when it is revealed that the gunshot J.R. Ewing fired was at the mirror, not himself. Dallas: J.R. Returns was rerun as part of TV Land's salute to 50 years of Warner Bros. Television.

April 24, 1998 Dallas: War of the Ewings, Larry’s second Dallas reunion movie aired on CBS. It was two decades after the original series premiered. Larry was executive producer. Dallas: War of the Ewings ranked 42nd for the week it was shown with a 7.8 rating. By comparison, the previous Dallas TV movie J.R. Returns (shown in May 1996) ranked 14th for the week it was shown with a 13.4 rating.

The Late 1990s

In January 1997 Larry starred in a short-lived television drama series titled Orleans which lasted only eight episodes. His role as Judge Luther Charbonnet gave him some of the best reviews of his 36-year career.

In 1997 Larry completed two more projects.

The Third Twin was a four-hour miniseries based on the techno-thriller by author Ken Follett’s best-selling novel about genetic engineering that aired on CBS.

Next was Mike Nichols Primary Colors, a feature film based on the best-selling book by the journalist, Joe Klein, starring John Travolta, Emma Thompson, Billy Bob Thornton, Kathy Bates and Adrian Lester. Larry played former Florida Governor Fred Picker, an anti-politics politician, who makes a competitive bid for office. Primary Colors was his second presidential film having also appeared in Oliver Stone's Nixon in 1995.

The Early 2000s

In 2001 Larry’s autobiography was released. Hello Darling’, Tall (and Absolutely True) Tales About My Life, was written with Todd Gold. It’s a funny and easygoing autobiography described by the Kirkus Review as “sheer charm”.

At the same time Larry’s book was released, Larry decided to go on the lecture circuit touring the United States and Europe sharing anecdotes of his life and career. Originally titled the same name as his book, “Hello Darlin’”, Larry’s talk was heartwarming and hilarious.

In 2002  Larry made an appearance in the fourth series of Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer's British comedy panel game, Shooting Stars.

In 2005, Larry narrated Sheer Dallas, a 2005 television reality show about the rich and eccentric lives of people in Dallas, Texas. It aired on cable network’s The Learning Channel.

Larry and Maj -
A 59 Year Love Story

In 2005, Larry’s wife Maj was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. After the diagnosis, Larry and Maj lived quietly at their Ojai ranch in California. Larry, determined to care for her himself, watch her condition decline over the next few years. Her condition eventually worsened so severely that he needed help and by 2010 she moved to an assisted living facility where she could get nursing care. “The pain is excruciating,” he admitted to a friend. “We’ve been soul mates for over half a century.”

In 2010 Larry put his Ojai ranch, Heaven, on the market and relocated to his Santa Monica condo to be close to his wife who was now being cared for in an assisted living facility.

The marriage of Larry and Maj was one of the great and rare Hollywood love stories that did not end in divorce. If Larry had lived another month, they would have celebrated their 59th wedding anniversary on December 18, 2012.

The Late 2000s

In 2006 Larry guest-starred in several episodes of the FX Network's plastic surgery drama Nip/Tuck playing the wealthy Burt Landau. Burt, along with his wife Michelle (Sanaa Lathan), become the new owners of the plastic surgery practice run by Drs. Sean McNamara (Dylan Walsh) and Christian Troy (Julian McMahon).

In 2008, on an episode of Living With Ed, Larry showed actor Ed Begley, Jr. his Ojai solar powered, super energy efficient home named "Heaven" and talked about his green lifestyle.

In 2010 Larry made several public appearances to advocate for alternative energy.

In July of 2010 Larry became the spokesperson for SolarWorld, a company that manufactures and sells solar power solutions. For SolarWorld, Larry appeared in numerous television advertisements in the U.S. and Europe as the J.R. character. Larry proclaimed in one of the ten television spots he made for SolarWorld,  "I have nothing more to do with oil. I am producing my own energy ... solar energy." And with the slogan "Shine, Baby, Shine!" Larry played off the oil industry’s rally call, “Drill, baby, drill,” to promote solar technology.

2011

In January of 2011 Larry made two guest appearances in the seventh season of Desperate Housewives as a new husband for Lynette Scavo's mother, Stella, played by Polly Bergen. Larry portrayed Frank, a character described as a grumpy racist.

On June 4, 2011 Larry decided it was time to downsize, and auctioned over 400 items from his life and career through Julien’s Auctions, a Beverly Hills auctioneer. At the preview, J.R. and Sue Ellen, a.k.a Larry and Linda Gray, made a dramatic arrival by riding down Wilshire Blvd. into Beverly Hills on horseback with a motorcycle escort by the Beverly Hills Police Department. When asked why he was selling, Larry replied, “There comes a time, even in J. R. Ewing’s life, when you have to downsize.” Besides, he added, even with 413 items on the auction block, “I have more left at home than I know what to do with.”

2011 - 2013
DALLAS TV SERIES WITH TNT

In October 2011 Larry returned to Dallas to reprise his J.R. role for TNT’s reboot of Dallas which started airing in June, 2012. Just as he was preparing to depart for Dallas, he was diagnosed with a 'treatable' form of throat cancer and announced he would receive treatment while filming the show. At the time he said: 'As J.R. I could get away with anything - bribery, blackmail and adultery. But I got caught by cancer. I do want everyone to know that it is a very common and treatable form of cancer.' For the next four months he relocated to Dallas and in early spring just as he completed filming six episodes of the first season he announced that he was in remission and all was good. The new version of Dallas was a success and TNT ordered a second season.

In September 2012 Larry enthusiastically returned to Dallas for filming the second season of TNT’s Dallas. During the next month, complications from cancer developed and Larry again underwent treatment while shooting the show.

November 15, 2012

Larry made his final public appearance appearing at a charity event for the White Bridle Therapeutic Horsemanship in Dallas where he posed with White Bridle's founding board member and his long-time friend and former co-star, Sheree J. Wilson, who played April Stevens in the 1980s Dallas show. Larry wanted to support her non-profit which was dedicated to providing therapeutic riding and horsemanship skills to children with developmental disabilities, primarily children on the autism spectrum.

November 23, 2012 -

Larry passed away at the age 81 at the Medical City Dallas Hospital in Dallas, Texas from complications of throat cancer. That week he was to be on the schedule for shooting the 2nd season of TNT's DALLAS and had planned to spend Thanksgiving with his family and grandchildren in Dallas. His children, grandchildren along with his close friends, Linda Gray and Patrick Duffy, were by his side when he passed.

Epilogue -
March 11, 2013

Dallas bids farewell to Larry and the infamous J.R. Ewing in the March 11th episode entitled "J.R.'s Masterpiece.” It’s the eighth episode of the second season of “Dallas” and features the funeral of J.R.Ewing, who was killed in the previous episode, The Furious and the Fast.