Larry Martin Hagman (September 21, 1931 – November 23, 2012) was an American film and television actor, director, and producer, best known for playing ruthless oil baron J. R. Ewing in the 1978–1991 primetime television soap opera Dallas, and the befuddled astronaut Major Anthony Nelson in the 1965–1970 sitcom I Dream of Jeannie.

Hagman had supporting roles in numerous films, including Fail-Safe, Harry and Tonto, S.O.B., Nixon, and Primary Colors.

He lived with his maternal grandmother, Juanita Presley Martin, in Texas and California, while his mother became a contract player with Paramount in 1938.

In 1940, Hagman's mother met and married Richard Halliday before giving birth to a daughter, Heller, the following year.

[8] When his mother moved to New York City to resume her Broadway career, Hagman again lived with his grandmother in California.

Although his father wanted Hagman to become a lawyer and join his practice,[9] he was drawn to drama classes and reportedly fell in love with the stage.

[11] That summer, during a break from his one year at Bard College, he worked in Dallas as a production assistant and acting in small roles in Margo Jones's theater company.

[12] Stationed in London, he spent the majority of his military service entertaining U.S. troops in the United Kingdom and at bases in Europe.

[13] After leaving the Air Force in 1956, Hagman returned to New York City, where he appeared in the off-Broadway play Once Around the Block, by William Saroyan.

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

In 1960, he was cast in the CBS summer medical series Diagnosis: Unknown in the role of Don Harding in the episode, "The Case of the Radiant Wine".

In 1961, Hagman joined the cast of daytime soap opera The Edge of Night as Ed Gibson and stayed in that role for two years.

In 1963 and 1964, he appeared twice in segments of the CBS legal drama, The Defenders[15] In 1964, he made his film debut in Ensign Pulver, the sequel to 1955's Mister Roberts.

In 1965, Hagman was cast as "genie" Barbara Eden's master and eventual love interest, Air Force Captain (later Major) Anthony Nelson, in the NBC situation comedy I Dream of Jeannie, which ran for five seasons from 1965 to 1970.

[16] The show entered the top 30 in its first year and was NBC's answer to the successful 1960s magical comedies, Bewitched on ABC and My Favorite Martian on CBS.

[17] In 1999, after 29 years, Hagman agreed to reunite with Jeannie co-stars Barbara Eden and Bill Daily and creator/producer Sidney Sheldon on The Donny and Marie Show.

In 2002, when I Dream of Jeannie was set to join the cable channel TV Land, Hagman once again took part in a reunion with Eden and Daily, this time on Larry King Live.

And the following year, 2005, brought all three surviving stars from I Dream of Jeannie to the first cast reunion at the Chiller Expo Show.

[18] Hagman and Eden reunited in March 2006 for a publicity tour in New York City to promote the first-season DVD of I Dream of Jeannie.

At the beginning of the 1980–81 season, writers were told to keep the storylines away from the actors until they really found out who actually shot J.R. and three weeks passed until the culprit was revealed on November 21, 1980, in a ratings record-breaking episode.

For his performance as J.R. Ewing, Hagman was nominated for two Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series in 1980 and 1981, but did not win.

[26] In 1984, co-star Barbara Bel Geddes left Dallas, following a contract dispute that had resulted from her March 1983 quadruple heart bypass surgery.

In 1993, Hagman 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.

[31][32] In January 1997, Hagman starred in a short-lived television series titled Orleans as Judge Luther Charbonnet, which lasted only eight episodes.

In January 2011, Hagman made a guest appearance in the seventh season of Desperate Housewives as a new husband for Lynette Scavo's mother, Stella (played by Polly Bergen).

[citation needed] Hagman appeared in such feature films as The Group; Fail-Safe; Harry and Tonto; Mother, Jugs & Speed; In Harm's Way; The Eagle Has Landed; Superman; S.O.B.

His television work included Getting Away from It All, Sidekicks, The Return of the World's Greatest Detective, Intimate Strangers, Checkered Flag or Crash and A Howling in the Woods Hagman directed (and appeared briefly in) the 1972 comedy horror film Beware!

The end of each 30-second spot featured a male voice-over saying, "Refreshing Schlitz beer...the gusto's back..." Hagman, grinning into the camera, added: "...and I'm gonna get it!"

Hagman's daughter Heidi, whom O'Connor had known since her childhood, joined the cast for one season of Archie Bunker's Place.

"[54] Actress Linda Gray, who played Sue Ellen Ewing on Dallas, called Hagman her "best friend for 35 years" and was at his bedside when he died, her agent told the BBC.