J.R. Ewing
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
John Ross "J.R." Ewing, Jr., played by Larry Hagman, was the main villain and character on the hit American television series Dallas. J.R. was a wealthy, greedy, and amoral oil baron who was constantly planning schemes to benefit himself personally.
J.R. was originally intended as a supporting character. However, his popularity grew and he became the center of the show. He is particularly known for the two episodes originally aired in 1980, "A House Divided" and "Who Done It?". These two episodes became famous when the audience witnessed J.R. being shot by an unknown assailant. After the first part was aired in the Spring, the audience had to wait on this cliffhanger until the Fall. This 1980 event became a national obsession known as "Who shot J.R.?".
J.R. was keen on women and whiskey and often wore a white cowboy hat, even if he never showed any great interest in the cattle breeding on the Southfork Ranch. He drove a silver Mercedes-Benz with the license plate EWING 3.
Professional wrestler John Layfield has said that his "John Bradshaw Layfield" a.k.a. "JBL" character is a combination of JR Ewing and former WWE Superstar Ted DiBiase.
[edit] Trivia
- He was renamed in the Hungarian version of the series to Jockey.
- The character ranked 180th in a countdown of the 200 Greatest Pop Culture Icons compiled by VH1.
- Rapper Sir Mix-A-Lot refers to himself as "the J.R. Ewing of Seattle" in the song Posse On Broadway.
- Rock'n' Roll legand Ozzy Osbourne parodies J.R. in his video for the song "The Ultimate Sin". He wears the same white cowboy hat and is depicted as the head of "Ozzy Oils" company.
- The legend of J.R. Ewing continues today! Larry Hagman, as J.R. Ewing, is impersonated by an exact lookalike who makes appearances at Southfork Ranch, on request; and has appeared on TV and at other events throughout Texas and the United States.
