Gary Ewing

Garrison "Gary" Arthur Ewing^[1] is a fictional character in the CBS soap opera Knots Landing, a spin-off of Dallas. The character originated in the parent series second season episode Reunion, Part 1 (played by David Ackroyd) as the second son of oil baron Jock and Miss Ellie Ewing, the father of Lucy Ewing and ex-husband of Valene Ewing. The part was recast for the spin-off Knots Landing with Ted Shackelford in the role, and he became one of the main stars of the series in December 1979, while continuing to make appearances in Dallas. Shackelford played Gary in Knots Landing for its entire fourteen seasons. The character made his last Knots Landing appearance in 1997, in the reunion series Knots Landing: Back to the Cul-de-Sac. Shackelford reprised his character for the new, updated version of Dallas in 2013.

Development

Casting and creation

From the outset, Dallas was centered around the lives of the wealthy Ewing family who lived in Dallas, Texas. Once the show became a success after the initial run as a five-episode miniseries, the producers decided to expand the roles of certain characters. They introduced the parents of Lucy Ewing (Charlene Tilton), who had not been shown on-screen until that point.^[2] After the success of Dallas, Jacobs' presented his initial idea again and created Knots Landing, with some alterations of his original script.^[3] In an interview, Jacobs explained: " Well, that's pretty good, but you know-and then he pulled out the pages that we'd left for them a few years ago on Knots Landing, or a year before on Knots, and he said, 'Is there any way we can make this a spin-off?' I just took one of the couples and made it, you know, Val and Gary who had already been created on the parent series and putting them into the mix, but when you have four couples and you change one, you sort of have to change the dynamic all the way around. However, once I wrote the script, remarkably little changed from the script and the pilot as you would see it."^[4] Gary Ewing was originally played by actor David Ackroyd, but Ackroyd was unable to sign on for the spin-off, and Ted Shackelford assumed the role.^[5]

Character arc

Dallas

Gary Ewing was born in January 1944 to oil baron Jock Ewing and his wife Miss Ellie Ewing of Dallas, Texas. Gary was their second son having been conceived just before Jock went off to Europe to fight in World War II. As Jock was not with Miss Ellie during her pregnancy with Gary, she tended to view him as more hers than Jock's and he became her favorite son, while the relationship between Jock and Gary was always distant. He was often considered the black sheep of the family, as he would become an alcoholic, and was never treated as an equal by his father and elder brother J.R. Gary married Valene Ewing, played by Joan Van Ark in late January 1961, shortly after Gary's 17th birthday (Valene had turned 15 the previous fall). They settled at Southfork much to J.R. and Jock's annoyance. To help the newlyweds out, Miss Ellie bought them a home and gave Gary a job as ranch foreman. Their daughter Lucy was born exactly nine months after their marriage, in late October 1961. However, older brother J.R. kept harassing the young couple, and Gary and Valene were soon fighting. He took to drinking again, eventually walking out on his family. J.R. also forced Valene out of Southfork, causing her to flee to Virginia with baby Lucy and hoping to have her mother, Lilimae Clements played by Julie Harris, care for her child, but was refused. J.R. followed Valene, accusing her of prostitution and warning her never to return to Dallas. J.R. took away Lucy and delivered the baby to the care of her grandmother, Miss Ellie.

Years later, Gary bumped into his brother Bobby and his wife Pam in Las Vegas. Bobby persuaded him to visit Texas. While he was visiting, Lucy his teenage daughter surprised him by reintroducing him to Valene. For the sake of his ex-wife and daughter, Gary tried to make things work in Texas, but soon came under the old pressures of living up to Jock's expectations and J.R.'s deviousness. J.R. had set Gary up in an office equipment machinery firm in a hope that Gary would fail as usual. To ensure his new found sobriety, he knew he had to leave Southfork and his family once again. Valene tracked Gary down and they reunited and remarried.^[3] As a wedding present, Gary's mother Miss Ellie bought the couple a house in California. Originally, their daughter Lucy was to join them, but this event did not materialize, and she remained at Southfork.

Gary made a few more brief appearances in Dallas, most notably; Lucy's wedding to Mitch Cooper, the reading of Jock's will, Bobby's "funeral", during the dream season, and in the final episode.

Knots Landing

Gary and Val began their new life in Knots Landing and met their new neighbors Sid and Karen Fairgate, where he is offered a job at Knots Landing Motors by Sid. However, soon after Gary began drinking heavily again. With the arrival of Sid's sister Abby Cunningham, Gary found himself lusting after her and she did for him. Eventually they slept together and an affair ensued until Val discovered it. With Gary being thrown out of his marital home he moved in with Abby. Gary also befriended an up and coming singer called Ciji until she was tragically murdered. Gary believed he killed her while drunk but later realized he didn't and was acquitted. When Jock was killed in a plane crash, Gary stood to inherit millions and bought a ranch and started a company, Gary Ewing Enterprises. Gary soon married Abby as she secretly started her own company, Apaloon. Gary then met Cathy Geary, who looked a lot like Ciji and began a new friendship with her and had her dress and sing like Ciji too. During a moment of weakness Gary had a one night stand with his ex-wife Valene and she became pregnant with twins but he assumed they were Val's new husband, Ben Gibson's, unborn babies. Gary's marriage to Abby broke down and he became involved with Jill Bennett, who tried to kill Val. Gary and Val finally reunited and he, with his children Bobby and Betsy, became a family for the first time. When Val was supposedly killed, Gary entered a relationship with a much younger Kate Whittaker as she supported him and his children through their grief. However, Val turned up alive and he and Kate split and he returned to Val.^[1]

Dallas (2012 TV series)

Gary returned to Dallas in 2013 to help his brother, Bobby stop their nephew John Ross from drilling for oil on Southfork. Gary informs Bobby that he fell off the wagon again and he and Valene had separated. After his brother J.R.'s death, Gary is very conflicted about his feelings toward J.R. but realizes that every step he took in life, forward or backward, was because of J.R. In J.R.'s will, he gives Gary an old bottle of Scotch, clearly taunting him knowing he is a recovering alcoholic. Later, Sue Ellen calls Valene and she comes to Dallas, where she and Gary reunite.

Notes

References

• Curran, Barbara A. (2005). Dallas: The Complete Story of the World's Favorite Prime-Time Soap. Cumberland House Publishing. ISBN 978-1581824728. 

External links

• Gary Ewing at the Internet Movie Database
• Gary Ewing Biography at Ultimate Dallas.com

v t e Dallas Original series (1978–91) • Revival series (2012–present) Characters Original series regulars Liz Adams Cliff Barnes Pam Ewing James Beaumont Donna Culver Krebbs Bobby Ewing Miss Ellie Farlow Jack Ewing Jock Ewing J.R. Ewing Lucy Ewing Sue Ellen Ewing Clayton Farlow Cally Harper Ewing Ray Krebbs Carter McKay Stephanie Rogers April Stevens Ewing Michelle Stevens Jenna Wade Krebbs Revival series regulars Pamela Rebecca Barnes Ewing Ann Ewing Bobby Ewing Christopher Ewing John Ross Ewing J.R. Ewing Sue Ellen Ewing Elena Ramos Drew Ramos Emma Brown Harris Ryland Supporting Digger Barnes Afton Cooper Marta Del Sol Gary Ewing Jamie Ewing Valene Ewing Bum Jones Carmen Ramos Judith Ryland Kristin Shepard Katherine Wentworth Families Ewing family Barnes family Listings Original series (characters and cast) Revival series (characters and cast) Episodes Original series ("A House Divided" "Who Done It" "Conundrum") Revival series ("Blame Game" "The Furious and the Fast" "J.R.'s Masterpiece" "Ewings Unite!" "Guilt & Innocence" "Let Me In" "A Call to Arms" "Love & Family" "Guilt by Association" "Legacies") Seasons Original series: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Revived series: 1 2 Related productions Knots Landing (1979-1993) Dallas: The Early Years (1986) Dallas: J.R. Returns (1996) Knots Landing: Back to the Cul-de-Sac (1997) Dallas: War of the Ewings (1998) Dallas Reunion: The Return to Southfork (2004) Knots Landing Reunion: Together Again (2005) Related articles Original series crew David Jacobs Cynthia Cidre Lorimar Television Southfork Ranch (Cloyce Box Ranch) Dallas in popular culture Who shot J.R.? Dallas Quest Category