I hope this doesn't confused things further, and it's hard to know what's fake and what's not, but according to this article Ken has indeed passed.
Not Fake News: 'Dallas' Actor Ken Kercheval Is Dead At 83, Contrary To Denial On His Own FaceBook Page
Did actor Ken Kercheval, best known for his role as Cliff Barnes on the "Dallas" TV series, die? Yes, this is true: Kercheval died on Sunday, April 21, 2019 in his hometown of Clinton, Indiana, after a long illness, according to a spokeswoman at
Frist Funeral Home in Clinton. His talent agency also confirmed his death to Lead Stories. This confirms a report published by the local newspaper The Daily Clintonian on Monday, April 22, 2019.
News of Kercheval's death has been confused by false reports that the local newspaper story -- which is not online -- was false. A Dallas fan group Twitter posting and a FaceBook page said its source was Kercheval's son, Caleb, and it referenced a post on Kercheval's personal FaceBook page saying "That J.R.'s at it again. He's hacked the Daily Clintonian." The fan post read:
"No one can accuse Ken Kercheval of not having a sense of humor. The man himself has just posted this on his own personal Facebook Page. #Dallas"
Users on social media only saw this title, description and thumbnail:
The publisher of the Daily Clintonian told Lead Stories that what was hacked was Kercheval's FaceBook account, not his newspaper. George "Sonny" Carey said he has asked the Clinton Police to investigate who made that false post.
Kercheval was hospitalized during the week before his death in Clinton for treatment of pneumonia, Carey said. He had also been hospitalized in Terre Haute previously, he said.
The Frist Funeral home said Kercheval's funeral arrangements are not final, but the service is expected to be private.
This is the printed version of the Daily Clintonian article headlined "Clinton resident, actor Ken Kercheval has died" from April 21, 2019:
Confirming Kercheval's death was complicated since he has not worked for several years as an actor in Los Angeles because of poor health and a lack of acting roles, according to a talent agent and a former business manager. When Lead Stories knocked on his Granada Hills apartment door to see if the actor was alive, there was no answer. The apartment manager told us he moved sometime in 2016. We later confirmed he had moved to his hometown of Clinton, Indiana.
Carey, the publisher of the local paper, told Lead Stories that Kercheval's son, Caleb, was apparently trying to delay release of the death notice by posting on social media that the paper had been "hacked" by J.R., a reference to the Larry Hagman character on the Dallas show.
Disbelief continued even hours after Lead Stories published confirmation from several named sources of Kercheval's death. Dallas co-star Sheree Wilson tweeted that she had been assured by the son that Kercheval was "very much alive."
I met Ken back in 2008 at Dallas' 30th, he was so lovely and funny and wanted to come back to Ireland with me to stay.
