Dallas Stars In Other TV Shows Or Movies

[Kenny Coyote]

A number of people have remarked on what a good main cast Dallas had. Does it surprise you that more of them didn't have more success in other stages of their careers in TV or movies?

Right now, the only one who comes to mind that had a starring role in what I'd consider a hit TV show was Larry Hagman with I Dream Of Jeannie. Maybe Patrick Duffy in Step By Step would also qualify. I don't know if any of the main cast had a starring role in a real big movie.

They all played their roles in Dallas so well, that at the time Dallas ended, I expected to see a lot of them with major roles in some other high profile projects, whether in movies or TV. I didn't end up seeing nearly as many of them have the kind of continuing success I was expecting. Were the actors in the main cast of Dallas just exceptionally good at their roles in Dallas but not particularly versatile, or were they not offered the opportunities that they probably should have been?

I believe that the TV and movie industry vastly underutilized some of these people after Dallas ended.

For example, Larry Hagman did get a starring role in another TV series after Dallas but it was "Orleans" in 1997. I remembered being very interested in seeing it and then quite disappointed when it premiered. It wasn't the kind of show that allowed Larry Hagman to display his talent to its fullest. Orleans only lasted 8 episodes and got cancelled. That's a long wait - 6 years for another starring role and then it's on a show with a script of such low quality that it doesn't even last half a season.

 

[Brian Kinney]

Larry Hagman was in Oliver Stone's Nixon. It was a small but very memorable part as an oil tycoon from Texas, the only character in the movie who was fictional. He played along Anthony Hopkins. The scene was so strong that it was shown as the clip during the Academy Awards broadcast when Hopkins was nominated. Hagman also had an interesting arc in one season of Nip/Tuck, with Brooke Shields and Jaqueline Bissett.

Audrey Landers was in Richard Attenborough's A Chorus Line, a part for which she was perfectly cast but it didn't forward her acting career. I was mostly surprised that Linda Gray didn't land another hit show because she was certainly the stand-out actress on Dallas. I actually think the very talented Morgan Brittany had the misfortune to look too much like a young Vivien Leigh or a porcelain doll of that actress, she was too beautiful to get parts as a cop, lawyer or whatever is considered real.

You are right, that it was difficult for them to get good parts in other shows or films. But I remember that the stars of the much-awarded 80's TV series Hill Street Blues didn't fare better. Whatever happened to Daniel J. Travanti or Veronica Hamel? Most of them landed forgettable TV movies. I think the only 80's TV stars that are still visible are John Goodman/ Laurie Metcalf (Roseanne -> The Connors), Corbin Bernsen/ Harry Hamlin (L.A. Law -> Psych and The Resident / Shameless and Shooter) and Tom Selleck (Magnum P.I. -> Blue Bloods). Of course William Devane, David Selby and Susan Sullivan are still working.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

Larry Hagman was in Oliver Stone's Nixon. It was a small but very memorable part as an oil tycoon from Texas, the only character in the movie who was fictional

Fictionalized -- he was a composite character.

 

[Justine]

To answer your question,

Were the actors in the main cast of Dallas just exceptionally good at their roles in Dallas but not particularly versatile, or were they not offered the opportunities that they probably should have been?

I think it's that they were so good in their roles that they weren't offered the opportunities because of fear the audience will only see their Dallas characters. I mean, even as I watch Linda Gray in extremely different roles like those in the TV movies (Moment of Truth series) circa 1993/4, it's hard not to see Sue Ellen every time she plays an emotional scene.

 

[Billy Wall]

Watching old commercials is a guilty pleasure of mine. I came across Mary Crosby’s guest appearance on The Fall Guy from 1984. And the voiceover says, I’m paraphrasing, “staring the woman who shot JR.”

That’s how big Dallas was. ABC’s The Fall Guy uses CBS’s Dallas to promote its show.

 

[Taylor Bennett Jr.]

But I remember that the stars of the much-awarded 80's TV series Hill Street Blues didn't fare better. Whatever happened to Daniel J. Travanti or Veronica Hamel?

Veronica Hamel, of course, went back in time and befriended Pam while working as a model at The Store, running away from a troubled past that came back to haunt her and powerful financier Ben Maxwell.

(all this after/before narrowly missing out on an Emmy, as the glamorous Liz Craig edged out a star-studded field that also included Miss Ellie and Sue Ellen)

 

[Jock's Ghost]

Hagman had a great bit part in the excellent political drama, PRIMARY COLORS.

 

[Monzo]

I didn't like Leigh Taylor-Young's Kimberly Cryder much when she premiered, but she grew on me and I was sad to see her go. I liked her the most on Picket Fences as major Rachel Harris. She was so good there, she even won an Emmy for it.

​

 

[Grant Jennings]

I didn't like Leigh Taylor-Young's Kimberly Cryder much when she premiered, but she grew on me and I was sad to see her go. I liked her the most on Picket Fences as major Rachel Harris. She was so good there, she even won an Emmy for it.

​

Leigh Taylor Young also had a supporting role in Jagged Edge; she has always preferred the stage to television and film. I imagine the Dallas producers offered her enough money to make her change her mind.

 

[Angela Channing]

Prissy Presley, as untalented as she was, went on to star in the Naked Gun films.
Victoria Principal when on to star in the series Titans and did several made for TV films.
Sheree J Wilson went on to star in Walker, Texas Ranger.
Omri Katz went on to star in the series Eerie Indiana and the film Hocus Pocus.

Many of the other cast members had guest starring roles in several TV series like Murder She Wrote, Perry Mason or daytime soap operas but because Dallas was so big whatever they went on to do always seemed insignificant in comparison.

 

[Grant Jennings]

I think several things counted against them:
1] They were "TV Stars": Hollywood has long had a prejudice against casting "TV stars" in motion pictures. The thinking is "why should I pay for a movie ticket when I used to see you in TV for free?" I think that prejudice still exists among movie producers and casting agents.
2] They were strongly associated with their characters: The stars of Dallas and Dynasty weren't just known to fans of their shows, they were known to the general public. Robert Foxworth and Susan Sullivan's roles on Falcon Crest were as essential to that show as Larry Hagman and Linda Gray were to Dallas. The difference is Foxworth and Sullivan weren't frequently featured in magazines, tabloids and TV talk shows. Anyone who shopped for groceries in the 1980s could probably name the stars of Dallas and Dynasty (though they might confuse one show with the other) without having seen a single episode. The same can't be said for the stars of Falcon Crest, Knots Landing, etc. (with the exception of Morgan Fairchild who I'm sure was known to every man, woman and child throughout North America). Hagman was much more likely to elicit "hey, that's J.R.!" from a viewer than Foxworth was to elicit a similar response.
3] Ageism: Hollywood likes them young. The male stars of Dallas were in their 40s and 50s when the series ended which put them in a field full of other established actors. This was even worse for the actresses. The older an actress is the fewer choices she has; the Streep/Close/Mirren club is very exclusive and doesn't admit many new members. The other option is to take the Mary Steenburgen route and play the mother in every one of your movie roles.

There are some TV stars from the same era who have had successful TV and film careers but I think they illustrate the points I made above. Alec Baldwin and Denzel Washington both went on to become major movie stars but Baldwin left Knots Landing after one and a half seasons; he was only 27 when he left the series. Washington remained with St. Elsewhere throughout the entire run of the series but, as a member of an ensemble cast, he was free to pursue film roles throughout that time; he was 34 when the series ended. I think Anne Archer is a perfect example of Hollywood's ageist attitudes towards women. After departing Falcon Crest Anne Archer played the wives of Michael Douglas and Harrison Ford in two of her films; Douglas and Ford's careers have thrived since then - with ever younger actresses cast opposite them. Anne Archer would be considered "too old" to play opposite either of these actors today.

 

[Monzo]

Joshua Harris was Nicky on Twin Peaks. I hoped they would bring him back on the new season. Would have been fun to know what kind of devil Nicky has become.

 

[DallasFanForever]

I guess we can say Step By Step featured two Dallas actors that went on to do something else together

 

[Ukdallasfan]

Isn’t it ironic that, then, TV actors rarely broke into film work but now it’s the movie superstars encroaching into tv work. Pretty much validates the artistry of tv actors like Barbara Bel Geddes, Larry Hagman, Linda Gray etc

 

[Luke_Krebbs_Ewing]

When you're in a long running show there is the danger of being typecast. That's probably why some of the cast only did guest spots in show's like Murder, She Wrote and Diagnosis Murder.

 

[Billy Wall]

Larry Hagman in Superman: The Movie (1978)

 

[Chris2]

The number of actors who do one successful series, let alone two, is pretty limited. So it doesn’t surprise me that most of the cast didn’t go on to another successful series. The other issue: the cast was older when the show finished up after 14 seasons, and the 1990s is when the networks and their advertisers began measuring TV series success in terms of younger audience rather than total audience.

 

[Luke_Krebbs_Ewing]

The lovely Susan Howard holds the honour of being the first female Klingon ever seen in Star Trek.

Here's Mara from the classic episode Day of the Dove.

 

[Lastkidpicked]

A nice surprise last night! Was watching Walker, Texas Ranger while cleaning the house.

Who would appear but our own William Smithers as the bad guy!



Then Sheree J. Wilson showed up as she was one of the stars of the series.



The music was nicely done. Who did the musical scoring?


Nicely tied together. So who was the executive producer?



Leonard Katzman!

Fun to see them all working together, especially since I tumbled into it by accident!

 

[Monzo]

Morgan Brittany on Melrose Place. She was a wasted opportunity there. Someone had to die in the bomb blast and it hit her before the audience got the chance to get to know her character.