Legendary Dallas star Ken Kercheval dies aged 83: Veteran actor who played JR Ewing’s nemesis Cliff Barnes on 14 seasons of the primetime show has died.
By Lauren Fruen for Dailymail.com
24 Apr 2019
A spokeswoman at a funeral home in Clinton, Indiana, confirmed his death. He is believed to have passed away on Sunday night in his hometown.
Kercheval was best known for playing Cliff Barnes after spending 14 seasons playing the oil tycoon and he returned for the primetime show's reboot.
He was only one of two actors to be on Dallas through its entire original run from 1978 to 1991. The other was Larry Hagman, who played J.R. Ewing.
David Jacobs, the creator of Dallas, said: 'He was one of those guys who was going to be the next James Dean.'
Barnes, the brother of Victoria Principal's Pamela Ewing, would routinely lose out to J.R. He also had an affair with J.R.'s wife, Sue Ellen, played by Linda Gray.
In a 2012 interview he said: 'J.R. was coming after my ass all the time, so I always had to defend myself. If I did something that wasn't quite right, it's because I had to.'
Kercheval said: 'From the very beginning, Cliff would always get defeated by J.R.
'I thought as an actor, 'How am I going to have an audience believe that this guy is not some imbecile who keeps coming back, [only] to get whipped?
'I thought the only way is to add some humor to it, just to say, "Dust yourself off, get up and start all over again.'"'
Kercheval said he always told Dallas viewers Cliff was 'finally going to get J.R.' this 'this Friday night'.
Smoker Kercheval had a part of his lung removed after he was diagnosed with cancer in 1994.
A spokeswoman at a funeral home in Clinton, Indiana, confirmed his death
Kercheval, who majored in music and drama at the Indiana University, also appeared on Broadway and had film roles including Pretty Poison and Rabbit Run.
He was born on July 15, 1935, in Wolcottville, Indiana and raised in Clinton.
He also studied at the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York.
R.I.P. Ken Kercheval
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