Larry Hagman, who created one of television's most supreme villains as the conniving, amoral oilman J.R. Ewing in Dallas has died. He was 81.
Hagman died at a hospital in Dallas, Texas, on Friday due to complications from his battle with cancer, the Dallas Morning News reported, quoting a statement from his family.
The actor had suffered from cancer and cirrhosis of the liver in the 1990s after decades of drinking.
Co-star Linda Gray, who played J.R's long-suffering wife Sue Ellen, said she was by her long-time friend's bedside when he passed away.
Hagman was born in Weatherford, Texas, in 1931. His mother was stage and movie star Mary Martin.
He became a star himself in 1965 on I Dream of Jeannie, a popular TV sitcom in which he played Major Anthony Nelson, an astronaut who discovers a beautiful genie in a bottle played by Barbara Eden.
But it was Dallas that made him a superstar, playing the villain viewers loved to despise during the show's 356-episode run from 1978-91, seen by an estimated 300 million people in 57 countries.
The prime-time soap quickly became one of the network's top-rated programmes, built an international following and inspired a spin-off, imitators and a revival this year.
Hagman had a son and daughter from his 59-year marriage to Maj Axelsson.
