Larry Hagman Biography

Larry was born in Texas and, following his parents divorce, he moved to Los Angeles to live with his grandmother. His mother, Mary Martin, was a budding actress, working on Broadway and Larry also made the move to New York, following his grandmother's death.

Having landed a part in the musical ‘South Pacific’, which also starred his mother, Larry travelled to England and ended up staying for five years. During his time in the UK, he managed to squeeze in a stint in the U.S Air Force and met his wife, Swedish designer Maj Axelsson.

Having returned to the US, Larry appeared in a number of Broadway plays such as ‘Once Around the Block’, ‘Comes A Day’ and ‘A Priest in the House’. His first TV break came in the popular daytime series ‘The Edge of Night’, although it wasn’t until the young actor moved to Hollywood that he hit the big time in the cult TV classic ‘I Dream of Jeannie’. The show proved a huge success and turned Larry into a bankable star.

In 1977, Larry landed the role which would make him a worldwide megastar. ‘Dallas’ was the saga of an excessively rich Texas family and was one of the boldest, brassiest and most talked-about shows on the 80s. Larry was perfect as the despicable millionaire J.R. Ewing - the man everyone loved to hate!

The series ran for an unprecedented 13 seasons from 1978 – 1991, and in 1980 a staggering 350 million fans in 57 countries tuned in to find out who shot J.R

Having been one the most recognizable faces of the 80s, Larry’s career would never reach the same heights again. In his autobiography, ‘Hello Darlin': Tall (and Absolutely True) Tales About My Life’ he spoke frankly about his alcohol abuse and drugs use. In 1995, Larry successfully underwent a liver transplant and during the summer of 1996 he served as the National Spokesperson for the U.S. Transplant Games presented by the National Kidney Foundation.

Larry still makes film and TV appearances and lives with his wife Maj on a ranch in California.