J. R. Ewing personalized license plate "EWING 3". J. R. Ewing John Ross "J. R." Ewing Jr. is a fictional character in the American television series "Dallas" (1978–91) and its spin-offs, including the revived "Dallas" series (2012–14). The character was portrayed by Larry Hagman from the series premiere in 1978 until his death in late 2012, and Hagman was the only actor who appeared in all 357 episodes of the original series. As the show's most famous character, J.R. has been central to many of the series' biggest storylines. He is depicted as a covetous, egocentric, manipulative and amoral oil baron with psychopathic
Dallas (1978 TV series) the producers, including Katzman's son Mitchell Wayne Katzman as story editor and Leah Markus as story consultant. Markus left after two years, while the others remained until the show's end. Scriptwise, Patrick Duffy's return was explained by having the entire season 9 being a dream of Victoria Principal's character Pam, effectively sweeping away the events occurring during the period in which Katzman's involvement with the show had been minimized. Even the cast were affected by the production and political struggles. While Larry Hagman (J.R.) reportedly supported Katzman, and had played a great part in bringing Duffy back, Susan Howard (Donna),