Half a Hero Half a Hero Half a Hero is a 1953 American comedy film starring Red Skelton and Jean Hagen. Directed by Don Weis, the film was written by Max Shulman and released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Freelance writer Ben Dobson (Skelton) lands his first full-time writing job at a national magazine, tasked with rewriting other authors' work. His wife Martha (Hagen) uses this as the perfect time to start their family, and four years later pressures Ben into moving from New York City to the suburbs, where he's swiftly living beyond his means. His boss then wants him to write a story on
A House Divided (Dallas) man so venal, so low, so mean, so diabolical that he has become an absolute delight to an estimated quarter of a billion viewers around the globe." His "New York Times" colleague John J. O'Connor described him as "the eldest son of the oil-rich Ewing family... [who is] a sadistic bully and a swindler" that "captured the public's imagination". Season 3 left the viewer with numerous people to suspect for the murder. Sue Ellen Ewing (Linda Gray) is J.R.'s wife. J.R. had threatened to reinstitutionalize her for alcoholism. Kristin Shepard (Mary Crosby) is J.R.'s ex-mistress and Sue Ellen's sister. J.R.