Gary Ewing was born in early January 1944 to oil baron Jock Ewing and his wife Miss Ellie Ewing of Dallas, Texas. Gary was their second son having been conceived just before Jock went off to Europe to fight in World War II. As Jock was not with Miss Ellie during her pregnancy with Gary, she tended to view him as more hers than Jock's and Gary became her favorite son, while the relationship between Jock and Gary was always distant. Gary was often considered the black sheep of the family, as he was mostly influenced by his mother and embraced the Southworth tradition of ranching on Southfork and had no interest in Ewing Oil. Gary also tended to run away from the expectations placed on him as Jock Ewing's son, secretly married a woman from "the wrong side of the tracks" just 3 days after meeting her, before bringing his pregnant wife home to meet his family. He became a teenage father, and an alcoholic due to the pressures that were put on him. Jock and older brother J.R. viewed Gary as weak and lacking the Ewing character but Gary was very friendly with his younger brother, Bobby.