Dallas actress Linda Gray has revealed what really happened behind the scenes while filming the iconic US soap, including the unusual lengths her co-star Larry Hagman went to when it came to on-screen kisses.
Gray, now 85, became famous for playing Sue Ellen Ewing, the troubled alcoholic wife of oil tycoon JR Ewing in the long-running series.
Larry Hagman. Photo credit: Joe Seer, Shutterstock
Dallas became one of the biggest television shows of the 1980s, with millions of viewers around the world tuning in each week to follow the wealthy Ewing family and their dramatic lives.
As Gray recently said goodbye to a collection of Dallas-related memorabilia at auction, she opened up about some of her memories from the hit series.
Dallas DVDs. Photo credit: Snap Spot, Shutterstock
One of the more unusual revelations involved her on-screen husband.
Hagman, who played the scheming JR, apparently hated kissing on screen and would sometimes put food in his mouth before filming romantic scenes with Gray.
“I had to kiss Larry with peanut butter, onions - whatever he could find in a jar [in his mouth],” Gray said.
She eventually discovered that Hagman's unusual habit was linked to his devotion to his real-life wife, Swedish-born Maj Axelsson, whom he married in 1954.
Gray explained that Hagman simply did not like kissing other women on screen.
Despite playing one of television's most notorious womanisers, Hagman was very different from his character in real life.
1970s TV stars John Schneider and Linda Gray. Photo credit: Bart Sherkow, Shutterstock
Gray, who remained close friends with Hagman until his death in 2012, aged 81, said he was nothing like the cruel and bed-hopping JR Ewing.
The pair's on-screen relationship became one of the defining elements of Dallas, with Sue Ellen and JR's turbulent marriage providing plenty of drama throughout the show's run.
Lorna Luft, Linda Gray. Photo credit: Joe Seer, Shutterstock
Dallas originally aired from 1978 until 1991 and became a huge international hit, with its stories of wealth, betrayal and family rivalry captivating audiences across the world.
