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Linda Gray recalls meeting Larry Hagman on the Dallas set, where he arrived with champagne and ice-filled saddlebags
Gray admitted to having a crush on Hagman, whom she recognized as Major Nelson from I Dream of Jeannie
Hagman was known for practical jokes on set, as Gray earlier shared
Linda Gray is opening up about her first meeting with Larry Hagman on the set of Dallas.
Hagman — who died in 2012 at the age of 81 — played J.R. Ewing on Dallas for 14 seasons alongside Gray, who played Sue Ellen Ewing, his character’s long-suffering wife.
In a. recent interview with the Celebrity Drop podcast, 85-year-old Gray shared that the first time she met Hagman, he had “saddle bags over his shoulder filled with ice and a bottle of champagne.”
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Studio Publicity Still from Dallas Larry Hagman, Linda Gray
Credit: PictureLux/Alamy
“And we were all in this room, the entire cast,” Gray added. “Nobody knew who we were. We were actors, unemployed actors that just got a job. And so we were all crammed together in this little room.”
She continued: “And Larry looked at me and he said, ‘Hello, darling.’ And I thought, ‘Oh, this is trouble. This is trouble.’ “
“And I remember looking around the room in shock because there was Mr. Hagman, who is also Major Nelson,” Gray added, referring to the character Hagman played in the 1960s sitcom I Dream of Jeannie. “And I thought, ‘Oh dear, I have a crush on Major Nelson.’ And now he’s here in front of me.”
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Gray has previously spoken about her close relation ship with Hagman, saying in a 2025 episode of the That’s Classic podcast that the late actor would play practical jokes when it came time to lock lips while filming the series.
“He would do things like eat an onion before a kissing scene with me,” Gray recounted. “Like, ‘Oh, great, Larry. Thanks.’ “
She continued: “And then he would eat peanut butter… and I had to keep straight.”
After starring as Sue Ellen Ewing on the drama for over a decade on CBS, Gray reprised the role for the show’s 2012 reboot on TNT.
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