Our First Star Interview will focus on Ken Kercheval who portrayed Cliff Barnes.
Kercheval, who portrayed JR's arch rival Cliff Barnes. , "I still remember my first day on the set very clearly," says 63-year-old Ken who, apart from co-star Larry Hagman, was the only original cast member to stay with the Dallas series from start to finish
"The first scene I filmed was with Victoria Principal (Pam) and it was freezing. I remember having to take in my own sheepskin coat to try to keep warm, because in the early days the men didn't have a clothing budget and we had to wear our own clothes."
Cliff continually dreamed of getting his hands on Ewing Oil, but rarely managed to get the better of JR. Does Ken wish that his character had won a few rnore rounds? "It would have been nice to have seen him outsmart JR more often but the fight was what kept him going," says Ken, who lives in LA with his wife and daughter. "Cliff wasn't a malicious guy, he fought because it was the fair thing to do. But sometimes I would say to the producers, `Please let me win just once!'.
"Funnily enough, even though the whole Cliff and JR feud went on series after series, Larry and I only worked together a few times a year. If you remember, although they spent a lot of time talking about each other, you would only see them face to face a couple of times each season."
Although Ken finds it hard to pick his favorite storyline, he admits that none of the cast were happy about the infamous 1985-86 dream season, in which Bobby Ewing returned from the dead by popping up in Pam's shower.
"The bottom line is they didn't know how to bring back Patrick Duffy," he says. 'I think the audience felt that their intelligence was being insulted, and rightfully so. But everyone got over it, because having Patrick back was more important than one dumb episode."
After more explosions, shootings and dodgy deals, the Texan drama finished in 1991. But, according to Ken, life in Dallas could have continued.
"It wasn't canceled because of the ratings, but because of financial issues," he reveals. "The CBS network in California wanted to continue, but the network in New York didn't. Unfortunately, money rules this industry, and it never has anything to do with what the fans want."
But that wasn't the end of the Dallas saga. in 1996, Ken joined original costars Larry Hagman and Linda Gray (Sue Ellen) in the TV movie JR Returns. A second movie, The War of the Ewings, was shown in the US this year, but Ken didn't appear in it.
"I have no idea why I wasn't asked to do it," he says. "I was a bit hurt but I've heard rumors that they're doing a third, so maybe I'`ll get a call from the producer."
Does Ken find time to catch up with any of his old co-stars?
"Everyone's busy doing their own thing these days, so there isn't much time for socializing," he says. I keep i touch with Patrick Duffy and I've been meaning to get in touch with Linda Gray. We had this wonderful corn bread when we went over to her house for a barbecue and I must get the recipe!"
Written by Simon Timblick (copyright Inside Soap 1998)