The wonderful Charlene Tilton took questions from Ultimate Dallas fans.

Read below what Charlene had to say about her time on Dallas and her new stage play 'Tell Veronica'.

 

 

 

Jackie from California asks " Were you shocked when it was revealed Ray was Lucy's uncle. Why was there no mention of the Hayloft romp?"

Charlene : At that point it was something we all thought "ugh oh we won't mention this again because that's a little sick, maybe its a Southern thing (laughs)

Tilly from New Zealand asks "How did you hear the news of Jim Davis's death was it a shock for the whole cast?"

Charlene : It wasn't a shock. We knew it was imminent and I feel very fortunate that I went to his house and I got to spend a day with him, the last day he was actually conscious, I was devastated. I'm still very close to his wife Blanche, I call her grandma and I see her all the time. She is a fabulous lady and Jim was an amazing person and was like a granddad for me.

Hafsteinn in Iceland asks "What was the most difficult episode
of Dallas for you to act?"

Charlene: I think it was my wedding to Mitch only because on the way to the studio I got into a horrific car accident, someone ploughed into me and totaled my car and they wanted to take me to hospital in an ambulance and I said "I can't I have to get to the set, we've got 200 extras, a crane for camera shots, I have to show up". So my godmother actually lived a few blocks away so I called her to take me to the set but I had a walking concussion and was in a lot of pain and was a mess. So I didn't feel too good the day I married Mitch but the show must go on.

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Charles in Oakdale, Minnesota asks " First off, I love you in the character of Lucy and I loved it when you guested on "Knots Landing". Was there ever an opportunity for you to cross over to "Knots Landing"? If so, why didn't you take the opportunity?

Charlene : I would of liked it but Knots Landing took on a life of its own and they moved forward if you know what I mean but it was fun when I did it.

Patrick C from Nacogdoches, Texas asks "What was it like working with a guy like Mr. Hagman?"

Charlene : He's the greatest. He really is. He and his wife Maj are two of the nicest people on the planet. Larry really was the glue that kept us all together, off camera as well as on, he was always having parties and get togethers and when we were on location he was just so much fun. He helped us all bond as a unit and I have to attribute the huge success to Dallas because we had this chemistry but it was really Larry Hagman keeping us all together and we really grew to love each other He's a really amazing person and one of the most amazing actors , the fact he was never nominated for an Emmy award is such a shock for me , its an outrage.

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Interviewer : Why is that?

Charlene : At the time I think because Dallas was such a huge popular phenomena that the industry itself didn't know how to deal with us or take us seriously. We had great actors on the show , we had Larry Hagman, we had Barbara Bel Geddes one of America's première theater actresses, Jim Davis and all of us, really very good. It was easy to dismiss it as night time soap opera but the performances were excellent.

Bobby in PA asks "How did the success of Dallas affect you?"

Charlene : Well we were so busy while we were shooting that it was hard to keep it all together, (dog barks) , that's my dog barking, I think he has to go to the bathroom, oh no (laughs), how do you tell a puppy he's got to wait for my interview to be over, honestly Charlie Im a big star (laughs), he doesn't care. Now where we, I kind of realized after the fact what a success Dallas was, we were so busy doing it, so into it that I didn't realize how powerful and amazing it was until after it was over.

Pamela in UK also asks "Can you tell us a secret about the show"

Charlene : No real secret but sometimes the press liked to say there were feuds on the set between Linda, Victoria and I but none of that was true.

April_J in Portugal asks I hear the whole cast got on like one big happy family. Is that true. I have worked many places and people can't stand one another.

Charlene: We all truly loved each other and when it first started Larry really brought us all together, he really set the tone.

Jock Og asks "Who did you most enjoy working with on Dallas?"

Charlene : Jock!! (laughs) All these names, you have Pam, Bobby (laughs).

Interviewer : yep. These are all the names they use on the site.

Charlene: (laughs) I enjoyed working with all of them, getting to work with Barbara on the episode where she had the mastectomy, that was an emotional episode and she was so wonderful. I loved the times Lucy stood up to JR.

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Danny James in Essex asks "Dear Charlene, When Did You Last See Any Of The Dallas Gang i.e. Larry, Patrick, Linda ect?"

Charlene : At Larry's 70th birthday party, that was great. Victoria was there, unfortunately Linda and Patrick were not there but everyone else was.

Sam in Utah asks "Which one of Lucy's lovers was your favorite? I like Mickey Trotter

Charlene : I enjoyed working with all the guys I played opposite, there were so many (laughs). Lucy was always quite busy that way.

Interviewer: The actor who played Mickey sadly died

Charlene : Yes he did unfortunately, way too young, that broke my heart, we were really good friends.

Billy Tyner in Los Angeles asks " What I felt was a major mistake of the Dallas writers in the later seasons was to try to separate your character of Lucy and her plot lines from the plot lines that incorporated the cast as a whole. How did you feel about the awful neglect of such great potential that gradually separated your story lines from the main lives of the family characters?

Charlene : Well I agree with you Billy. I think that is totally true

Pauline in Glasgow asks "What was it like to work with BBG, did you learn from her, and do you still keep in touch?"

Charlene: I have not talked to Barbara in years unfortunately but I learned a lot from her. I learned a lot as an actress because she could do more without saying a word, she didn't have to say anything, you were riveted to her. On a personal note when Dallas first started and it was just a mini series, we stayed at this horrible hotel called the 'Royal Coach' and we nicknamed it the 'Royal Roach' because it had cockroaches the size of coffee cups, everything is bigger in Texas, including the roaches. Her motel room was across from mine so I would go and literally sit at her feet and listen to all her theater stories and one time I was in her room and her phone rang and I said "let me answer it" and I said "good evening this is Miss Bel Geddes suite" and the voice said "May I speak to Barbara please?" and I said "Who may I say is calling" and the voice said "Tell her it's Tennessee". I screamed and she asked what's wrong and I said "Its god its god, it's Tennessee Williams". She was the original Maggie in 'Cat on a hot tin roof' and she knew Tennessee very well so that was very exciting.

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Mike from Erie, PA asks "What was the reasoning behind Lucy's leaving for the second time? It didn't seem to be story line dictated... did you choose to leave or was it the producers' decision again? You certainly were missed that last season when so few regulars were still on in a midst of new characters. Best of luck in all you do!"

Charlene : Kind of mutual decision. They weren't really utilizing my character, they didn't know quite what to do with me so unfortunately I left.

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