Steve Kanaly who played cowboy Ray Krebbs on Dallas for ten years answered questions from fans on the Ultimate Dallas site.

 

 

Alan also asked - What was it like working with Barbara Bel Geddes, and did you learn from her?

Steve - Unfortunately I didn't have a lot of wonderful moments with Barbara , they never wrote scenes that way for Ray and Miss Ellie. I always remember one of the longest scenes I had with Barbara was about Ray being a Ewing, that was a five page scene and that was very rare. She was of course a fine actress and we were very fortunate to have Barbara in the cast , she had a sense of humor and liked to be called Trixy, she always played this prim and proper character and was always trying to break out of it. When she first left the show she was replaced by Donna Reed, she didn't really need the money and she wanted to do art work and illustrate children's books but then she got bored and came back. I haven't spoken to her in a long time.

Frank in Italy asks : Larry and Patrick were notorious for their pranks on the set. Do you have any funny stories to tell? Also what was Victoria Principal like to work with?

Steve - Well I can remember a few, I personally did not do the pranks because it was my position that time is money and I treated the business in a different way to Larry and Patrick. I participated in one or two, one I remember is we get Lucy from a party where drinking and drugs is going on and we take her out to her car and say "Is that everything? Do you have any more?" and she denies and says "I don't have any more", and Patrick and I end up picking her up by her feet and we planted her pockets with all kinds of pills and things, we hang her upside down and start shaking all these pills out of her, so that was one gag we did. One time I was showing a film crew around the Southfork pool, while demonstrating "You want to be careful getting close to the pool, people fall in here all the time" and I did this gag where I loose my balance but I actually did loose my balance and in full makeup and wardrobe I go into the pool. I was doing this between takes in a very serious love scene that I was playing with Susan Howard so Susan had to play opposite with me wrapped in a towel. Larry and Patrick were the real clowns and they were always doing things like hanging outside the window of the Ewing building, one time they both did parades, Larry did one in Texas and Patrick did one in Pasadena ,the one Larry did was in brutal cold, ice and sleet and the one Patrick did was beautiful and sunny, so when they came back to work we were all on the set one day doing a scene and one little small flake of snow fell and Larry pretended that he didn't notice it and then a couple of more flakes fall , and then a handful fall , then when he looked up the whole box was dumped on his head. There were several funny moments.

Frankie also asked : What was Victoria Principal like to work with?

Steve - I knew Victoria from 'Judge Roy Bean' she was also in her first movie, she played a Mexican waif that saved Paul Newmans life. I knew her then and she's a fascinating woman, she had career as an agent, she drove race cars, she had a sort of colorful past with a guy called Bernie Cornfeld, she had this colorful background even when I first met her. By the time she came to Dallas she done quite a few more interesting things, ultimately I think she was one of the more interesting girls on the show, she wrote books, very successful in her business, she was always fun to work with and had a kind of sexy sense of humor ,liked to tell a little off colored joke in the morning, the crew all adored her and the only time I ever had any trouble with Victoria was one time she was making a political move and sort of staged this big argument which shut the show down for half a day and she and I had this huge argument on the set. It was not because she had a problem with me it was because she had a problem with Lorimar, so she knew how to play the game, this was a smart girl. I talked to her recently and she's great, looks wonderful, very healthy and happy, perfect girl for the role I think.

*At this point Steve has to answer this phone and its none other than Charlene Tilton.

Steve - I do talk to Charlene, Larry, Patrick and Susan Howard, those are the ones I talk to the most. From time to time I do talk to Victoria and Ken Kercheval.

Radio Mike in Belfast, N Ireland asks : Hi Steve, When Dallas was at the height of its popularity, I remember reading that plans were afoot to give Donna and Ray a spin-off series. I was wondering how far this was actually developed, i.e. what was to be the show's central premise, were scripts written (and what did you think of them) or did it never move beyond a basic idea? Thanks

Steve - Well that was a rumor that was kicked around and it sure sounded good to me and Susan, nobody ever spoke to me personally about the possibility of that and I have no idea whatever became of the idea. Maybe I should of wrote them some story ideas as it would of been a nice way to go.

Patrick C. in Nacogdoches, Tx asks : Would there have been any other character you would have like to have played on the show besides Ray Krebbs?
If so, why?

Steve - Absolutely not, Ray was the perfect character for me. Its one of those rare things, I saw the character and felt I was the perfect guy for the role. I really felt that this was so close to who I was in a way and I had all these ideas for the character and there was no question in my mind that that was the role I wanted.

Danny James in Essex, England asks : Hi Steve, Many would say from season 10 onwards Dallas took a massive decline, not only in ratings but generally it became worse, what do you think on this? and as a result are you glad that you left before all the new faces started entering the show? Why do you think the show declined?

Steve - Danny thank you very much I have never had that perspective before but I think I like it that I left while the getting was good. But it does reflect on what did happen to the show which was decreased money to produce episodes and cut backs in all areas. Different writers, wardrobe, all new faces. They tried to bring in a younger audience by bringing in these young characters, the magic was with the original cast, so it was a steady slide after that.

Pamstwinsister in Barcelona, Spain asks : Hello Steve. Congratulations for such a great career and such a sympathetic personality!
My question is this: I´d love to know the truth about the Jenna-Ray affair, I mean: was it a matter of production to tie up 2 characters left alone or just that they didn´t know if both of you would renew contracts every year?

Steve - That's pretty funny, 'Pams twin sister', she must be a knockout.I don't know what was going on in the writers mind at that point, Ray was single again , they had already done the Bobby/Jenna story and then she had the child, Bobby's son, now you have the half brother marrying her and raising the son. Ray had a pretty big heart in those days.

Jamie Sue from NY asks : Have you heard anything about a new reunion movie? I have also heard there is a big movie planned? Would you be in it?

Steve - I have and I haven't, no lawyers or agents are calling me or studio heads and I have not spoken to Larry or Patrick regarding this and generally they would know. But I have heard some rumors about a feature film or another big reunion movie. Personally I really had a great time on 'War of the Ewings' Michael Preece was the director, Larry, Patrick and Linda, George Kennedy and myself, it was like going back to your childhood and you are back there in 1980. If they were to have them and ask me I would go, I would pack my bags and be ready to go.

Petey from Scotland asks : Do you have any Dallas memorabilia? If not is there anything you wish you had taken

Steve - I do have a whole box of Dallas stuff, books, games, fragrances, JR watches, JR beer, cards, notepads and covers from magazines. People might be thinking about things like hats, belts, and boots, those were all mine to begin with. I supplied all the hats, jeans, all the boots, all the cowboy stuff was mine because I wanted it to be authentic.

Jock_jr in Washington asks : How would you sum up the character of Ray and also in a sentence how would you sum up your years on Dallas?

Steve - Ray was all of my boyhood heroes, Ray was John Wayne and Gary Cooper in a modern setting. I loved Westerns growing up and it was my chance to play homage to that genre, he was a blue collar hero and the time we did the show one of the only Western characters on television and I felt a real responsibility to all people that not only lived the Western lifestyle but also enjoyed Western films. Larry Hagman had given me this beautiful presentation engraved Colt. 45 revolvers , on the top of this box it said "To my brother Steve for ten of the best years of your life" and thats pretty much how felt about those years on the show.

Steve is in the process of writing a 'Dallas' book, a personal account of the show covering all thirteen seasons. This is fantastic news for Dallas fans and with that in mind Steve has a question for all of you. "Where is Dallas being shown now in the world?". If you know the answer to this please send your reply to admin@ultimatedallas.com and we will pass this along to Steve.

Thanks to Steve Kanaly for a fantastic interview and thanks to everyone who took part.

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