Larry Hagman, 1931-2012

I read this morning of the death of actor Larry Hagman yesterday, at the age of 81. Hagman is best known for his work on television, which is voluminous. Hagman spent 13 years playing JR Ewing on the prime time soap Dallas and before that played astronaut Tony Nelson, who discovered a bottle containing gorgeous genie Barbara Eden on I Dream of Jeannie, which ran five seasons. There are also a lot of guest appearances.

As for his movie work, I've recommended at least two of his movies. In Mother, Jugs, and Speed, Hagman plays a libidinous co-worker of ambulance drivers Bill Cosby and Raquel Welch. There's also Harry and Tonto, in which Hagman plays one of Art Carney's sons, a man living out in California who doesn't want to let his father know that his life isn't as successful as he's been leading Dad to believe.

I don't think I've ever done a full-length post on Fail-Safe before. In that one, Hagman plays the interpreter to president Henry Fonda, translating between Russian and English on the "hotline" phone that connects the President with the leader of the Soviet Union after a rogue US bomber crew goes into Soviet airspace believing World War III has started and their mission is to drop an atomic bomb on the USSR.