J. R. Ewing - Fictional Character Biography

Fictional Character Biography

J. R. Ewing is the eldest son of John Ross "Jock" Ewing, Sr. and Eleanor Southworth "Miss Ellie" Ewing. According to the story in Dallas: The Early Years J.R. was born in September 1935 on the family's Southfork Ranch in Parker, Texas. J. R. has two younger brothers Gary and Bobby, and a half-brother Ray Krebbs from his father's affair with an Army nurse named Margaret Hunter during World War II. An alcoholic, Gary and his wife Val were spun off into the prime time soap Knots Landing. Gary's daughter Lucy was whisked away to the ranch by J. R. Knots Landing was not bought by CBS until 1979.

Starting at age five, J.R. was groomed to be the heir apparent to his father Jock at Ewing Oil, an independent oil company that Jock ran in a very cutthroat, ruthless manner. After coming home from the Vietnam War in 1962, J.R. began his long tenure as an employee of Ewing Oil. J. R. had no interest working on Southfork Ranch, which was mostly the domain of his mother Miss Ellie, and half-brother Ray Krebbs, but J. R. did have a special love to keep Southfork in the family. Middle son Gary was mostly under the influence of his mother and embraced the Southworth tradition of ranching on Southfork and had no interest in Ewing Oil. He and wife Val left Dallas for California. J. R.'s youngest brother Bobby spent most of his time juggling between Southfork and Ewing Oil, and was Jock's favorite son. This made J. R. enormously determined to impress Jock. Despite his huge successes in the oil business J. R. was never able to overcome Jock's favoritism for Bobby. This led to a major rift between J. R. and Bobby that started in childhood and continued as they grew up, especially when Bobby began pursuing a relationship with Pamela Barnes, who was part of the Ewings' rival family as Jock had a longstanding rivalry with Pam's father Digger and J.R. continued it with Digger's son Cliff.

J. R. had many extramarital affairs and a manic drive to maximize profits, to a point where he would resort to just about anything to get what he wanted. One plot included even mortgaging Southfork Ranch, which angered his family. Sometimes, he would ally himself with a corrupt Dallas Police detective, Harry McSween (James E. Brown), in order to get what he wanted. J. R. often had McSween issue arrest warrants for trumped up charges (usually false) against, most notably, Peter Richards (Christopher Atkins), who was driven out of Dallas on trumped up drug charges; his sister in-law, Kristin Shepard (Mary Crosby), whose rivalry with him resulted in her shooting J.R. in 1980 and later in her death in 1981; and attorney Alan Beam (Randolph Powell), with whom she was allied.

J. R. and Cliff were the only ones who remained with the series throughout all 14 seasons. Though ever the womanizer, J. R. had two wives during the show's run: Sue Ellen (played by Linda Gray) and Cally (played by Cathy Podewell), and three sons. James Beaumont was J. R.'s eldest son via an off screen affair with Vanessa Beaumont—brought to knowledge during season 11. His second and most favored son was John Ross Ewing III from first wife Sue Ellen, and his third son (whose name remains unmentioned) was with his second wife Cally Harper. J.R. also believed he was the father of Christopher Ewing, the adopted son of Bobby and Pamela Ewing that Kristin had borne. Despite his adversarial relationship with everyone, J.R. seemed to have a strong and genuine love for his son John Ross— serving as a sort of Achilles' heel for the conniving oilman.

Over the years, J.R.'s actions began to catch up with him. He and Sue Ellen remarried and divorced several times, the last of which saw her leave for Europe but not before threatening J.R. with something she promised would ruin him. In addition to that, Sue Ellen's penchant for drinking nearly caused the destruction of Southfork by fire (Ray and J.R. had a fight that emerged from a car accident Sue Ellen had caused and where a cousin of Ray's was paralyzed) and she nearly killed J.R. by shooting him in his office.

In addition to that, J.R.'s scorned woman Cally Harper and his illegitimate son James caused him to be locked in a sanitarium for several months, which was the start of what would eventually be a year where J.R. lost everything. First, he lost control of Ewing Oil to Cliff, then was fired at West Star Oil by a vengeful Carter McKay who hated him. To top it all off, he lost control of Southfork and was disowned by his son who moved to Europe to be with Sue Ellen. All J.R. was left with was a room in Southfork that Bobby let him stay in and not much else. Contemplating suicide, the character roamed the lonely Southfork with a bottle of bourbon and a loaded revolver. After an It's a Wonderful Life–like fantasy, J. R. is shown what life would have been like had he never been born. The series ended with a single gunshot, and Bobby dashing into the room shouting, "Oh my God!". J. R.'s fate was not revealed.

J. R. initially drove a green 1978 280SE Mercedes-Benz, later replaced by a 1979 Reseda Green Mercedes Benz 450SEL. In 1981, he drove the "new" W126 380SEL, also in Reseda Green. In 1983 when his wife Sue Ellen wrecked the car at the end of the Southfork driveway, J. R. replaced it with another 1983 Mercedes Benz 380SEL. In 1984, Mercedes-Benz changed the flagship S-Class model to the 500SEL, J.R. then replaced the 380 with one of these. Finally, J.R. drove a facelifted W126 560SEL beginning the 1986 season. J. R. also occasionally drove a Cadillac Allanté convertible from 1987–1991. In "J.R. Returns", J.R. drives the 500SEL yet again for the first portion of the film. However, this vehicle is totaled and replaced with an updated silver 1996 Mercedes-Benz W140 S420 sedan. In "War of the Ewings", J.R. is driving a silver 1998 SL500 Roadster. All of J.R.'s vehicles had the personalized license plate "EWING 3".

In a later reunion movie it was revealed that J. R. had shot a mirror and moved away to Europe for a few years. He returned and attempted to take back his empire, succeeding to an extent as he drove Cliff Barnes out of Ewing Oil, returning it to Bobby. J. R. was also elected chairman of West Star Oil, a feat he had spent almost fifteen years fighting to achieve.

Another reunion movie (in which Ken Kercheval was absent) saw J. R. try and fail to force a merger with Ewing Oil, but he did claim the consolation of conning $50,000,000 from Carter McKay.