Legendary Dallas star who played J.
R. Ewing’s arch-rival, Cliff Barnes, has died at the age of 83 after decades of a successful career.
According to the reports, the veteran actor passed away on the night of Sunday, April 21. His passing has already been confirmed by his talent agent, Jeff Fisher, as well as the spokeswoman of a funeral home in Clinton, Indiana.
Ken Kercheval, born in 1935, was most well-known for taking on the role of oil tycoon Cliff Barnes and spending 14 seasons in American TV series Dallas.
In fact, Kercheval was one of two actors that remained on Dallas throughout the original run that took place between 1978 and 1991. The other one was Larry Hagman who played Barnes’ nemesis, J. R. Ewing.
Speaking of his role in Dallas in a 2012 interview, Mr. Kercheval said:
“J.R. was coming after my ass all the time, so I always had to defend myself. If I did something that wasn’t quite right, it’s because I had to.
“From the very beginning, Cliff would always get defeated by J.R. I thought as an actor, ‘How am I going to have an audience believe that this guy is not some imbecile who keeps coming back to get whipped?
“I thought the only way is to add some humor to it, just to say, ‘Dust yourself off, get up and start all over again.’”
While his role wasn’t an easy one, Kercheval managed to charm the viewers and even reappeared as Barnes in a 1996 movie and a reboot series that took place between years 2012 and 2014.
As a heavy smoker who finished three packs of cigarettes per day, Kercheval was diagnosed with lung cancer and had a part of his lung removed back in 1994.
While his cause of death hasn’t yet been revealed, Ken is survived by his children Madison, Liza, and Caleb.
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