Larry Hagman (Hagman Larry)

Hagman was born in Fort Worth, Texas. His mother, Mary Martin, later became a Broadway actress and his father, Benjamin Jack Hagman, was a district attorney. In 1936, when Hagman was five, his parents were divorced. He lived with his grandmother in Texas and California. His famous mother became a contract player with Paramount in 1938, and occasionally brought him to her movies. In 1940, his mother met and married Richard Halliday, giving birth to a daughter, Heller, the following year. Larry attended the strict Black-Foxe Military Institute (now closed).

Hagman developed a reputation as a talented performer and in between school terms, would take minor roles in local stage productions. In 1949, Hagman graduated from high school and his mother suggested that he try out as an actor.

In 1952, Hagman was drafted into the United States Air Force, during the Korean War. Stationed in London, he spent the majority of his service career entertaining U.S. troops in the UK and at military bases in Europe.

After leaving the Air Force in 1956, Hagman returned to New York where he appeared in the Off-Broadway play Once Around the Block, by William Saroyan, and received excellent reviews. This was followed by nearly a year in another Off-Broadway play, James Lee's Career. Despite his success, his career was overshadowed by his mother's fame, which was in ascendancy due to her starring role in the TV movie, Peter Pan. Larry Hagman's Broadway debut occurred in 1958, in Comes a Day. Hagman appeared in four other Broadway plays, God and Kate Murphy, The Nervous Set, The Warm Peninsula and The Beauty Part.

At 25, Hagman made his TV debut on an episode of Decoy. The part led to other roles on other TV series such as: Goodyear Television Playhouse, Studio One, Kraft Television Theatre, Harbourmaster, The DuPont Show of the Month, 3 episodes of Sea Hunt, The United States Steel Hour, 2 episodes of The Defenders, Diagnosis: Unknown, Mr. Broadway, Love American Style, Medical Center, McCloud, Love Story, Lucas Tanner, The Streets of San Francisco, Police Woman, 2 episodes of Marcus Welby, M.D., Harry O, The Rockford Files, Barnaby Jones, McMillan & Wife, Police Story, 5 episodes of Dallas's spin-off series, Knots Landing with Michele Lee, which he played J.R. Ewing, The Simpsons, and 5 episodes of Nip/Tuck.

In its first season I Dream of Jeannie was not filmed in color, which was prohibitively expensive at the time. However, from the second season, in 1966, the show was filmed in color in recognition of the widespread uptake of color televisions by the viewing public.

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