Dallas ( /ˈdæləs/) is the third-largest city in the state of Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States. Divided between Collin, Dallas, Denton, Kaufman, and Rockwall counties, the city had a population of 1,197,816 in 2010, according to the United States Census Bureau.

The city is the largest economic center of the 12-county Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington metropolitan area (the DFW MSA) that according to the March 2010 U.S. Census Bureau release, had a population of 6,371,773. The metroplex economy is the sixth largest in the United States, with a 2010 gross metropolitan product of $374 billion.

Dallas was founded in 1841 and was formally incorporated as a city in February 1856. The city's economy is primarily based on banking, commerce, telecommunications, computer technology, energy, healthcare and medical research, transportation and logistics. The city is home to the third largest concentration of Fortune 500 companies in the nation. Located in North Texas and a major city in the American South, Dallas is the main core of the largest inland metropolitan area in the United States that lacks any navigable link to the sea.

Mary Frances Crosby (born September 14, 1959) is an American actress. She is most often credited as simply Mary Crosby for her performances.

She was born in Los Angeles, California. She is the daughter of the singer and actor Bing Crosby, from his second marriage to the actress Kathryn Grant. She graduated from high school at 15. She then entered the University of Texas at Austin where she became a member of Delta Delta Delta sorority, but dropped out of the University before graduating. She is fluent in Spanish.

She has been twice married:

Crosby may be most noted for her role as Kristin Shepard (Sue Ellen Ewing's scheming sister) on the TV series Dallas from 1979 to 1981. Her character is perhaps best remembered for her part in the cliffhanger ending of the 1979-1980 season of Dallas, entitled "A House Divided", that was resolved in the fourth episode of the following season, "Who Done It". In that highly watched episode, J.R. Ewing, (played by Larry Hagman) was shot by an unknown assailant. Viewers had to wait all summer (and most of the fall due to a Hollywood actors' strike) to learn whether J.R. would survive, and which of his many enemies was responsible. During the summer of 1980, the question, "Who shot J.R.?", was being asked in everyday conversations around the world. Ultimately, Kristin Shepard (Crosby) was revealed to have been the person who pulled the trigger in the classic "Who Shot J.R.?" episode that aired on November 21, 1980. It was one of the highest-rated episodes of a TV show ever aired.

Sue Ellen Ewing (née Shepard; later Lockwood) is a fictional character and one of the female leads in the CBS primetime soap opera Dallas. Sue Ellen is portrayed by actress Linda Gray, and has appeared on the show since its pilot episode, first broadcast on April 2, 1978. Dallas follows the trials of the wealthy Ewing family in the town of Dallas, Texas, of which Sue Ellen is married into through her husband, the notoriously evil J.R. Ewing. Gray played Sue Ellen until the twelfth season of Dallas, when her character finally leaves Texas after beating J.R. at his own game, seen in the episode "Reel Life". However, Gray later returned for the series finale "Conundrum Part II", the subsequent Dallas telemovies ("J.R. Returns" and "War of the Ewings"), and the reunion special entitled "Dallas Reunion: The Return to Southfork", which aired in 2004, and reunited her with former castmates.

Sue Ellen's storylines in the first season focus on the characters bout with alcohol and her slowly deteriorating relationship with her husband. The final episode of the season focused on the birth of her son with J.R., John Ross Ewing III. While her relationship with J.R. is not always harmonious, it's a significant aspect of her overall character. As the series progressed, Sue Ellen came into her own as an individual character. The actress has said of her character's personality: "I never wanted her to be boring. She was never boring before - she started out kind of boring, but I think that's the kiss of death because people will expect her to be interesting." Gray later described Sue Ellen as being, "one of the most interesting characters on TV in the 1980s. She was the original Desperate Housewife. She led the way for all those girls."

Audrey Landers (born July 18, 1956) is an American actress and singer, who is probably best known for her role as Afton Cooper in the television drama series Dallas and her role as Val Clarke in the film version of A Chorus Line.

Landers was born Audrey Hamburg in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. There are several different references as to her birthdate, cited as 1956, 1958, and 1960, and a passport with a 1959 date of birth. Landers began her acting career at the age of 9, when she starred in her first community theater musical, and continued acting and singing in community theater shows in New York State. Music was always a passion, and Landers began writing poetry and songs at a very young age. Landers was first noticed with a country song that she wrote and performed at the age of twelve, which led to a Nashville recording contract with Epic Records, a performance on the Merv Griffin show, and a year-long role on the daytime drama, The Secret Storm. During her teen years, she acted on the daytime drama Somerset and studied music at the Juilliard School in New York, while majoring in psychology at Columbia University. Her feature film debut came in The Tennessee Stallion (1978) with her sister, Judy Landers.