John Ross Ewing, Jr. more commonly known as J. R. Ewing, played by Larry Hagman, is a central, nefarious figure on the hit CBS television series Dallas (1978–1991). J. R. was a covetous, egocentric, and amoral oil baron, who was constantly plotting subterfuges to plunder his foes and their wealth.

The concept was a blend of Bonanza with a rich, western patriarch and his three dissimilar sons, Cat On A Hot Tin Roof with its rival brothers,and their scheming wives, and Romeo and Juliet with two star-crossed lovers whose families are sworn enemies. The thrust of the series was initially the feuding families, with J. R. just a supporting character. However, his popularity grew and the producers acknowledged he became the "break-out character". Two highly rated 1980 episodes became pop culture zeniths. In "A House Divided" and "Who Done It?", the audience witnessed J. R. being shot by an unknown assailant. After the cliffhanger was broadcast in March, the audience had to wait until the October conclusion. The summer of 1980 was all abuzz with a new national obsession known as "Who shot J. R.?". Riding the crest of his new-found popularity, Larry Hagman threatened to leave the series unless his contractual demands were met. CBS leaked rumors of recasting, but the actor eventually prevailed.

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE ( /ˈtɒlkiːn/, US /ˈtoʊlkiːn/; 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.

Tolkien was Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Pembroke College, Oxford, from 1925 to 1945 and Merton Professor of English Language and Literature there from 1945 to 1959. He was a close friend of C. S. Lewis—they were both members of the informal literary discussion group known as the Inklings. Tolkien was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II on 28 March 1972.

After his death, Tolkien's son Christopher published a series of works based on his father's extensive notes and unpublished manuscripts, including The Silmarillion. These, together with The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings form a connected body of tales, poems, fictional histories, invented languages, and literary essays about a fantasy world called Arda, and Middle-earth within it. Between 1951 and 1955, Tolkien applied the term legendarium to the larger part of these writings.

Larry Martin Hagman (born September 21, 1931) is an American film and television actor, producer and director most widely known for playing J.R. Ewing in the 1980s primetime television soap opera Dallas and Major Anthony "Tony" Nelson in the 1960s sitcom I Dream of Jeannie. He is also the son of actress Mary Martin.

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. His parents divorced in 1936 when he was five years old. He lived with his grandmother in Texas and California. His famous mother became a contract player with Paramount in 1938 and occasionally took him to her movies.

In 1940 his mother met and married Richard Halliday and gave birth to a daughter, Heller, the following year.^{[citation needed]} Hagman attended the strict Black-Foxe Military Institute (now closed). When his mother moved to New York City to continue her Broadway career, Hagman again lived with his grandmother in California.^{[citation needed]} A couple of years later, his grandmother died and Hagman joined his mother in New York. At age 14 (in 1945) while attending boarding school, he began drinking heavily which led to serious health problems later in life.^{[citation needed]}

Joshua Baret "Josh" Henderson (born October 25, 1981) is an American actor and singer. He rose to fame as one of the male members of Scene 23, a pop singing group that were selected as the winners of The WB's singing competition Popstars 2. After the group disbanded, he began focusing on an acting career. His most high-profile role to date has been that of Austin McCann on the ABC hit television series Desperate Housewives. He is currently playing John Ross Ewing III, son of J.R. And Sue Ellen Ewing, in the TNT revival of Dallas, which will broadcast in 2012.

Henderson was born in Dallas, Texas, the son of Sharon Lea Henderson.

Henderson competed on the second season of the WB reality show Popstars and won a spot in the group Scene 23, which disbanded after a CD.

He joined the cast of Desperate Housewives in fall 2006 as Austin McCann, the nephew of Edie Britt, portrayed by Nicollette Sheridan.

Clifford "Cliff" Barnes, played by Ken Kercheval, was a character on the popular American television series Dallas. The Barnes family were competitors and sometimes enemies of the Ewing family. Cliff was the son of Willard "Digger" Barnes and Rebecca Barnes Wentworth. J.R. Ewing (played by Larry Hagman) was Cliff's personal nemesis; Cliff and J.R. were the only two characters to appear throughout the entire run of the series.

During the show's original conception, the character of Cliff was modeled after the late Robert F. Kennedy. However, he evolved into a bumbling sad sack who was very much his own worst enemy. A lawyer and a bureaucrat, not an oil man, Cliff was out of his element when dealing in the cutthroat oil business and, despite repeated attempts, would always be outsmarted and outdone by his rival J.R. Cliff finally beats J.R. in the final season, and takes over Ewing Oil.

Cliff's half-sister, Pamela (played by Victoria Principal), married Bobby Ewing (played by Patrick Duffy), J.R.'s younger brother.