Here is a list of characters appearing on the 1978–1991 American television series Dallas. During its 14 seasons on air, the show featured 21 regular cast members, portraying twenty characters (as the character of Miss Ellie was recast for season eight). Additionally, hundreds of guest actors portrayed supporting characters; this list includes the most noteworthy.
Main cast timeline Character Portrayed by Seasons 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Miss Ellie Ewing Barbara Bel Geddes colspan="7" colspan="5" Donna Reed colspan="7" colspan="6" Jock Ewing Jim Davis colspan="4" colspan="10" Bobby Ewing Patrick Duffy colspan="8" colspan="5" J.R. Ewing Larry Hagman colspan="14" Pam Ewing Victoria Principal colspan="10" colspan="2" Lucy Ewing Charlene Tilton colspan="8" colspan="2" colspan="2" Sue Ellen Ewing Linda Gray colspan="11" Ray Krebbs Steve Kanaly colspan="11" Cliff Barnes Ken Kercheval colspan="2" colspan="12" Donna Culver Krebbs Susan Howard colspan="2" colspan="6" colspan="4" Clayton Farlow Howard Keel colspan="3" colspan="3" colspan="7" Jenna Wade Priscilla Beaulieu Presley colspan="2" colspan="3" colspan="4" colspan="3" Jack Ewing Dack Rambo colspan="7" colspan="2" colspan="4" April Stevens Ewing Sheree J. Wilson colspan="9" colspan="2" colspan="3" Michelle Stevens Kimberly Foster colspan="12" colspan="2" Carter McKay George Kennedy colspan="11" colspan="2" Cally Harper Ewing Cathy Podewell colspan="11" colspan="2" James Beaumont Sasha Mitchell colspan="12" colspan="2" Stephanie Rogers Lesley-Anne Down colspan="12" Liz Adams Barbara Stock colspan="12"
Cast notes
Supporting characters Ewing relatives
Gary Ewing
Garrison Arthur "Gary" Ewing (David Ackroyd in season 2, Ted Shackelford thereafter) was the middle son of Jock (Jim Davis) and Miss Ellie Ewing (Barbara Bel Geddes), husband of Valene (Joan Van Ark) and father of Lucy Ewing (Charlene Tilton). He appeared occasionally between season 2 and season 6, once in season 9, and the series finale in season 14. The character made 11 appearances on the show, Ackroyd for the first two and Shackelford for the remaining nine.
Gary was the middle child, being born after J.R. (Larry Hagman) and before Bobby (Patrick Duffy). He was raised while Jock was at war, and displayed traits of his mother's family, the Southworths, which meant that Jock and J.R. saw him as a weak link. At 17, to try and escape his family, Gary ran away and married 15-year-old Valene and got her pregnant, which resulted in the birth of their daughter Lucy. Valene eventually forced Gary to introduce her to his family, and upon his return Jock and Miss Ellie gave him a home and a job on Southfork Ranch. J.R., who disliked Valene and resented Gary's presence, harassed Gary to the point of alcoholism and forced him off the ranch. Gary disappeared and wound up working as a waiter in a Las Vegas hotel, where he encountered Bobby and his wife Pam (Victoria Principal) in 1978.
Bobby and Pam convinced Gary to return to Southfork, reconciling with Lucy, who engineered a meeting between him and Valene. For a brief while, the three cohabited at Southfork as a family under Jock and Miss Ellie's eyes, but Gary soon felt trapped by Jock's expectations and J.R.'s resentment. Realising that this would send him back to alcoholism, Gary abandoned his family and Southfork. Valene followed, and the two eventually reconciled again and married in season 3. As a gift to the newlyweds, Miss Ellie bought them a house in California, where Gary and Valene settled after their honeymoon.
Gary remained in California, free from the pressures of his family, although he returned to Dallas on several occasions: to visit J.R. in hospital after Kristin Shepard (Mary Crosby) tried to kill him; for Lucy's wedding to Mitch Cooper (Leigh McCloskey); to support Miss Ellie after the death of his father, Jock; and for Bobby's "funeral" during the dream season. Following this, Gary didn't return to Dallas again, although he appeared in an alternate reality in which J.R. had never been born during the series finale: without J.R. to intimidate him, Gary became the eldest son and became a successful divorce lawyer, after inheriting Ewing Oil and running it into the ground. He still met and started a relationship with Valene, although they did not meet for the first time until their middle age (and, subsequently, did not have Lucy). The alternate reality also suggested that, regardless of J.R.'s interference, Gary and Valene were always destined to end up together.
Gary and Valene's backstories and lives in California were the basis of Dallas spin-off series Knots Landing. The couple also appeared for brief story arcs in the revival series.
Valene Clements Ewing
Valene "Val" Ewing (also Clements, Gibson and Waleska; credited as Valene Wallace in the series finale) was the wife of Gary Ewing (David Ackroyd/Ted Shackelford) and mother of Lucy Ewing (Charlene Tilton). She appeared occasionally between season 2 and season 5, and returned in the series finale in season 14. Van Ark appeared in 8 episodes overall, and featured briefly in uncredited archive footage during season 12.
At 15, Valene was working as a waitress in a restaurant when she met 17-year-old Gary and fell in love with him. They married after three days, and Valene quickly fell pregnant with their child. Valene eventually persuaded Gary to take her on a visit to Southfork Ranch, Gary's childhood home, and introduce her to his family. Gary's mother Miss Ellie (Barbara Bel Geddes/Donna Reed), thrilled at having Gary home, sets them up at Southfork with a home and a job for Gary as a ranch-hand. Gary's father Jock (Jim Davis) liked Valene, and agreed to let them stay, although he tried to pressure Gary into accepting his responsibilities as a husband and soon-to-be father. However, Gary's elder brother J.R. (Larry Hagman) resented Gary's presence and disliked Valene, and harassed the couple, forcing Gary into alcoholism that lead to him abandoning Valene and Southfork. Without Gary to protect her, Valene gave birth to Lucy and was forced off the ranch by J.R.. She eventually returns and took Lucy, fleeing to Virginia and Tennessee in search of her mother, Lilimae Clements (Julie Harris), although J.R. caught up with Valene and snatched Lucy back, threatening to kill Valene if she ever returned to Texas.
In 1978, Valene gets a job at a diner near Lucy's school and the two begin to meet without Lucy's family knowing. They succeed in doing so, which leads to Lucy engineering a reconciliation between Valene and Gary when her uncle Bobby Ewing (Patrick Duffy) and his wife Pam (Victoria Principal) discover him working in a Las Vegas hotel. Gary and Valene reconcile, living with Lucy and the Ewings at Southfork for a while, until Gary realises that Jock's expectations and J.R.'s resentment of him threaten his newfound sobriety. He leaves Southfork and his family again. J.R. tried bribing Valene to do the same, but she turned it down and left anyway, keeping in contact with Lucy and Bobby. She soon tracked Gary down and they resumed their relationship, returning to Dallas in order to marry during season 3. As a gift to the newlyweds, Miss Ellie buys them a house in California, where the couple settle after their honeymoon.
Valene preferred to remain safely in California, far away from J.R., returning only once after her marriage, for Lucy's wedding to Mitch Cooper (Leigh McCloskey). After this, Valene did not return to Dallas but appeared twice more: once with Gary after Jock's death, discussing what to expect from his will, and in an alternate reality during the series finale, in which J.R. was never born: without J.R. to intimidate him, Gary never ran away and married Valene, and thus never produced Lucy. Instead, the pair didn't meet until in their middle-age, when Valene - who had married a Mr Wallace and been widowed - asked Gary to seek an inheritance left to her by her husband. The alternate reality also hinted that, regardless of J.R.'s interference, Gary and Valene were always destined to end up together.
Valene and Gary's backstories lives in California were the basis of Dallas spin-off Knots Landing. The couple also appeared for brief story arcs in the revival series.
Garrison Southworth Garrison Southworth (Gene Evans) was the elder brother of Miss Ellie Ewing (Barbara Bel Geddes/Donna Reed), and the original heir to Southfork Ranch. He appeared in one episode of season 2.
Garrison was Miss Ellie's only sibling, and the two had a close relationship throughout their childhoods and into their marriages; Garrison's to Cherie Simmons (Liz Keifer), and Miss Ellie's to oil baron Jock Ewing (Jim Davis), although their marriage was one arranged by their father in order to save Southfork from being repossessed.
During World War II, Garrison served in the American Navy, where his ship was torpedoed and sunk at sea. With Garrison now considered missing in action, Miss Ellie and Jock pushed to have him declared dead in absentia, which would allow Miss Ellie to inherit Southfork upon her father's death. Although she went along with it at the time, Miss Ellie later felt guilty for doing so, as she believed that Garrison, as firstborn, was the rightful heir to the land. However, with nothing to suggest that Garrison was still alive, she and Jock eventually inherited Southfork and split their time between the land and Jock's company, Ewing Oil. To try and soothe herself, Miss Ellie named her second-born son Garrison Arthur (David Ackroyd/Ted Shackelford) in her brother's memory.
In 1979, Garrison was told that he was suffering from terminal cancer and did not have long left to live. Garrison bought a house in Dallas and an old painting of the Southfork Ranch. Accompanied by his companion nurse, Cathy Baker (Melinda O. Fee), Garrison returned to ranch to give Miss Ellie the painting. His reappearance shocked Jock and Miss Ellie, as well as their sons J.R. (Larry Hagman) and Bobby (Patrick Duffy), who are suspicious that Cathy is Garrison's mistress. Garrison and Cathy dine with the Ewings at Southfork, where Miss Ellie offers the ranch back to Garrison, but the dinner ends badly when J.R. questions them about their "motives". Outraged and offended, Garrison leaves, refusing to accept Southfork from Miss Ellie. Bobby and his wife Pam (Victoria Principal) visit Garrison at home the next day, where Cathy tells them about Garrison's cancer and his imminent death. Bobby tells Miss Ellie, who visits Garrison the next day and learns from Garrison himself that he is dying. After clearing it with her family, Miss Ellie helps Garrison move back to Southfork, where he dies shortly afterwards.
During his visit, Garrison seems friendly with Ewing rival Digger Barnes (David Wayne/Keenan Wynn), and seems to agree with him that Jock cheated him and his family out of a fortune.
In season 9, after Bobby's funeral, Miss Ellie visits Garrison's grave, which is situated near a lake on Southfork land. She talks to Garrison at the grave, confiding that she is upset how her family is slowly disintegrating - Bobby has died, J.R.'s wife Sue Ellen (Linda Gray) has left him and taken their son John Ross with her, Gary lives in California and granddaughter Lucy (Charlene Tilton) has moved to Atlanta. However, the season 10 premiere dismisses all of season 9 as a dream, meaning that the location of Garrison's grave may not be accurate.
Garrison also appeared in the Dallas prequel Dallas: The Early Years, portrayed by actor Matt Mulhern, which featured his backstory, his deployment in the war and his marriage to Cherie.
Kristin Shepard