'Dallas' Actor Ken Kercheval Dead at 83

Actor Ken Kercheval, who played oil tycoon Cliff Barnes on Dallas, has passed away at the age of [...]

By Stephen Andrew

Actor Ken Kercheval, who played oil tycoon Cliff Barnes on Dallas, has passed away at the age of 83.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the news was confirmed by a spokeswoman for the Frist Funeral Home in Kercheval hometown of Clinton, Indiana.

The spokeswoman did not provide any further details, but the outlet notes that the Daily Clintonian newspaper has reported that the actor passed away on Sunday evening.

In addition to Dallas, Kercheval also appeared in series such as Starsky & Hutch, L.A. Law, Crossing Jordan, Diagnosis: Murder and ER.

During the TNT revival of Dallas, Kercheval reprised his role as Barnes and spoke to the Dallas Decoder about what it was like to return to the show after so may years.

"Same old, same old. I know this guy pretty well so it's just like putting on the same set of clothes that you wore a few years back," Kercheval said.

There was reportedly an interesting scene that got cut before Kercheval's episodes aired, and he described one of them.

"There's a scene outside the opera house where we're walking along [and] I've offered [Sue Ellen] my financial support for her running for governor," And she says she has to turn it down. And I [say], 'Why? Have you got a better offer?' And I just stop her and say, 'J.R. is absolutely never going to change. Don't bank on [him] because the man will never change.' "

He went on to share that this particular scene was cut in favor of one that showed "the birthing of that calf," which Kercheval was confused by.

"I thought, what's that relevant to? I didn't understand it. But, you know, it's not my place to understand it. I think the writers are extremely clever. And I know that Cynthia [Cidre, the executive producer] told me that her team of writers sat down and watched every single episode that had ever been filmed of the [original] show. I said, 'I hope they got paid well.' That's a lot of work."

Kercheval was married three times, all of which ended in divorce. He is reportedly survived by five children and six grandchildren.

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