Dallas aired on CBS from 1978 to 1991, featuring stars like Joan Van Ark, Larry Hagman, and Patrick Duffy. Patrick, who played Hagman’s onscreen brother, Bobby, decided to leave the show after season eight to pursue other opportunities, and his character was killed off the show at the end of the season. Sadly, Larry died of complications from acute myeloid leukemia in 2012.
The surviving Dallas cast recently reunited in Palm Springs, California, where Joan told Fox News Digital that Larry was unhappy about Patrick leaving the show. “Larry wanted Patrick back. Patrick, Larry, and Linda were like the three musketeers on set,” she said. “And there was no question that Larry wanted his buddy, his brother, back.”
Patrick’s wife and Larry encouraged his comeback
After Patrick left the show, Larry called him to visit and have a chat. “Hey, why don’t you come on out and sit in the sauna? I’ll put some champagne in the refrigerator. Let’s have a chat,” Joan detailed. “Patrick hung up and said to his wife, ‘I think he’s gonna ask me to come back. I feel it.’ Patrick had left the show because he thought he had done everything he could do as Bobby.”
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Joan added that Patrick’s wife came up with the idea of his comeback scene, so it would look “like it was a dream.” “It was her suggestion… And that’s how it was filmed. As if it was all a dream. But it was Patrick’s wife who came up with the idea, and they went with it,” Joan explained further. Thankfully, his wife’s idea was implemented and became the iconic shower scene.
Bobby’s resurrection scene
Larry stated in an interview with Archive that he intended to keep Bobby’s reappearance a top-secret, so they came up with the idea of Patrick filming a commercial for Irish Spring soap. “Nobody tipped that he was going to come back like that, or he was going to come back at all. They kept that big, big secret. Nobody got it out. And they didn’t use anything. They shot the whole long commercial, but all they used was his turn,” he said. Despite appalled fans’ criticism, the plot worked, sending views to 36 million.
“I have so many memories of Larry. He was such a prankster. He would put peanut butter in his mouth unbeknownst to me and squirt it through his teeth,” Joan reminisced about her time on the set with Larry. “He always wanted to keep the set light, fun and happy. And, my gosh, Larry and Patrick were such pranksters on set. They were like brothers. But Larry was the prize winner.”