It doesn't help me contain my excitement, though, when I read that Linda Gray is in talks to return as Sue Ellen:
She has yet to see a script, but Gray, 69, said she hoped Sue Ellen had not been turned into a sweet-natured grandmother, in the style of Ellie Ewing.
"I'm not going to wear little boring dresses with pearls around my neck. At this age, Sue Ellen should be a powerhouse role model," Gray told TV Guide.
By the end of her run on the series and in the two reunion movies, Sue Ellen had really come into her own as a confident and strong woman, after many, many years of being a complete doormat to J.R. and of course battling her addiction to alcohol. In fact, by the reunion movies she was actually running Ewing Oil with Bobby!
I wouldn't expect her to be anything less in the new series than the strong woman she'd become after years of struggle.
Of course, it's not entirely fair to dismiss Miss Ellie as a sweet natured grandmother. It's true that she didn't usually have the most exciting stories and was often there to listen to others over iced tea, but Miss Ellie is actually one of my favorite characters from the original series, thanks largely to the incredible talent of the late Barbara Bel Geddes.
Barbara won the only Emmy and Golden Globe awards for acting on the series and did some incredibly moving work during Miss Ellie's breast cancer storyline and in the aftermath of her husband Jock's death.
But the reason I really loved Miss Ellie is that while she was normally mild mannered, there was true fire in her when she was angry. Some of my favorite scenes are the ones where Miss Ellie would show that side of herself and be far more intimidating than any of the men in her family ever were. If Miss Ellie raised her voice at you, you were quaking in your boots!
The most memorable of these scenes was in the very first season, when J.R. and Bobby were in a plane crash and feared dead. Jock had recently had a heart attack and Miss Ellie was doing her best to keep him from hearing the news until they knew for sure if their sons were alive. A reporter somehow managed to get past the extra security on the ranch and rang the doorbell to ask for a comment.
Miss Ellie greeted him with a shotgun in hand, but her fury alone would have sent any sane person running. It's truly one of my favorite moments in the entire run of the series, because you just didn't expect that from her. Later, when such moments happened from time to time, they were enjoyable but less of a surprise because you already knew that at heart, Ellie Ewing wasn't meek.
I have a feeling that Barbara Bel Geddes herself probably relished such scenes. I wish she was still around today to make a return appearance to Southfork in the new series! I also wish that someone would write a biography of her, since her work actually went far beyond Dallas. For instance, she originated the role of Maggie the Cat in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof on Broadway and had an illustrious stage career long before Dallas. I can't tell you how much I wish I could hop in a time machine and see her as Maggie!
One of my favorite quotes from her: "They're always making me play well-bred ladies. I'm not very well bred, and I'm not much of a lady." I've heard great stories about her being what was once referred to as a 'salty dame' in real life. Seriously, someone write a biography already! Maybe I'll do it myself one day.
"I'm not going to wear little boring dresses with pearls around my neck. At this age, Sue Ellen should be a powerhouse role model," Gray told TV Guide.
By the end of her run on the series and in the two reunion movies, Sue Ellen had really come into her own as a confident and strong woman, after many, many years of being a complete doormat to J.R. and of course battling her addiction to alcohol. In fact, by the reunion movies she was actually running Ewing Oil with Bobby!
I wouldn't expect her to be anything less in the new series than the strong woman she'd become after years of struggle.
Of course, it's not entirely fair to dismiss Miss Ellie as a sweet natured grandmother. It's true that she didn't usually have the most exciting stories and was often there to listen to others over iced tea, but Miss Ellie is actually one of my favorite characters from the original series, thanks largely to the incredible talent of the late Barbara Bel Geddes.
Barbara won the only Emmy and Golden Globe awards for acting on the series and did some incredibly moving work during Miss Ellie's breast cancer storyline and in the aftermath of her husband Jock's death.
But the reason I really loved Miss Ellie is that while she was normally mild mannered, there was true fire in her when she was angry. Some of my favorite scenes are the ones where Miss Ellie would show that side of herself and be far more intimidating than any of the men in her family ever were. If Miss Ellie raised her voice at you, you were quaking in your boots!
The most memorable of these scenes was in the very first season, when J.R. and Bobby were in a plane crash and feared dead. Jock had recently had a heart attack and Miss Ellie was doing her best to keep him from hearing the news until they knew for sure if their sons were alive. A reporter somehow managed to get past the extra security on the ranch and rang the doorbell to ask for a comment.
Miss Ellie greeted him with a shotgun in hand, but her fury alone would have sent any sane person running. It's truly one of my favorite moments in the entire run of the series, because you just didn't expect that from her. Later, when such moments happened from time to time, they were enjoyable but less of a surprise because you already knew that at heart, Ellie Ewing wasn't meek.
I have a feeling that Barbara Bel Geddes herself probably relished such scenes. I wish she was still around today to make a return appearance to Southfork in the new series! I also wish that someone would write a biography of her, since her work actually went far beyond Dallas. For instance, she originated the role of Maggie the Cat in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof on Broadway and had an illustrious stage career long before Dallas. I can't tell you how much I wish I could hop in a time machine and see her as Maggie!
One of my favorite quotes from her: "They're always making me play well-bred ladies. I'm not very well bred, and I'm not much of a lady." I've heard great stories about her being what was once referred to as a 'salty dame' in real life. Seriously, someone write a biography already! Maybe I'll do it myself one day.
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