Has anyone been able to pin point ages?

[DallasFan20yearslate]

I'm wondering specifically about J.R. Bobby and Garry, and maybe even Ray. I got it figured out in late season 2 Ray is probably 38, and Garry might be about the same age, or maybe a little older based on Lucy's age. What about Bobby and JR? I'd always assumed JR was probably 37-38 (Until I did the math with Garry) and Bobby was maybe 27-29? I'm talking at the start of the show, not at the end.

[John Carpenter]

According to the episode "Swan Song" Bobby was born in 1955. So, that would make him about 23 in 1978. J.R. was about 10 years older..33 in 1978. Larry Hagman was born in 1931..making him 47 when Dallas Started in 1978.

[DallasFan20yearslate]

I was wondering about this cause Garry had a 17 or so year old daughter when the show began, and as the middle son at what age would he have had to father Lucy?

[vaughnleland]

Gary and Val had lucy when Gary was around 19 and Val was younger

[B.J. Ewing]

The following is taken from Dallas: The Complete Ewing Family Saga book.

Biography J.R.:

J.R. was born in 1939 on Southfork Ranch.

Biography Ellie:

Just prior to the outbreak of Worl War II, Ellie gave birth to another son and named him after her brother, Garrison. She had her third and last son, Bobby, six years later.

Biography Ray:

Ray Krebbs had been born in Emporia, Kansas, toward he end of World War II.

That would mean that J.R. was born in 1939 (39 years old in '78), Gary in 1940 (38 years old in '78), Ray in 1945 (33 years old in '78) and Bobby in 1946 (32 years old in '78).

[JRandSueEllenForever]

Is it me or did Larry Hagman look almost as old as his on screen mother, Barbara Bel Geddes? I believe in real life she would have been too young to be his mother. I think she was only 9 years older than Hagman.

[Emmerdalefan]

Larry Hagman looked his age when Dallas began and JR looked more 45 in 1978 then 39. I dont know if the ages of the characters have ever been fudged.

[Boomer]

In the original book Bobby had been a football hero at the University of Texas and both he and JR had been to Vietnam, so Bobby would be older than 23 and JR...? It all seems contradictory to me...

[RedBeetEggs]

There are several threads about this.

The general consensus is that Bobby and JR were 10-13 years apart in age.

JR - 1936 or 1939
Bobby - 1949 or 1952
Gary - 1943/44
Ray -1945/46

[JRandSueEllenForever]

I thought Bobby was the youngest and Gary was the middle son.

[ronald mascot]

The following is taken from Dallas: The Complete Ewing Family Saga book.

Biography J.R.:

J.R. was born in 1939 on Southfork Ranch.

Biography Ellie:

Just prior to the outbreak of Worl War II, Ellie gave birth to another son and named him after her brother, Garrison. She had her third and last son, Bobby, six years later.

Biography Ray:

Ray Krebbs had been born in Emporia, Kansas, toward he end of World War II.

That would mean that J.R. was born in 1939 (39 years old in '78), Gary in 1940 (38 years old in '78), Ray in 1945 (33 years old in '78) and Bobby in 1946 (32 years old in '78).

That seems a bit old for Bobby. I know when Donna came on the show, she said she was 28 and she had been a classmate of Bobby's so it appeared they were around the same age, but it was ambivalent because Donna had dropped out, went back to school, and dropped out again so they could have been several years apart. I guess Bobby always seemed young because it doesn't seem like he had many girlfriends before Pam except for Jenna Wade, and it was never specified how long they dated.

[Crimson]

I pondered this a few weeks back; this is a repost of my musings at the time:


I've seen Miss Ellie's birthdate given as 1915, and that seems to work within the story. The actresses who played Ellie would have been 6 or 7 years younger than the character.

Larry Hagman was born in 1931. This makes Reed and Bel Geddes closer contemporaries of the actor playing their son than their husband (Jim Davis was born in 1909).

I've seen JR's year of birth given as 1935, 1939 or 1942. Now I must admit that I've always thought of JR as being on the older side. To my eyes, Larry Hagman has always looked his age; at 50 he looked 50, and at 80 he looks 80. That would make the 1935 date more plausible to me, and mean that JR was pushing 50 when John Ross was born. However, the 1942 date probably works better within the continuity of the show even if it means JR looked old for his age.

There's nothing notable about the ages of Gary (born 1944) or Ray (1945) compared to the actors playing them (1946 for both). Sue Ellen was apparently 7 years younger than Linda Gray.

Bobby's birth year seems to be given alternately as 1949 or 1952; Duffy was born in 1949. This makes the 'spread' in years between JR and Bobby to be, at the most, 17 (1935 to 1952) or 7 (1942 to 1949) at the lowest. Hagman has always seemed so much older than Duffy, I find the 7 year gap hard to swallow.

The ages of the major Barnes characters is even wonkier. Kercheval was born in 1935, making him very close to Hagman's age. Priscilla Pointer, his on screen mom, was only 9 years older.

But neither actor's age comes close to matching their characters. Rebecca states at one point that she left Cliff and Pam at the age of 17 (going off memory here). If Pam was born in 1955 (let's not even get into VP's date of birth!), that would put Rebecca's birth sometime around 1938. This makes her close to JR's age, and nearly 20 years younger than Ellie even though Pointer was virtually the same age as Bel Geddes and Reed. It also puts Cliff at much closer to Bobby's age then JR, regardless of Kerchaval and Hagman being very close in age.

Rebecca married Herbert Wentworth in the early 60s, so Katherine was probably born around '61 to '63 making her close to, or possibly younger than, Lucy, and 6 plus years younger than Pam. Morgan Brittany was born in '51.

[DallasFan20yearslate]

I recently saw an interview in AARP Magazine that claims Duffy is 65, which would put him as being born in either 1946 or 1947 depending on birthday.

[B.J. Ewing]

I recently saw an interview in AARP Magazine that claims Duffy is 65, which would put him as being born in either 1946 or 1947 depending on birthday.

But in the pilot episode of the new Dallas series the Ewings were celebrating his 60th birthday...?!?

[DallasFan20yearslate]

Sorry B.J. was referring to Crimson's post about Duffy's age, didn't mean to cross things up

[MsTexas73]

JR was supposed to somewhere between 38/39 when the show began. Bobby was around 28/29. Pam and Bobby were not that far off in age. She was in her late 20s not early 20s when she married Bobby. Donna was the same age as Bobby. Ray was a little older. I always thought Ray and Gary were closer in age, til recently. Sue Ellen and Bobby were close in age, but she was a couple of years older and she was like 7/8 years younger than JR. Sue Ellen was born in 1947...I remember us doing the math because she was 20 when crowned Miss Texas in 1967, so she was 31 at the beginning of the show. Lucy was 16 during the mini-series, HOWEVER they aged her by a year in season 1 because she turned 18 during the birthday episode where she ran away.

[Emmerdalefan]

I was just thinking earlier about JR as September seems to be the month of his birthday so he will be any age between 70 and 77 this month if you go by 1935 to 1942 as his years of birth. I dont think his true age has ever been pinned down but I would go with 1935 or 1936 meaning he will be 76 or 77 this month. Watching the UK debut of the latest Dallas, Larry Hagman looks 80 so JR must be at least 75. 1942 seems too late for him to be born as he looks older than 70.

If Miss Ellie was born in 1915 then she'd be 97 this year, so knocking on 100 if still alive today. She died in 2001 apparently so was about 86.

[MsTexas73]

When was it established that JR was born in September? Larry's birthday is in September though.

[Emmerdalefan]

I know it is only Wikipedia but it states that in Dallas The Early years he was born in September 1935 and other members have stated they believe his birthday is September.