Rebecca Wentworth

[JRandSueEllenForever]

Remember when Rebecca came back into Pam's and Cliff's lives and vowed revenge against the Ewings after her precious son embezzled millions from her company, she fired him, and then he attempted suicide? It bugged the hell out of me the way she was blinded by her favoritism of Cliff. She went from practically disowning him after he took advantage of her to coddling him and giving all that power and money right back, just so he could destroy the Ewings. Talk about poor mothering techniques. I guess she felt the need to spoil him because she walked out on him as a child and didn't get the chance to spoil him then.

I'm wondering why the writers killed her off so soon? She wasn't on the show very long, and it looked like they were starting a potential storyline about Rebecca being jealous when she saw Miss Ellie with Clayton. That would have been a great love triangle storyline to add to the explosive feud she already had going with Miss Ellie and JR. But then they killed her off.

[Crimson]

I agree that Rebecca was killed too soon; but, then, so too was Digger. The writers of Dallas were overly fond of death scenes, which offered short term drama but deprived them of long term potential.

I recall reading -- and I don't remember if it was an interview with a cast member or just forum conjecture -- that Rebecca was killed off to give Katherine the leeway to run amuck. That's silly, of course -- it's not like Ellie was ever able to control JR, so why would Rebecca's presence deter Katherine?

[jeff_ewing]

I didn't care for her revenge plot to destroy the Ewing family. It didn't seem to bother her at all that by going after them she was also going after Pam.

[Crimson]

Revenge is rarely logical.

[ronald mascot]

I just watched "Carrie" recently and Priscilla Pointer is in that, that's a good movie. I never really understood why they killed Rebecca off so soon, it just seemed her character had more mileage in it. Morgan Brittany said she was told they wanted her character Katherine back in Dallas as a regular and to do that, they had to kill off Rebecca to make that happen. That is what she was told by the show. It always seemed strange to me, why couldn't they just have her move there with Rebecca still alive? But that is what Morgan says happened.

[JRandSueEllenForever]

I agree that Rebecca was killed too soon; but, then, so too was Digger. The writers of Dallas were overly fond of death scenes, which offered short term drama but deprived them of long term potential.

I recall reading -- and I don't remember if it was an interview with a cast member or just forum conjecture -- that Rebecca was killed off to give Katherine the leeway to run amuck. That's silly, of course -- it's not like Ellie was ever able to control JR, so why would Rebecca's presence deter Katherine?

Agreed. I don't think Rebecca's presence would have deterred Katherine. Just the opposite, perhaps. Rebecca became so unreasonable at the end, I started to wonder if she would have turned as vicious as Katherine. Rebecca had no control over Cliff, so I doubt she could have controlled Rebecca.

[JRandSueEllenForever]

I just watched "Carrie" recently and Priscilla Pointer is in that, that's a good movie. I never really understood why they killed Rebecca off so soon, it just seemed her character had more mileage in it. Morgan Brittany said she was told they wanted her character Katherine back in Dallas as a regular and to do that, they had to kill off Rebecca to make that happen. That is what she was told by the show. It always seemed strange to me, why couldn't they just have her move there with Rebecca still alive? But that is what Morgan says happened.

Seems strange to me too. Why couldn't they just have both women on the show. It would have been fun watching to see which woman would unravel the fastest.

[alexis]

Probably about the size of the cast and screen time. It's hard to squeeze everyone into such a short episode time of 45 mins. So I assume that Katherine would have been taking the screen time once alotted to Rebecca.

[jimmy monahan]

The writers could have wrote Rebecca out tempararily ie comatose after plane crash or maybe a stroke at least later on the character could be revived.Rebecca Wentworth was really a person that. had so few redeeming qualities however Priscilla Pointers acting skills and charisma made the character likeable.And those pierceing cat eyes she was one of the more memorable supporting players on Dallas

[Jock-1981]

Rebecca dying just a few short episodes before Mickey and Sue Ellen's accident seemed too close and then the Southfork fire right after that,but then again,Dallas was doing plenty of one-two punches that season to keep the pace fast and the shocks coming quick. I,too,believe Rebecca could have been in that show for a few seasons more. Yes,there were plenty of plots with her not worked out.

[Crimson]

Probably about the size of the cast and screen time. It's hard to squeeze everyone into such a short episode time of 45 mins. So I assume that Katherine would have been taking the screen time once alotted to Rebecca.

I still don't think that's a valid reason to kill her. She didn't have to die to stop taking up screen time; plenty of second and third tier characters would not be seen for weeks, even months, at a time. I think they went for the short term impact -- and a good one, it was. But they lost a character with future potential as a trade off.

[terrytowel]

If Rebecca really wanted revenge on the Ewings, she should have backed Bobby in the fight for Ewing oil. She could of had the entire force of Wentworth Tool & Die behind Bobby.

I think they killed her off so they could weave Cliff and Pam more into the oil business storylines, with their share of Barnes-Wentworth and Wentworth Tool & Die

[Jock-1981]

It would have been nice to see Rebecca stay in the series. She was the grounding force for Cliff and Pam,much like Jock and Ellie were the grounding force for JR and Bobby. And without Rebecca,Cliff & Pam were cast adrift once again.

[ronald mascot]

It's possible too they wanted Katherine on the show as an antidote to Alexis Carrington's big splash on Dynasty the year before. That could be the sort of outside influence that is not detectable on the surface.

[Jock-1981]

True. Although Dallas was still running high in the ratings in the 1982-1983 season.

But JR would go right behind Jock & Miss Ellie and that was an interesting twist to his character. Katherine could have done the same to Rebecca and went behind her back to do her mean and nasty deeds and in the end,Rebecca could have caught Katherine,much like Jock & Ellie did with JR. Take a look at how good the stories were when Jock & Ellie found out that JR had mortgaged Southfork or that he had a team on Southfork drilling on Section 40.

[JRandSueEllenForever]

True. Although Dallas was still running high in the ratings in the 1982-1983 season.

But JR would go right behind Jock & Miss Ellie and that was an interesting twist to his character. Katherine could have done the same to Rebecca and went behind her back to do her mean and nasty deeds and in the end,Rebecca could have caught Katherine,much like Jock & Ellie did with JR. Take a look at how good the stories were when Jock & Ellie found out that JR had mortgaged Southfork or that he had a team on Southfork drilling on Section 40.

Yep. Would have loved Rebecca's reaction if she had seen how unhinged Katherine had become and how JR foiled Cliff over and over again.

[witchboy]

I'd have loved for Rebecca to have been around to see Katherine going after Cliff and Pam, and see how Rebecca would've handled that. I have no doubt Rebecca would've taken a stand against Katherine, which would've been epic.

[TJames03]

RW had to die to make room for Katherine to return to DALLAS. I have always agreed one hundred percent with Katherine in her speech towards Cliff after Rebecca died.

It would have been interesting to have had (in their later years) Ellie, Jock, Rebecca, and Digger together in the same room.

[Moonsky]

Remember when Rebecca came back into Pam's and Cliff's lives and vowed revenge against the Ewings after her precious son embezzled millions from her company, she fired him, and then he attempted suicide? It bugged the hell out of me the way she was blinded by her favoritism of Cliff. She went from practically disowning him after he took advantage of her to coddling him and giving all that power and money right back, just so he could destroy the Ewings. Talk about poor mothering techniques. I guess she felt the need to spoil him because she walked out on him as a child and didn't get the chance to spoil him then.

I'm wondering why the writers killed her off so soon? She wasn't on the show very long, and it looked like they were starting a potential storyline about Rebecca being jealous when she saw Miss Ellie with Clayton. That would have been a great love triangle storyline to add to the explosive feud she already had going with Miss Ellie and JR. But then they killed her off.

Another premature departure. She had so much more to offer. Why didn't they have her getting married again, becoming a real power house and permanent pain in JR's backside. She would have been invaluable later on when Pam got wrapped up in bandages like something from Scooby-Do. No seriously, it was such a waste. Just like Kristen, April, and Katherine, they went far too soon, and we ended up (much later on) with trashy characters like Jack, Cally, Michelle, and James.

I understand that Priscilla Pointer is still alive and well - such a shame therefore that her character expired when it did.

[witchboy]

Just a crazy thought off the top of my head, but if Rebecca had remarried, who else could her new husband have been but Clayton? That wouldn't have worked as good as with Miss Ellie, but imagine Pam and Cliff with Clayton's full backing against JR.