Dallas star Ken Kercheval who played Cliff Barnes dead at 83

Ken Kercheval, who played JR Ewing’s nemesis Cliff Barnes in the hit TV show Dallas, has died in the US aged 83.

The Hollywood Reporter states that Kercheval died on Sunday night, confirming the news with a funeral home in Indiana.

He is believed to have died of pneumonia.
 

Kercheval was best known for playing Cliff Barnes and was one of only two cast members to remain on Dallas through its 14 seasons as well as returning for the primetime show’s reboot.

Barnes had a longstanding rivalry with JR Ewing and a close relationship with his sister Pamela (Victoria Principal) and was not happy when she married Bobby Ewing (Patrick Duffy).
 

He initially was cast as Ray Krebbs before being given the role of Cliff Barnes.

David Jacobs, the creator of Dallas, said: “He was one of those guys who was going to be the next James Dean.”

Kercheval made his Broadway debut in the 1962 Something About a Soldier.

He also played the title character in the original Broadway production of Fiddler on the Roof.

He later made guest appearances in TV shows like Crossing Jordan, Diagnosis Murder, ER, The Golden Palace, LA Law, CHiPs, Kojak, Starsky and Hutch, The LOve Boat, Trapper John, MD and Murder, She Wrote.

Kercheval was a lung cancer survivor and had five children from three marriages, all of which ended up in divorce.