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{{Short description|American actor (1935–2019)}}
{{Cleanup|date=November 2007}}
{{Infobox person
{{Refimprove|date=September 2007}}
| name = Ken Kercheval
| image = 1963 Ken Kercheval.JPG
| imagesize = 230px
| caption = Kercheval in 1963
| birth_name = Kenneth Marine Kercheval
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1935|7|15|mf=y}}
| birth_place = ], U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|2019|04|21|1935|07|15}}
| death_place = ], U.S.
| resting_place = Pisgah Cemetery, ], U.S.
| alma_mater = ]<br>]<br>]
| occupation = Actor
| yearsactive = 1962–2019
| spouse = {{plainlist|
* {{marriage|Ava Fox|1986|1993|end=divorce}}
* {{marriage|]|1994|2004|end=divorce}}
}}<!-- no info re 1st & 2nd marriages -->
| children = 5
}}


'''Kenneth Marine Kercheval''' (July 15, 1935 – April 21, 2019) was an American actor, best known for his role as ] on the television series '']'' and its ].<ref name="t870705">{{cite news| first=Daniel| last=Brogan| newspaper=]| title=With Kercheval As Cliff Barnes, Something Pops| url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1987/07/05/with-kercheval-as-cliff-barnes-something-pops/| date=July 5, 1987|access-date=August 31, 2010}}</ref><ref name="HR 2012">{{cite news| url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/dallas-finale-patrick-duffy-ken-kercheval-360429| title=''Dallas'' Finale Postmortem: Patrick Duffy on the Shocking Conclusion and What's Next| date=August 9, 2012| last=Schillaci| first=Sophie A| newspaper=]| location=]| access-date=August 28, 2012}}</ref>
'''Ken Kercheval''' (b. ] ], ]) is an ] ], best known for his role as "]" on the hit American television series '']''.


==Early life==
Kercheval was raised in ], where his father was a popular physician.
Kercheval was born on July 15, 1935, in ], to Marine "Doc" Kercheval (1899-1967), a local physician, and the former Christine Reiber (1903-1996), a registered nurse.<ref name="Barnes"/> He was raised in ]. As a teenager, Kercheval often was with his dad in the operating room and once put two stitches in his sister Kate when she had an ].<ref name="Barnes"/> Kercheval attended ], not to become a doctor, but to major in ] and ]. He later studied at the ], and starting in 1956, at the ] in ] under ].<ref name="Barnes"/>


==Career==
Kercheval and ] were the only cast members to stay with the series throughout its entire run, although Kercheval's character was only a recurring character during the first two seasons. He became a regular cast member in the 1979-1980 season. Kercheval reprised the role of Cliff Barnes in the 1996 Dallas reunion, ''J. R. Returns'', and he appeared in the 2004 reunion special.
Kercheval made his ] debut in the 1962 play '']''. He appeared off-Broadway in the 1972 ] revue '']'', and can be heard on the ]. His other theatre credits included '']'', '']'' (replacing ] as Cliff), and '']''. In 1966, he appeared as the title character in the original Broadway production of '']'', co-starring with ], ], ], ], and ].


Kercheval gained his first television role, playing the part of Dr. Nick Hunter number one on '']'' in 1966. His later soap-opera roles were in '']'' and '']''. His film credits include '']'' with ] and ] plus '']'' with ]. In 1976, he co-starred in two episodes of '']'' as ].
Kercheval made his ] debut in the 1962 play ''Something About a Soldier''. Additional theatre credits include '']'', '']'', and '']''. He got his start on television in 1966, playing the part of nice, agreeable doctor Nick Hunter on '']''.


Kercheval is best known for having played J.R.'s nemesis ] on the ] series '']''.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://movies.msn.com/celebrities/celebrity-biography/ken-kercheval/| title=Ken Kercheval: Biography| website=MSN Movies| access-date=November 24, 2013| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203044508/http://movies.msn.com/celebrities/celebrity-biography/ken-kercheval/| archive-date=December 3, 2013| url-status=dead}}</ref> He starred in the show from 1978 to 1991, from its pilot episode to the series finale. He initially was cast as ] before being given the role of Cliff Barnes. Kercheval and ] were the only ''Dallas'' cast members to stay with the series throughout its entire run, although Kercheval's character was only a recurring character during the first two seasons. He became a regular cast member in the 1979–1980 season. Kercheval reprised the role of Cliff Barnes in the 1996 ''Dallas'' reunion, ''J. R. Returns'', and he appeared in the 2004 CBS reunion special. He again reprised the role in the '']'' (2012) series.<ref name="tvg1">{{cite journal| first=William| last=Keck| journal=]| title=Keck's Exclusives: Details on Ken Kercheval's Return to ''Dallas''| url=http://www.tvguide.com/News/Kecks-Exclusives-Details-1037719.aspx| date=September 19, 2011| access-date=May 18, 2011}}</ref><ref name="HR 2012"/>
Ken Kercheval is a rarity, a ] survivor.
] in ''Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'' (1963)]]
In the 1980s, he made numerous appearances on '']'' and '']''. In 1991, he appeared in the reunion movie, '']'', playing Mr. Simpson, a guidance counselor at Anthony Nelson Jr.'s high school and was the temporary master for Anthony Jr.'s mother, Jeannie (]); this was because Larry Hagman, who played Tony Nelson, was not available to reprise his role, as he had not yet finished his run on ''Dallas'' – the irony being that ''I Dream of Jeannie'' was Hagman's first major series, and the actors' respective ''Dallas'' characters despised each other. He also appeared as a ballroom dance teacher in the independent film '']''.


In 2006, Kercheval appeared in the musical '']'' at ]'s Mayflower Theatre and ]'s Theatre Royal as the General. In 2007, he reprised his role at the ] and the ] in ]. He reprised his role in Sunderland in 2010 and at ] in Salford Quay with '']'' actor ] and '']'' regular ] from November 2012 until January 2013.
In ] he appeared in pantomime at ]'s Mayflower theatre.


In 1985, Kercheval became a partner in the Old Capital Popcorn Company.<ref name="t870705"/> The business thrived at first, but the partnership soured in 1988. The financial issues and other conflicts led to a 1989 armed rampage and suicide on the ''Dallas'' set by one of the partners.<ref name="lat890720">{{cite news| first1=Tracy| last1=Wilkinson| first2=Louis| last2=Sahagun| newspaper=]| title=Studio Shooting Blamed on Business Deal| url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-07-20-me-5001-story.html| date=July 20, 1989| access-date=May 18, 2012}}</ref>
In ] he is expected to appear at the ] in ], Northern Ireland.

==Personal life and death==
A lifelong smoker, Kercheval was a ] survivor after having had part of his lung removed in 1994.<ref>{{cite magazine| url=https://variety.com/2019/tv/news/ken-kercheval-dead-dies-dallas-cliff-barnes-1203196759/|title=Ken Kercheval, Cliff Barnes on 'Dallas,' Dies at 83| first=Rachel| last=Yang| magazine=]| date=April 24, 2019| access-date=April 24, 2019}}</ref><ref name="pm940815">{{cite news| first=Ken| last=Kercheval| magazine=]| title=Where There's Smoke| url=https://people.com/archive/where-theres-smoke-vol-42-no-7/| date=August 15, 1994| access-date=July 15, 2021}}</ref> Kercheval was married and divorced three times and had five children. {{As of|2012}}, he had six grandchildren.

In later years, he spent the majority of his time near his family in Clinton, IN, where he enjoyed attending local fairs and festivals.

Kercheval died of ] on April 21, 2019, at the age of 83.<ref name="Barnes">{{cite news| last1=Barnes| first1=Mike| last2=Byrge| first2=Duane| url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/ken-kercheval-dead-jr-archrival-cliff-barnes-dallas-was-83-1163963| title=Ken Kercheval, J.R. Archrival Cliff Barnes on ''Dallas,'' Dies at 83| work=The Hollywood Reporter| date=April 24, 2019| access-date=April 24, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2019/04/24/ken-kercheval-actor-found-fame-jr-ewings-rival-cliff-barnes/|title=Ken Kercheval, actor who found fame as JR Ewing's rival Cliff Barnes in ''Dallas'' – obituary| newspaper=]| location=]| date=April 24, 2019| access-date=April 24, 2019}}</ref> He is buried in Pisgah Cemetery in Vermillion County with a small cemetery marker to reference his grave. No memorial, plaque or gravestone has been erected by family, colleagues, or fans.{{Citation needed|date=November 2024}}

==Filmography==
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
*'']'' (1962, TV Series) as Acting Student (uncredited)
*'']'' (1962–1965, TV Series) as Harry Grant / Jack Wilks
*'']'' (1965, TV Series) as Mac
*'']'' (1965–1966, TV Series) as Jerry Quinlan / Dr. McCahey
*'']'' (1966, TV Series) as Clark
*''An Enemy of the People'' (1966, TV Movie) as Billing
*'']'' (1968) as Harry Jackson
*'']'' (1968, TV series regular) as Archie Borman
*'']'' (1970) as Jerry
*'']'' (1970) as Barney
*''The Coming Asunder of Jimmy Bright'' (1971, TV Movie) as Jimmy Bright
*'']'' (1965-1973, TV series regular) as Dr. Nick Hunter
*'']'' (1973) as Ansel – Seven-Up
*'']'' (1974, TV Series) as Alec Palmer
*'']'' (1974, TV Movie) as White
*'']'' (1974, TV series regular) as Larry Kirby
*'']'' (1975, TV Series) as Dist. Attorney
*'']'' (1976, TV Series) as James Madison
*''Judge Horton and the Scottsboro Boys'' (1976, TV Movie) as District Attorney Tom Knight
*'']'' (1976) as Merrill Grant
*'']'' (1977) as John Surratt
*'']'' (1977, TV Series) as Jerry Parks
*'']'' (1978, TV Series) as Mark Adams
*'']'' (1973–1978, TV Series) as Teddy Maclay / Professor Lacey / Ray Fromm
*'']'' (1978) as Bernie Marr
*'']'' (1978, TV Movie) as Miles Amory
*'']'' (1978, TV Series) as Dr. Faraday
*'']'' (1979, TV Movie) as Jack Dennis
*'']'' (1979, TV Series) as Deputy D.A. Clayburn
*''Walking Through the Fire'' (1979, TV Movie) as Dr. Freeman
*'']'' (1980, TV Series) as Dr. Haggert
*'']'' (1981, TV Series) as Marty Wicks
*''The Patricia Neal Story'' (1981, TV Movie) as Dr. Charles Canton
*''The Demon Murder Case'' (1983, TV Movie) as Richard Clarion
*''Calamity Jane'' (1984, TV Movie) as Buffalo Bill Cody
*'']'' (1981–1984, TV Series) as Lester Erwin / Don Bartlett
*'']'' (1985, TV Series) as John Ramsey Jr.
*'']'' (1983–1986, TV Series) as Frank Jessup / Leo Cooney
*''You Are the Jury'' (1986, TV Series) as Stanley Nelson
*'']'' (1987, TV Series) as A. Walter Decker
*'']'' (1987, TV Series) as Louis Devlin
*'']'' (1988, TV Series) as Richard Osbourne
*'']'' (1990, TV Movie) as L.D. Ryan
*'']'' (1990) as Arthur Strickland
*'']'' (1978–1991, TV series regular) as ]
*'']'' (1991) as Willie
*''Keeping Secrets'' (1991, TV Movie) as Frank Mahoney
*'']'' (1991, TV Movie) as Mr. Simpson
*'']'' (1992, TV Movie) as Frank Stevens
*'']'' (1992, TV Series) as Al Bremmer
*'']'' (1992, TV Series) as Alex Ericson
*'']'' (1992, TV Series) as Jimmy Douglas
*'']'' (1993, TV Series) as Judge Lawton Gray
*''Woman on the Ledge'' (1993, TV Movie) as Doctor Martin
*'']'' (1993, TV Series) as Charlie
*'']'' (1994) as Barone
*'']'' (1993, TV Series) as Dr. Slade
*'']'' (1993, TV Series) as Rutherford Lovejoy
*'']'' (1994, TV Series) as Bernie Green
*'']'' (1994, TV Movie) as Harlan Richards
*'']'' (1996, TV Movie) as ]
* Diagnosis Murder (1997) A Mime is a Terrible Thing to Waste as Duke Fallon
*'']'' (1998) as Carl Winthrope
*'']'' (1 episode, 1998) as Mr. Zwicki
*'']'' (1993–2000, TV Series) as Keith Dunn / Duke Fallon / William P. Bissell / Alex Ridlin
*''Blind Obsession'' (2001) as Harrison Pendragon
*'']'' (2002–2006, TV Series) as Claude Manning
*'']'' (2009) as Vittorio
*'']'' (2012–2014, TV Series, recurring role) as ]
*''The Promise'' (2017) as Dr. Christopher Webber
*''Surviving in L.A.'' (2019) as Charlie (final film role)
{{div col end}}

==References==
{{reflist}}


==External links== ==External links==
{{commons category}}
* {{imdb name|name=Ken Kercheval|id=0449242}}
* {{IMDb name|0449242}}
* {{tcmdb name|id=101116|name=Ken Kercheval}}
* {{IBDB name}}
* {{iobdb name|5748}}
* {{Find a Grave|198562207}}


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Latest revision as of 22:21, 21 December 2024

American actor (1935–2019)
Ken Kercheval
Kercheval in 1963
BornKenneth Marine Kercheval
(1935-07-15)July 15, 1935
Wolcottville, Indiana, U.S.
DiedApril 21, 2019(2019-04-21) (aged 83)
Clinton, Indiana, U.S.
Resting placePisgah Cemetery, Vermillion County, Indiana, U.S.
Alma materIndiana University
University of the Pacific
Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre
OccupationActor
Years active1962–2019
Spouses
Ava Fox ​ ​(m. 1986; div. 1993)​
Cheryl Paris ​ ​(m. 1994; div. 2004)​
Children5

Kenneth Marine Kercheval (July 15, 1935 – April 21, 2019) was an American actor, best known for his role as Cliff Barnes on the television series Dallas and its 2012 revival.

Early life

Kercheval was born on July 15, 1935, in Wolcottville, Indiana, to Marine "Doc" Kercheval (1899-1967), a local physician, and the former Christine Reiber (1903-1996), a registered nurse. He was raised in Clinton, Indiana. As a teenager, Kercheval often was with his dad in the operating room and once put two stitches in his sister Kate when she had an appendectomy. Kercheval attended Indiana University, not to become a doctor, but to major in music and drama. He later studied at the University of the Pacific, and starting in 1956, at the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York City under Sanford Meisner.

Career

Kercheval made his Broadway debut in the 1962 play Something About a Soldier. He appeared off-Broadway in the 1972 Kurt Weill revue Berlin to Broadway with Kurt Weill, and can be heard on the cast recording. His other theatre credits included The Apple Tree, Cabaret (replacing Bert Convy as Cliff), and Here's Where I Belong. In 1966, he appeared as the title character in the original Broadway production of Fiddler on the Roof, co-starring with Herschel Bernardi, Maria Karnilova, Julia Migenes, Leonard Frey, and Pia Zadora.

Kercheval gained his first television role, playing the part of Dr. Nick Hunter number one on Search for Tomorrow in 1966. His later soap-opera roles were in The Secret Storm and How to Survive a Marriage. His film credits include The Seven-Ups with Roy Scheider and Tony LoBianco plus F.I.S.T. with Sylvester Stallone. In 1976, he co-starred in two episodes of The Adams Chronicles as James Madison.

Kercheval is best known for having played J.R.'s nemesis Cliff Barnes on the CBS television series Dallas. He starred in the show from 1978 to 1991, from its pilot episode to the series finale. He initially was cast as Ray Krebbs before being given the role of Cliff Barnes. Kercheval and Larry Hagman were the only Dallas cast members to stay with the series throughout its entire run, although Kercheval's character was only a recurring character during the first two seasons. He became a regular cast member in the 1979–1980 season. Kercheval reprised the role of Cliff Barnes in the 1996 Dallas reunion, J. R. Returns, and he appeared in the 2004 CBS reunion special. He again reprised the role in the Dallas (2012) series.

Onstage with Nancy Kelly in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1963)

In the 1980s, he made numerous appearances on Super Password and The $25,000 Pyramid. In 1991, he appeared in the reunion movie, I Still Dream of Jeannie, playing Mr. Simpson, a guidance counselor at Anthony Nelson Jr.'s high school and was the temporary master for Anthony Jr.'s mother, Jeannie (Barbara Eden); this was because Larry Hagman, who played Tony Nelson, was not available to reprise his role, as he had not yet finished his run on Dallas – the irony being that I Dream of Jeannie was Hagman's first major series, and the actors' respective Dallas characters despised each other. He also appeared as a ballroom dance teacher in the independent film California Casanova.

In 2006, Kercheval appeared in the musical White Christmas at Southampton's Mayflower Theatre and Plymouth's Theatre Royal as the General. In 2007, he reprised his role at the Edinburgh Playhouse and the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff. He reprised his role in Sunderland in 2010 and at The Lowry in Salford Quay with Coronation Street actor Wendi Peters and Brookside regular Claire Sweeney from November 2012 until January 2013.

In 1985, Kercheval became a partner in the Old Capital Popcorn Company. The business thrived at first, but the partnership soured in 1988. The financial issues and other conflicts led to a 1989 armed rampage and suicide on the Dallas set by one of the partners.

Personal life and death

A lifelong smoker, Kercheval was a lung cancer survivor after having had part of his lung removed in 1994. Kercheval was married and divorced three times and had five children. As of 2012, he had six grandchildren.

In later years, he spent the majority of his time near his family in Clinton, IN, where he enjoyed attending local fairs and festivals.

Kercheval died of pneumonia on April 21, 2019, at the age of 83. He is buried in Pisgah Cemetery in Vermillion County with a small cemetery marker to reference his grave. No memorial, plaque or gravestone has been erected by family, colleagues, or fans.

Filmography

References

  1. ^ Brogan, Daniel (July 5, 1987). "With Kercheval As Cliff Barnes, Something Pops". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved August 31, 2010.
  2. ^ Schillaci, Sophie A (August 9, 2012). "Dallas Finale Postmortem: Patrick Duffy on the Shocking Conclusion and What's Next". The Hollywood Reporter. Los Angeles. Retrieved August 28, 2012.
  3. ^ Barnes, Mike; Byrge, Duane (April 24, 2019). "Ken Kercheval, J.R. Archrival Cliff Barnes on Dallas, Dies at 83". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved April 24, 2019.
  4. "Ken Kercheval: Biography". MSN Movies. Archived from the original on December 3, 2013. Retrieved November 24, 2013.
  5. Keck, William (September 19, 2011). "Keck's Exclusives: Details on Ken Kercheval's Return to Dallas". TV Guide. Retrieved May 18, 2011.
  6. Wilkinson, Tracy; Sahagun, Louis (July 20, 1989). "Studio Shooting Blamed on Business Deal". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 18, 2012.
  7. Yang, Rachel (April 24, 2019). "Ken Kercheval, Cliff Barnes on 'Dallas,' Dies at 83". Variety. Retrieved April 24, 2019.
  8. Kercheval, Ken (August 15, 1994). "Where There's Smoke". People. Retrieved July 15, 2021.
  9. "Ken Kercheval, actor who found fame as JR Ewing's rival Cliff Barnes in Dallas – obituary". The Daily Telegraph. London. April 24, 2019. Retrieved April 24, 2019.

External links

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