Fans of classic television received a treat at the 17th Fan Expo when perennial favourites Barbara Eden and Larry Hagman spent an hour taking questions from the crowd. The discussion was a lively one, covering such topics as working with Lucille Ball, Beware! The Blob, and meeting little old ladies who were unintentionally armed.
The Jeannie Costume
One of the first questions from the floor concerned Eden's real life pregnancy and how the makers of I Dream of Jeannie hid it.
"They didn't hide it," Eden recalled. "They just added veils—I looked like a walking tent."
She surprised much of the Fan Expo audience when she revealed that she did not keep any of the original Jeannie costumes from the show. "But I have one from a Lexus commercial I did," she added. "They copied it perfectly, and I’m really happy to have that one."
What the actress did keep from the show also caught some of the attendees by surprise. "I kept the bottle, but it’s now on its way to the Smithsonian."
Who Shot J.R.?
Larry Hagman rarely meets fans without the subject of J.R. coming up, and the Fan Expo session was no exception. The actor said that people loved J.R. Ewing, but he did have one encounter with a fan that was truly unforgettable.
"One time, my wife and I were having lunch. I saw a lady, about 80 years old, who got on her walker, and started towards me. I was expecting to have to sign an autograph for her. Instead, she said, 'You rascal, you treat Sue Ellen like a slave,' and hit me with her handbag, knocked me off my chair.
"Then she said, 'Oh my goodness, my late husband left me this .38 revolver, and I didn't know I had it. I took the wrong bag.' That taught me never to trust 80-year-old ladies."
A fan asked when the Dallas star found out who shot J.R., to which Hagman responded, "When it came on TV. It was Mary Crosby, Bing Crosby’s daughter. I’m the godfather of her two boys...gave her away at her wedding, too."
The Silent Treatment
For those who had heard about Larry Hagman’s odd silent ritual, the actor explained it was “silent fasting,” something he did for years when he was working regularly. It started when he shot a rodeo scene where he rode a bucking horse. Because of the horse's wild movements, the air was filled with dirt and bits of horse pucky, which he breathed in.
"The next day, I couldn't speak. Fortunately, it was a Saturday, so I just saw a doctor about it. The doctor told me not to speak for the weekend, and it was exhilarating. So I spent one day [each week] for 20 years resting my voice."
He added, "You should give it a try. But tell your family that you're doing it first or they'll think you're nuts."
Hagman also talked a bit about the new Dallas. "I did the pilot and then nine more [episodes]. Patrick Duffy and Linda Gray are coming back." The newcomers would include the children of J.R. and Bobby Ewing.
Early Work
One audience member asked Barbara Eden if she worked with Lucille Ball. "I was on I Love Lucy," the actress confirmed. "It was my third Hollywood job. It was one of her last shows, the Lucy and Desi show.
"They had bought RKO Studios, but I had already signed with 20th Century Fox," she added to explain why she did not continue working with Ball.
For Hagman, one of his early movie roles was in 1964's Fail-Safe. "I was doing a play and [Director] Sidney Lumet came backstage and showed me the book [Fail-Safe]. He thought of me as the interpreter for the President and said the part was mine if I wanted it. Well, I read the book and said I wanted to do it. And that was how I auditioned for it. I spent a month in a bomb shelter with Henry Fonda."
Another early project for Hagman was 1972's Beware! The Blob, which he directed. "I stopped actors and actresses on the beach," recalled Hagman about the casting. "I asked Burgess Meredith over, got him tanked, and asked, 'Do you want to get eaten by the Blob?'
"It’s become a cult film," the Dallas star added, "for really deranged people."
Personal Favourites
Asked to name their favourite Jeannie episodes, Barbara Eden said, "For me, it was the pilot. We were freezing. They always film these things in the winter."
Larry Hagman replied, "I like the Djinn Djinn. It was an invisible dog that used to shred my clothes off."
"I have a Labradoodle that my husband insisted on calling Djinn Djinn," Eden revealed. "And I told him, ‘You don’t understand—this was a nasty dog.’"
Starting Out in Acting
About his very first role, Hagman recalled, "I was five years old. I played the woodsman in Red Riding Hood. I was so excited, I balanced the axe on my nose—not in the script. After the show, every kid got a Hershey's chocolate bar except me. And that taught me a lesson—never take a part with an axe."
Eden's start in acting took a different path. "I studied singing at the Conservatory of San Francisco. My mother heard a song I was learning and said, 'You hit every note you’re supposed to, but you don’t mean a word of it. Why don’t you try acting?' So I did, and I really liked it."
The Next Generation
As for children following in their famous parents' footsteps, Larry Hagman told the Fan Expo crowd, "Caroll [O'Connor] gave my daughter a job on All in the Family. She was on 15 times and then said, 'Never again.'
"I gave my son a job, and he kept blowing his lines. I was directing him and didn’t say anything, but eventually someone told him he was blowing the lines and asked if he knew them. My son said he knew the lines but that he was massaging Sheree Wilson in the scene and he wanted to keep doing it. My son’s pretty smart…he takes after me."
The session came to a close at that point, and the two stars departed from the auditorium, ushered by the applause of their adoring fans.
For more on Fan Expo 2011, please see the following:
Lee Majors: a Storyteller and a Gentleman
William Shatner: Still Going Strong
I Dream of Jeannie Stars Delight Fan Expo Crowd.
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