DECEMBER 2015 PA R K E R C O U N T Y T O D AY
Continued from page 13
Jim Wright (former Weatherford
mayor and Speaker of the House)
was my boxing coach—yes, it’s
true—thank God he wasn’t my
acting coach! He was very good
with me. He taught me how to jab.
The country boys out here were just
taught how to fight. They pummeled
me into the ground several times….
PCT: You won a Golden Gloves
bout or two, didn’t you?
Hagman: I won How to Get
Away… I was good at backpedaling,
and I was good with a jab, but those
kids from the farms, they didn’t know
about jabbing. They were out there
(he swings his arms widely, throwing
air punches) and they just came in
with nine arms and I didn’t know
what to do. I competed at the city,
or the county, competition and I got
about two or three fights and then I
fought the county bootlegger’s son—
who shall not be named--and he
really knew how to throw a punch.
I actually won a fight or two. After
Golden Gloves, no one tried to mess
with me…and I’d found out you’ve
got to be tough to be a young man in
Texas.
PCT: You’ve said that your father,
Weatherford attorney and sole
practitioner Ben Hagman, is your
hero.
Hagman: I came down at 15 and I
didn’t know Dad very well. He taught
me how to hunt and fish and to not
be a lawyer. I saw what he went
through to be a lawyer and I thought,
my God, I don’t want to do that. He
was a lawyer, and my grandfather
was a lawyer and my brother was a
lawyer and it’s too much work.
He had a hundred mason jars
lined up on a table behind his desk.
Folks used to come in to town on
Saturdays and they’d come and drop
in a quarter, or fifty cents. That’s how
they paid their legal bill.
PCT: Was it culture shock,
coming from the east coast to
Weatherford, Texas, back in the
‘40s?
Hagman: Yes, it was…but it was
great, too. We drove the back roads
all over the county. I had a little
1943 blue and yellow Jeep and we
used to load that up with a bunch of
guys and a case of beer and go out
shooting jackrabbits. We used to eat
52
them—absolutely—if you soak them
long enough they’re good to eat.
We went deer hunting, and we
hunted those jack rabbits—they’re
huge. You could hold the feet up at
your shoulder and they’d hang almost
to the ground.
PCT: Would you like to kiss and
tell about any of the girls you knew
at Weatherford High School?
Hagman: Oh, times were so
different then. I went to high school
in 1947, ’48, ’49. You wouldn’t
dare touch a girl…. I do remember
that the girls wore ballerina-looking
clothes, very feminine. They looked
gorgeous.
PCT: Some might be surprised to
know, given your celebrity status,
you’ve remained close to your high
school friends for almost sixty years.
Hagman: I don’t think it’s unusual
at all. You form important ties during
those years. Jerry Newberry—she
did everything for me. She was a
really good friend to me. She and
her mother literally took me in. So
many of those friends are gone
now—Benny and Barbara Grogan, for
example.
Jerry Newberry is here today.*
And Jeanne (Grogan), of course.
Most of my male friends died off
from alcoholism, suicide, stuff like
that. The women seem to have a
stay-ability. I came to my 50th (high
school graduation) anniversary and
they were all women there. There
were two guys—me and another guy.
The guys were rode hard and put up
wet—wet with alcohol, a lot of them.
* Newberry says after her husband
Bill’s death several years ago, Larry
Hagman called her weekly for more
than a year, to check on her and offer
comfort.
PCT: Your grandparents were
important figures in your life. Tell us
about them.
Hagman: My mother’s parents
were Preston and Juanita Martin.
They lived off of Palo Pinto and
the junior high school was on Palo
Pinto—I don’t think the school is
there anymore. He was a lawyer, and
she taught violin. I suppose that’s
where the acting and singing gene
came from…. They had two girls
and a son who died young. After my
grandfather died, my grandmother
and I moved to Los Angeles.
PCT: Your Weatherford years
motivated you to become an actor
and gave you the inspiration for J.R.
Ewing.
Hagman: Yes, I based J.R. on Jess
Hall, Sr. and Jess Hall, Jr. You know
that voice (he growls a husky drawl)
and the confident swagger of a walk.
Jess Hall, Sr. had four sons and he
was a professional wrestler—they all
were. They were a rough bunch, I
mean, they were tough guys.
I worked for them one summer,
digging caliche for swimming pools.
It’s 120 degrees down in that hole
and they used dynamite to break up
that caliche. The smell would give
you a terrible headache. After a few
weeks of that, I called my mother and
said, ‘I want to go into acting.’
PCT: Your family’s motto is:
Don’t worry, be happy, feel good.
What inspired those words to live
by?
Hagman: I took the first part from
a guy named Maher Baba…he’s a
spiritual guy from the Middle East
and his thing was Don’t worry, be
happy. If you have that attitude in
life, you’ll be all right. Of course,
that’s okay if you’re a rich or middleclass American. If you’re starving
in the Middle East, then it’s really
necessary. I added Feel Good to that.
Sometimes I’ll wake up in the
morning and I’ll brush my teeth
and I’ll laugh for a minute—I have
a timer. Try that sometime. If you
just laugh—force it—after fifteen or
twenty seconds, you’ll laugh whether
you want to or not. Try it. It r eally
works and it gives you a positive
attitude for the rest of the day.
PCT: Your wife Maj helped you
find the role of JR Ewing and has
played an important part in your life.
Hagman: Fifty-two years is a
pretty big role to be in someone’s
life. It’s been wonderful—so far (he
laughs).
We met in London years ago.
During the Korean War, I was
appearing with Mother in South
Pacific in London when I got a draft
notice, so I went to the Air Force and
negotiated with them, and signed up.
I served for four years, every bit of it
in London. I fought in the Battle of
Piccadilly.
PCT: It is unexpected for a
star to have been married for
fifty-two years, since 1954, to
the same person. Do you have a
secret formula for your successful