Posted By: Charm2017 JR Ewing dies of Oral cancer - 11-24-2012 08:30 PM
For the TV show Dallas fans, JR Ewing played by Larry Hagman was something else. We even watched the remake this year and Hagman looked great for 80 and I did not have a clue that at the time he was recovering from both radiation & chemotherapy for oral cancer..
Today's papers and web sites all say he died Friday at 81 of "throat cancer" complications. It took a couple of Google searches to find an article last year in a Texas magazine that quoted Hagman as saying he had the same cancer as Michael Douglas but that" Mike's was Stage IV and mine only Stage II".
It gets confusing to see "throat cancer" for base of tongue cancer since I always think of esophageal cancer when I hear throat cancer. But the newspapers all listed Michael Douglas as having throat cancer so I'm learning that they are using it as a general label like oral cancer.

For those younger members of OCF , in 1980, Dallas became a mega-hit with the "Who Shot J.R.?" plot line that left Americans guessing who pulled the trigger.
The answer came on November 21, 1980, in an episode dubbed "Who Done It?." More than 350 million viewers tuned in around the world to find out Kristen Shepherd, the sister of J.R.'s wife, shot him. It remains one of the most watched television episodes in history.

I'll miss my favorite villian. Another casualty of this cancer
Charm
Posted By: AnitaFrances Re: JR Ewing dies of Oral cancer - 11-24-2012 08:44 PM
Thanks for investigating, Charm. So sad. I remember where I was when "Who Shot JR?" was aired. I had a three year old and an infant and my husband and I were out on a "date". We were having dinner with a large group of friends. At the cueing of the opening music, a bunch of us rushed into the bar to watch the episode on the TV on the wall. You could have heard a pin drop as we all stood around captivated by the story.

Hagman was so good as the villainous J.R. Do you remember that the whole Dallas story line was a dream that Bobby Ewing had? That was the second wow factor in that series. To this day, I can name each of the characters and I often see some of them in other tv movies.

Some great memories.

Posted By: klo Re: JR Ewing dies of Oral cancer - 11-25-2012 01:30 AM
My fondest memory of Larry Hagman was in "I dream of Jeannie" (sp)
Loved that show as a kid
Posted By: davidcpa Re: JR Ewing dies of Oral cancer - 11-25-2012 02:23 PM
Charm,

I thought Douglas' cancer was HPV+? I have never heard of a Stage II HPV+ Dx. I mean it's possible of course but almost all HPV+ SCC presentations invlove a node or 2 as that's the first sign we all have that somethings wrong.
Posted By: Charm2017 Re: JR Ewing dies of Oral cancer - 11-25-2012 03:13 PM
David

The snippet of an interview did not mention HPV status at all. Since Hagman was an ex-smoker and also headed up the Great American Smoke-Out for years, it seems likely his cancer was smoking related so no conflict with your HPV statistics.
The quote I mentioned just dealt with the type of cancer: "throat "cancer and not the etiology. I have not seen even a hint that HPV was involved in Hagman's cancer.

Bear in mind that I do not have any insight into what type of cancer Hagman had except for what I read online. Almost all the newspaper articles noted that Hagman declined to specify what type of cancer he had, purportedly due to potential issues with the insurance requirements for Hagman in doing the TNT reboot of Dallas. Until the obituary announcements of throat cancer this weekend, the one Texas magazine quote was the only one I could find even obliquely mentioning the type of cancer. Hagman would only say it was "quite common and easily treatable" which most people took to mean prostate cancer. Had he said throat cancer or if he had base of tongue cancer like Michael Douglas, the poor survival rates might have put his participation in the rebooted Dallas at risk. As Hagman also had a major drinking life style, which required a liver transplant, it's quite likely that the combination of years and years of smoking and alcohol caught up to him.

Still, I'm glad you posted because it lets me add a post script to Hagman's life from the last phrase in his Washington Post obituary:
[quote]He flew a flag from his deck declaring that Vita celebratio est - Life is a celebration.
[/quote]
He was a good soul and will be missed
Charm
Posted By: David2 Re: JR Ewing dies of Oral cancer - 11-25-2012 10:53 PM
Oh man, Charm.... you gave away who shot J.R.! Totally ruined it for me!

(seriously, he seemed like a good guy who loved life. I never watched Dallas but like Klo remember him from Jeannie)
Posted By: davidcpa Re: JR Ewing dies of Oral cancer - 11-26-2012 01:33 PM
I Dream of Jeannie...he was good but she was UNBELIEVABLE!
Posted By: debandbill Re: JR Ewing dies of Oral cancer - 11-26-2012 05:33 PM
David, step away from the oil lamp...
Posted By: Ed H Re: JR Ewing dies of Oral cancer - 12-02-2012 10:23 PM
Does anyone happen to know if Michael Douglas has spoken out about his cancer or assumed any kind of a public role relative to it, e.g. educating others, speaking to cancer groups, being interviewed about it, promoting prevention or detection?

Am just curious; he certainly is in a position to help re: oral cancer should he be comfortable doing so.
Posted By: Charm2017 Re: JR Ewing dies of Oral cancer - 12-02-2012 10:34 PM
Ed

Glad to report that indeed Michael Douglas has not only spoken out, but he partnered with OCF (Way to go Brian)
Take a look at this thread for all the info
MD and OCF
Here is the link in that thread directly to his You tube video
MD You tube
Charm
Posted By: PaulB Re: JR Ewing dies of Oral cancer - 12-03-2012 12:46 AM
Someone on another blog, said Michael Douglas personally called him during his treatment recently for oral/orpharyngeal cancer, somehow made through with his sister in law.
© Oral Cancer Support - Survivor / Patient Forum