Morgan Fairchild Recalls “Dallas ”Producers Sending Actors to Her and Larry Hagman to Learn the ‘Texican’ Accent

Victoria EdelSun, July 26, 2026 at 10:58 AM UTC

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Morgan Fairchild on ‘Flamingo Road’ (left); Larry Hagman on ‘Dallas’ (right)Credit: Kobal/Shutterstock; CBS via Getty -

Morgan Fairchild reflected on her memories of working with Larry Hagman on Dallas

The pair were the only two actors from Texas, so the producers sent the other actors to them to learn the “Texican” way of speaking

Fairchild is also known for her roles in Flamingo Road and Friends

Morgan Fairchild and Larry Hagman were two of the only real Texans on Dallas.

Fairchild, 76, recently opened up about working with Hagman on an episode of Dallas in an interview with Remind Magazine. While Fairchild is best known for her role on NBC’s Flamingo Road, which aired for two seasons in the early ‘80s, before the soap opera, she appeared in a single episode of Dallas as Jenna Wade.

The show, which premiered in 1978, followed the feuding Ewing family, who made their money from Texas oil. Hagman, who died in 2012 at the age of 81, starred as J.R., the show’s breakout character known for his ego, manipulation and willingness to do anything to get a deal done.

Despite her short stint on the series, Fairchild still remembers her time working with Hagman.

“I remember when we were shooting the episode because some of the actors were not doing real Texas accents. They were kind of doing Southern accents,” she recalled.

Patrick Duffy (left) and Larry Hagman in ‘Dallas’Credit: CBS via Getty

Dallas-born Fairchild noted that she and Hagman, who was originally from Fort Worth, were the “only two native Texans on set.”

“So, the producers said, ‘Why don’t you go over and talk to Morgan or Larry and get the accent right?’ ” she remembered. “So, some of the actors would come up with their scripts and say, ‘Can you just say these lines in Texican so I can hear what it should sound like?’ Larry and I always laughed about that ‘Texican.’ ”

Hagman, she said, was “a real sweetheart,” unlike his TV alter ego. She remembered doing charity events with him and Willie Nelson. “Larry would always show up in the Stetson and packs of $100 bills of ‘Larry’ money. But he was always great fun, such a sweet, nice guy,” she said.

Fairchild only appeared in one episode as Jenna. While she was asked back after Flamingo Road went off the air, she turned down the full-time role for a different opportunity.

“At that point, I had a development deal for a show of my own that I would be a producer on,” she said. “So I decided not to do Dallas.”

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She noted that, by that point, Dallas had already been on air for a while.

“In your mind, you’re thinking, ‘Do I get to be a producer of my own show or go into a show that maybe it’s going to run another year or two?’ Who knew it was going to go on forever?” she said with a laugh.

Morgan Fairchild (left) and Fernando Allende on ‘Flamingo Road’Credit: NBCU Photo Bank

Dallas ultimately ran for 14 seasons, ending in 1991. “Maybe I would have just dumped mine and done it because mine ended up not panning out. But who knew?”

Francine Tacker stepped in as Jenna Wade in 1980, but when the character returned for good in 1983, she was played by Priscilla Presley, who continued to play the role until 1988.

Fairchild later appeared on Falcon Crest, which ran from 1985 to 1986. She received a Primetime Emmy nomination for her guest role on Murphy Brown and continued to work widely as a guest star, including on Roseanne and Two and a Half Men. She also appeared on Friends as the mother of Matthew Perry‘s Chandler Bing.

Earlier this month, Fairchild spoke to PEOPLE about some of her memories from starring with Perry on Friends.

“My first day on the set, the show was not a big hit yet, but they offered me the part. And I thought the show had potential and, God, I was right,” she said.

“He came bounding over to me like this big puppy dog that he is and he said, ‘Oh, you won’t remember me, but I used to hang out with you on the set of Flamingo Road and Falcon Crest with my dad,’ “ Fairchild said of Perry, who died in 2023 at 54 years old. “I said, ‘Oh, who’s your dad?’ He said, ‘John Bennett Perry,’ who had a recurring part as a sheriff on both of those shows.”

She remembered, “I said, ‘Oh my God, you were that kid?’ because I had to make a decision to play the mother of an adult kid, then I’m suddenly thinking, I guess I could be the mother of this kid. He was hanging out on the set with me.”

Fairchild ultimately appeared in five episodes of the show. Most recently, she appeared on General Hospital and in 2023’s Ladies of the ‘80s: A Divas Christmas.

on People

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