Clayton Farlow is a fictional character in the popular American television series ''
Dallas
Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...
'', played by
Howard Keel
Harold Clifford Keel (April 13, 1919November 7, 2004), known professionally as Howard Keel, was an American actor and singer, known for his rich bass-baritone singing voice. He starred in a number of MGM musicals in the 1950s and in the CBS te ...
from 1981 to 1991.
Background
Clayton Farlow, along with his sister
Jessica (
Alexis Smith
Margaret Alexis Fitzsimmons-Smith (June 8, 1921 – June 9, 1993) was a Canadian-born American actress and singer. She appeared in several major Hollywood films in the 1940s and had a notable career on Broadway in the 1970s, winning a Tony Awar ...
), was raised on the Southern Cross Ranch (Co-ordinates: 32°43'N 96°30'W
) in
San Angelo, Texas
San Angelo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Tom Green County, Texas, United States. Its location is in the Concho Valley, a region of West Texas between the Permian Basin to the northwest, Chihuahuan Desert to the southwest, Osage Plai ...
. Clayton and Jessica's father was described as a "big man that liked the oil business, but ranching was his real love". Clayton's father took him to his first cattle auction when he was six years old and began teaching him ranching and the oil business. Like his father, Clayton became a successful oilman and rancher. Jessica was wild in her teenage years and developed a serious violent mental condition. She gave birth to a son
Steven "Dusty" Farlow (
Jared Martin
Jared Christopher Martin (December 21, 1941 – May 24, 2017) was an American film and television actor. He was best known for his role as Steven "Dusty" Farlow in the 1978 series ''Dallas'' and for roles on two science fiction TV series, ''The ...
) in
London, England
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major s ...
. Clayton and his new wife, Amy, became Steven's legal parents when they listed themselves on Steven's birth certificate, while Jessica married an English lord and remained in
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
. Clayton and Amy returned to Texas with Steven. Jessica, thinking Amy wanted to replace her as Steven's mother, set the house on fire while Amy was sick in bed - and Clayton was in Galveston on business with his oil refineries. Clayton returned home too late to save Amy. Steven, who was nicknamed Dusty, showed no interest in the oil business or the ranch, choosing instead to become a rodeo star. Steven (Dusty) Farlow met
Sue Ellen Ewing
Sue Ellen Ewing is a fictional character and one of the female leads in the CBS primetime soap opera ''Dallas''. Sue Ellen was portrayed by Linda Gray and appeared on the show since its pilot episode, first broadcast on April 2, 1978. ''Dallas' ...
at the
Ewing Rodeo, and they soon began an affair. When Dusty was on a private flight to Fort Worth to meet Sue Ellen, his plane crashed. He survived and recovered at a home in Denton.
Storylines
Clayton was helping Dusty recover from his plane accident when he first met
Sue Ellen Ewing
Sue Ellen Ewing is a fictional character and one of the female leads in the CBS primetime soap opera ''Dallas''. Sue Ellen was portrayed by Linda Gray and appeared on the show since its pilot episode, first broadcast on April 2, 1978. ''Dallas' ...
(
Linda Gray
Linda Ann Gray (born September 12, 1940) is an American film, stage and television actress, director, producer and former model, best known for her role as Sue Ellen Ewing, the long-suffering wife of Larry Hagman's character J.R. Ewing on the C ...
) and the rest of the Ewing family; Sue Ellen found Dusty after he secretly put up her bail when she was accused of shooting her husband,
J.R. (
Larry Hagman
Larry Martin Hagman (September 21, 1931 – November 23, 2012) was an American film and television actor, director, and producer, best known for playing ruthless oil baron J. R. Ewing in the 1978–1991 primetime television soap opera, ''Dal ...
). Sue Ellen filed for a divorce, taking their son
John Ross with her to Southern Cross. When he found out,
Jock (
Jim Davis) was furious and told J.R. that he wanted John Ross back on
Southfork no matter what. After failed attempts to get John Ross back, J.R., with Jock's full support, bought all of the oil that went into Clayton's refineries. J.R. agreed to give it back if Clayton kicked Sue Ellen off the Southern Cross. Clayton refused, but Sue Ellen left on her own, returning to Dallas, and eventually remarried J.R. and moved back to Southfork. The oil was sold back to him by
Miss Ellie (
Barbara Bel Geddes
Barbara Bel Geddes (October 31, 1922 – August 8, 2005) was an American stage and screen actress, artist, and children's author whose career spanned almost five decades. She was best known for her starring role as Miss Ellie Ewing in the t ...
), and they became friends. During this time, Clayton became romantically attracted to Sue Ellen and defended her against J.R.
Later, after Jock was killed in a helicopter crash in
South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...
, Miss Ellie dated and eventually married Clayton. During his courtship of Miss Ellie, Clayton became very jealous of the life Jock had: having sons carry on his legacy in the oil business, a devoted wife, and a big family with sons, daughters-in-law, and grandchildren.
Shortly before her marriage to Clayton, Miss Ellie was kidnapped by Clayton's mentally unstable sister Jessica, who conspired with J.R. to stop the wedding. Clayton and Miss Ellie honeymooned in
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...
, and returned to Southfork, in spite of Clayton's reservations about living in Jock's home and his constant "shadow". To ease his transition, Miss Ellie redecorated Jock and Miss Ellie's bedroom, but Clayton went on business trips to avoid staying at Southfork. Finally, Miss Ellie had J.R. and
Bobby
Bobby or Bobbie may refer to:
People
* Bobby (given name), a list of names
* Bobby (actress), from Bangladesh
* Bobby (rapper) (born 1995), from South Korea
* Bobby (screenwriter) (born 1983), Indian screenwriter
* Bobby, old slang for a constabl ...
(
Patrick Duffy
Patrick Duffy (born March 17, 1949) is an American actor and director widely known for his role on the CBS primetime soap opera ''Dallas'', where he played Bobby Ewing, the youngest son of Miss Ellie, and the nicest brother of J.R. Ewing (pla ...
) move Jock's portrait from the living room at Southfork to
Ewing Oil
The Ewing family is the fictional family of the American prime time soap opera ''Dallas'' and its 2012 revival, as well as the foundation of the spin-off series ''Knots Landing''. In the original series of ''Dallas'', the Ewings own and run So ...
. Clayton became very good friends with his stepson Bobby and Ray, but remained a self-imposed enemy of eldest stepson J.R., getting into many arguments and fights with him. Clayton has a brief infatuation with a young British model named Laurel Ellis (
Annabel Schofield
Annabel or Annabelle may refer to:
Arts and media
* ''Annabel'' (Baum novel), a 1906 novel by L. Frank Baum
* ''Annabel'' (Winter novel), a 2010 novel by Kathleen Winter
* "Annabel", a song by Maria Dimitriadi from the film '' Girls in the Su ...
), mirroring Jock's near-affair with his former secretary
Julie Grey (
Tina Louise
Tina Louise ( Blacker; born February 11, 1934) is an American actress widely known for her role as movie star Ginger Grant in the CBS television situation comedy ''Gilligan's Island''. With the death of Dawn Wells in 2020, Louise became the las ...
), after feeling neglected by Miss Ellie. He also suffered from amnesia and nearly left Miss Ellie until recovering. Clayton sold his refinery businesses to Ewing Oil and at one point began a cutting horse breeding enterprise with Ray.
In 1990, Clayton, unable to live with the shadow of Jock's memory, and Miss Ellie left Southfork to travel extensively. In the final season, he returned to Dallas briefly, without Miss Ellie, to convey sole ownership of Southfork to Bobby, much to the objection of J.R.
Dallas (2012 TV series)
In the updated ''
Dallas
Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...
'' series, Clayton died after a heart attack in 1999. According to the Dallas Facebook page, he died on March 17, 1999.
Trivia
Clayton appeared in nearly every episode after joining the cast full-time in 1984, after a recurring role during the 1981–82 season (semi-replacing the late
Jim Davis as the senior family patriarch), missing 26 episodes altogether (three of these due to Keel's 1986 open-heart surgery) and appearing briefly in the final season.
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Farlow, Clayton
Dallas (TV franchise) characters
Television characters introduced in 1981
Fictional businesspeople