Keeled Over

Howard Keel, one-time musical star of stage and screen and later step-patriarch of the Ewing clan on Dallas, has died of colon cancer at the age of 85. The baritone romanced his way through such musicals as “Kiss Me Kate” and “Annie Get Your Gun.” He also was the groom for one of the Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, played the sneaky Indian in The War Wagon, and wrestled with the killer beanstalks in the sci-fi classic The Day of the Triffids. He revived his career in the 1980s as Clayton Farlow, a refinery owner whose ranch, the Southern Cross, provided safe haven to Sue Ellen Ewing against J.R. after her romance with Clayton’s son Dusty foundered when Dusty was paralyzed in a riding accident. (Course, Dusty was only partially paralyzed and later tried to romance Sue Ellen again.) After the creepy May-December romance between Clayton and Sue Ellen fizzled, Clayton befriended and eventually married Sue Ellen’s mother-in-law Eleanor Southworth Ewing, aka Miss Ellie, setting up the expected familial power struggles. Keel provided a strong, decent presence to counter the conniving of J.R. Sadly, Keel died hours before getting to watch the greatest reunion of all time: Dallas Reunion: The Return to Southfork.