Main cast departures

By the end of the series, only three of the series' original characters (J.R., Bobby, and Cliff) were left in Dallas, the others having either died or left town.
Jock Ewing was the first main character to depart the series, as he died offscreen in a mysterious plane accident in South America, early in season five. Actor Jim Davis had died mid-season in 1981, but remained credited throughout season four.
Bobby Ewing's death in the season eight finale, alongside his subsequent absence during the following season, was explained away at the beginning of season ten as a dream of Pamela Barnes Ewing, thus effectively erasing everything that had happened during season nine. Actor Patrick Duffy had left the series to pursue other opportunities, but due to declining ratings, he was convinced to return to the series by production company Lorimar as well as series star Larry Hagman.^[7]
Jack Ewing left Dallas to continue his travels and get away from J.R., midway through season ten, and returned a final time for two episodes towards the end of the season. While there has been no official reason why actor Dack Rambo was written out of the series, Rambo himself later stated the reasons to be his sexual orientation and/or conflicts with Larry Hagman.^[8][9] Hagman has since denied any involvement in Rambo's dismissal.^[10]
Pamela Barnes Ewing was severely injured in a car accident in the tenth season finale in 1987, and left Bobby and Christopher due to her apparent inability to let them see her in such a physically disfigured fashion. Nevertheless, while Victoria Principal never returned again to the series, Margaret Michaels, a Principal look-alike, played the character in a season 12 episode. Having undergone plastic surgery which explained the difference in her appearance, it was revealed that Pam was dying of a disease, though only she and her doctor knew. After this, Pam is never seen in Dallas again. Unable to reach a salary agreement,^[11] it was Principal's own decision to not renew her Dallas contract.^[12][13]
Budget cuts also meant other longterm castmembers were let go.^[11] In addition to the departure of Pam Ewing, Donna Culver Krebbs and Ray Krebbs divorced at the end of season ten, and Donna moved to Washington, D.C. where she married Senator Andrew Dowling (guest star Jim McMullan), with whom she raised Ray's daughter Margaret. Actress Susan Howard stated in 1987 that the producers had told her that her character had run its course.^[13][14] A year later Ray sold his ranch to Carter McKay and left Dallas with his new wife Jenna Wade and Jenna's children Charlie and Lucas (the latter fathered by Bobby), bound for Switzerland. Ray returned for five episodes in the beginning of the 12th season.
Lucy Ewing, who had left with husband Mitch at the end of the eighth season, returned to Southfork in the final episodes of season eleven, only to leave again two years later, heading for Europe. At both times, the firing of actress Charlene Tilton was a decision made by the creative team, which had difficulties creating storylines for her.^[10]
Sue Ellen Ewing left in the season twelve finale, to move to London with her new husband, film director Don Lockwood (guest star Ian McShane). While actress Linda Gray was let go by the same budget costs that ended Steve Kanaly's run on the show,^[10] Sue Ellen's exit has since been described by Gray as a mutual decision by her and Leonard Katzman, agreeing that the character "had come more than full circle".^[15]
Stephanie Rogers was let go as Cliff's PR representative at the end of season 13 and subsequently left Dallas, making actress Lesley-Anne Down the most short-lived member of the regular cast, lasting only 13 episodes.
Barbara Bel Geddes' health had caused her to miss almost half of the seventh season, and after the season finale, she left the series entirely, with the role of Miss Ellie recast with Donna Reed for season eight.^[16] Bel Geddes was asked to return the following year in a high-profile public relations debacle that left Reed infuriated and in litigation with the series producers, who made her a $1 million out-of-court settlement.^[17] Miss Ellie remained on the show until season thirteen when she and Clayton left Dallas, traveling and eventually settling in Europe, near Ray and Jenna. Following her exit from Dallas in 1990, Bel Geddes retired from acting.
When the final, fourteenth season of the series commenced, ten actors received regular cast status. Although half of them would leave the show prior to the series finale, all of them remained billed in the series' opening sequence throughout the year. Clayton Farlow made four appearances, clearing up business that included deeding Southfork to Bobby; April Stevens Ewing died early on in the season while kidnapped on her honeymoon by the psychotic Hilary Taylor (guest star Susan Lucci); Cally Harper Ewing left Dallas midway through the season to build a new life away from the Ewings, with a new boyfriend, and her and J.R.'s newborn boy; Liz Adams broke her engagement to Cliff and left Dallas near the end of the season, and James Beaumont left the show a couple of episodes prior to the series finale, to start a new life on the east coast with his newly discovered toddler son Jimmy, and Jimmy's mother Debra Lynn (guest star Deborah Tucker).
As the series concluded, Carter McKay stayed put at WestStar, as powerful as ever; Michelle Stevens was left heartbroken and humiliated, all alone in the ranch she had bought from McKay hoping to live there with James; Cliff Barnes was once and for all the sole owner of Ewing Oil; and Bobby Ewing, now owner of Southfork, was finally able to find closure after April's death. J. R. Ewing, however, having lost both Ewing Oil and Southfork, as well as being abandoned by his sons, was at the end of his rope; the series ended with the unanswered question whether or not he had killed himself.