JR Ewing, the worlds most ruthless oil baron, is now promoting solar power. He has turned his back on black gold and starring in an advert for solar panels.
Almost 20 years after hanging up his trademark 10-gallon hat in the TV drama Dallas, actor Larry Hagman is reprising his most famous role in an advertisement for SolarWorld, a German-based manufacturer of solar panels.
In the ad, JR Ewing says the oil industry has become “too dirty”, prompting a search for another money making opportunity.
“In the past it was always about the oil. The oil was flowing and so was the money,” he says.
“But I’m still in the energy business. There’s always a better alternative,” he adds, gazing up at the roof of his California mansion covered in solar panels and flashing a grin of perfect sparkling teeth.
In real life Hagman, 78, is a keen green. In 2003 his mountaintop home near Santa Barbara, was fitted with the country’s largest residential solar power system in 2003, reportedly cutting the actor’s annual electricity bill from $37,000 (£24,000) to $13.
The panels on his 46 acre estate soak up so much sun that he is frequently able to sell power generated by them back to his local electricity company.
Hagman says he decided to film the 30-second advertisement after becoming angry at the BP oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.
“With all that oil gushing away in the Gulf I figured it was time to call for a new direction in where we’re getting our energy,” he told the New York Times.
“Since Sarah Palin is saying ‘Drill, baby, drill’ I’m saying ‘Shine, baby, shine’. It’s a lot cheaper and cleaner.”
