30 Facts About Cliff Barnes

Cliff Barnes is one of only two characters, along with JR Ewing, to appear throughout the entire original run of the series.

However, in the final season, with the help of Carter McKay, Cliff Barnes finally bested JR and took over Ewing Oil.

Cliff Barnes had a close relationship with his sister Pamela and resented her marriage to Bobby Ewing, JR's younger brother.

When Dallas began, Cliff Barnes worked for the state of Texas and had built a reputation as an effective investigator of corruption within the independent oil companies.

Penny had become pregnant by Cliff Barnes but refused to have the baby due to her recent admission to law school.

Cliff Barnes reluctantly honored her wishes, but she died during the operation due to the incompetence of the abortion doctor.

The ploy succeeded: Cliff Barnes resigned to run, but the funding dried up soon after, forcing him to drop out of the race.

Cliff Barnes had an affair with JR's wife, Sue Ellen, during the second season.

When Sue Ellen became pregnant, Cliff Barnes was believed to be the father.

Later, it was revealed that Cliff Barnes was a carrier of neurofibromatosis, a genetic disorder he inherited from his father, Digger.

Cliff Barnes later led the prosecution of Jock Ewing for a 30-year-old murder, but the case was dismissed after Digger confessed to the crime on his deathbed.

In season four, Cliff Barnes's estranged mother, Rebecca Wentworth, returned to his life.

Cliff Barnes eventually forgave her for abandoning him, particularly after discovering her wealth and influence.

Cliff Barnes initially performed well, but later squandered company funds on a bogus deal orchestrated by JR Rebecca fired him, and shortly thereafter Sue Ellen remarried JR, leading Cliff Barnes to attempt suicide.

Cliff Barnes turned the company into a major success and was named "Oil Man of the Year" at the Oil Baron's Ball.

Cliff Barnes later entered a relationship with aspiring singer Afton Cooper, sister of Lucy Ewing's husband Mitch Cooper.

In 1985, Cliff Barnes married Jamie Ewing, daughter of Jason Ewing and cousin to JR and Bobby.

In reality, Jamie and Cliff Barnes never found happiness; she left him in late 1986, and the couple was heading for divorce when she died in a mountain climbing accident.

Cliff Barnes eventually realized his long-held dream of acquiring a share in Ewing Oil and briefly enjoyed a good working and personal relationship with Bobby, while JR was temporarily sidelined.

Cliff Barnes, meanwhile, wore cheap suits, lived in a modest condominium, ate takeout Chinese food, and expected his romantic partners to clean his apartment.

Cliff Barnes appears in the 1996 film Dallas: JR Returns, where, after spending five years at Ewing Oil, he decides he is done with the oil business and looks to sell his shares.

Cliff Barnes initially makes a deal with WestStar head Carter McKay, but ultimately sells the company to Bobby and Sue Ellen.

Cliff Barnes reappears in the 2012 continuation of the series, which is set 20 years after the original series concluded and ignores the events of the two 1990s TV movies.

At the start of the 2012 series, Cliff Barnes is involved in a casino business.

JR interrupts the meeting and warns Cliff Barnes against trying to buy the Ewing family home.

Cliff Barnes later invites his adoptive nephew, Christopher, and his new wife, Rebecca, to dinner and offers to invest in Christopher's energy project.

Cliff Barnes warns him not to let the Ewings destroy him as they did his adoptive mother, Pamela.

Cliff Barnes is imprisoned in Mexico, charged with the murder of JR Ewing.

Cliff Barnes's father died in his efforts to find oil on the barren land, and her brother turned to drug trafficking to buy it back.

Cliff Barnes is revealed to be behind Pamela's initial scheme to con Christopher.