Life Ken Kercheval, who played J.R. Ewing’s rival Cliff Barnes on ‘Dallas,’ dies at age 83 April 24, 2019April 24, 2019Maria Puente, USA TODAYComments Off on Ken Kercheval, who played J.R. Ewing’s rival Cliff Barnes on ‘Dallas,’ dies at age 83 Ken Kercheval, who died in his Indiana hometown on April 21, 2019, was the only actor besides Larry Hagman to appear throughout the run of "Dallas."