Dallas
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Many people often get associated with one role during their career, especially if it happens to be on a long-running series. In the case of Charlene Tilton, she starred in the hit series “Dallas” for many years, but also had many roles outside of the series. Now in her 60s, Tilton might be years removed from her “Dallas” days, but fans are able to instantly recognize her for her memorable role, amongst others.
Tilton was born on December 1, 1958 in San Diego, California and moved just slightly up the Pacific coast as a youngster to Los Angeles. “I was a latchkey kid,” Tilton said of her childhood. “I ran up and down the streets of Hollywood...Before school everyday, I would stand by the gates and I would look who’s coming in there. I would just always look and dream. I want to be past that gate. I want to be inside that studio.” This would end up helping Tilton to start landing her first roles. As a teenager, Tilton had experience in acting, and it translated into her ability to land screen roles.
1976 would be the first time that a lot of people were introduced to the young Tilton. Not only did she appear in an episode of the hit series “Happy Days”, but she also had a role in the film “Freaky Friday”. The following year, Tilton had a guest spot on “Eight is Enough”, and then followed this up with film roles such as “Sweater Girls” and “Big Wednesday”.
Then, in 1978, Tilton would have the biggest role of her career. She starred as Lucy Ewing Cooper on the hit series “Dallas”, remaining with the show for her initial run from 1978 to 1985, returning during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Overall, Tilton appeared in nearly 250 episodes, winning several awards along the way.
“It opened up a whole new life for me,” Tilton said of her role in “Dallas”. “I was able to travel the world because of the show and meet thousands of wonderful fans. A kid like me doesn’t get opportunities like that. I still cry thinking about it. Of course, there have been a lot of struggles as well, but that’s life, isn’t it?”
As “Dallas” was taking much of Tilton’s time during the 1980s, she didn’t have many other television roles, but did make some guest starring appearances on shows like “The Love Boat” and “Murder, She Wrote”. During the 1990s, Tilton added several television films, and also had big screen appearances in movies like “Problem Child 2”, “Law at Randado” and “The Silence of the Hams”.
Tilton went the comedy route in film for the first decade of the new millennium, appearing in the movies “Totally Blonde”, “Superhero Movie” and “Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star”. She also added more TV movies to her resume, including “Bar Hopping” and “Point of Entry”. During the 2010s, Tilton returned to the “Dallas” scene when she re-appeared as her famous character in the show’s revival, appearing in a half dozen episodes for her most recent TV role. On the big screen, Tilton has also been involved with recent films such as “Lucky Dog”, “Hemingway” and 2017’s “Vengeance: A Love Story” with Nicolas Cage.
It’s been a fine career for Tilton, who has been able to look back on her career. “You have to have a strong sense of self in this business,” she said. “Otherwise they’re going to spit you out.” She hasn’t had many recent roles, but a lot of that is by choice. “I haven’t really focused so much on getting acting work,” Tilton said.
Talking about her most famous role from “Dallas”, Tilton said that it was “an amazing opportunity,” adding that when she read the description of the role, she said “‘That’s my part.’ I clicked with this character.” She said that a lot of the success came from the chemistry not just between the characters on “Dallas”, but the actors themselves.
“It was something that we had off screen,” Tilton said. “And you can’t buy it. You can’t bottle it. It’s just a rare gift when that happens. And we had it. And we became a family pretty instantaneously when we all met. I think that played a very big part. I also feel like the storylines at that point and time - it was the 1980s. There was a lot of money and family drama and things like that. They were great scripts, great acting.”
Even decades removed from her initial run in “Dallas”, Tilton retains the type of spark that her character showed. “I find life to be very exciting,” she said. “But I always have. The words ‘I’m bored’ have never come out of my mouth. I don’t understand when someone says, ‘I’m so bored.’ That just does not compute to my brain. I don’t know how people utter those words. I can go outside and say, ‘Oh my God, there is a cardinal sitting outside of my window.’ I find people and life fascinating and exciting and unpredictable for sure.”
“I had a lot of days with really dark times and that were really challenging,” she continued. “There were times when I didn’t want to get out of bed. Things had happened, but I have also had some really blessed days and some really good days. Even on the darkest and most challenging days the one that I will say is life is exciting no matter what it brings...I was not blessed with long legs, but I was blessed with the ability to see the irony in situations and the good in them - even the most dire situations - and a really gosh darn positive attitude. It’s a gift God has given me, and it has served me well in life.”
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