What Happened to Dusty Farlow on ‘Dallas’?

DALLAS, (from left): Linda Gray, Jared Martin, 1978-91. — © Lorimar Television / Courtesy: Everett Collection

When actor Jared Martin died of pancreatic cancer at age 75 in 2017, Dallas fans and costars mourned the loss. He wasn’t a principal actor on the CBS primetime soap, but Martin certainly got a lot of viewer attention in his recurring role as Dusty Farlow, the cowboy who catches the eye of Sue Ellen Ewing (Linda Gray) and the scorn of her husband, J.R. Ewing (Larry Hagman).

And to think Martin was originally going to play Dusty for just three episodes — and not nearly three dozen! See what happened to the character fans called “Lusty Dusty” below.

Jared Martin was originally booked for just three episodes

DALLAS, Jared Martin (ca. 1982), 1978-91.

Everett Collection

In 1979, Martin signed on the dotted line to appear in three episodes of Dallas. Steven “Dusty” Farlow, introduced as Clayton Farrow’s (Howard Keel) adopted son, would be a momentary distraction for Sue Ellen in Season 3.

“They brought Dusty Farlow on to make goo-goo eyes at Sue Ellen, become moderately involved with her, tempt her, and then she basically remembered who she was and went back to J.R.,” Martin said in a fan-site interview, per The Hollywood Reporter.

Toward the end of Season 3, Sue Ellen discovers Dusty died in a plane crash. But that wasn’t the end for the character…

Dusty Farlow came back from the dead in Season 4

Dallas’ third season ended with one of the best-known cliffhangers in television history: “Who shot J.R.?”

And despite Dusty’s apparent demise that season, both viewers and oddsmakers considered him a likely contender for J.R.’s attacker. And suddenly, Dallas producers wanted Martin back on set.

“My agent said, ‘Get ready, they are going to bring you back,’” Martin said in the fan-site interview. “I said, ‘How? I’m dead.’ My agent says, ‘Oh, this is Hollywood, they will think of something.’”

That “something” is that Dusty survived the plane crash but was paralyzed from the waist down. He eventually recovered, and, of course, he and Sue Ellen eventually got back together.

“He was being nursed back to health by an extremely beautiful woman,” Martin said. “That was something America kind of wanted to see at the time; don’t ask me why, but they did. So I came from being very much of an episodic television actor to being part of the most successful and fabulous series ever to have been known to humankind.”

After the Season 10 reset, Dusty returns once more to taunt J.R.

Martin eventually guest-starred in all but one season until Season 9, as Sue Ellen had romantic ups and downs with both Dusty and J.R. The events of the ninth season, however, became null and void with that year’s twist finale, in which Bobby Ewing (Patrick Duffy) is revealed to be alive and all of Season 9 is revealed to have been a dream for Pam Ewing (Victoria Principal).

But Dusty does come back one more time in Season 14’s “The Decline and Fall of the Ewing Empire” to revel in J.R.’s downfall after selling his shares in WestStar Oil to J.R.’s rival Carter McKay (George Kennedy).

“So long, J.R.,” Dusty says. “Give my regards to Sue Ellen. Oh, that’s right. I forgot. She dumped you.”

After Martin’s death, Dallas Decoder blogger Chris Baker raved about Dusty’s presence on Dallas. “Unlike Cliff Barnes [Ken Kercheval], whom J.R. regarded as a nuisance, Dusty was a genuine threat,” Baker wrote. “He was as rich and as handsome as J.R., and his ranch, the Southern Cross, was even mightier than Southfork. Worst of all, Dusty’s daddy Clayton showed him the kind of love and respect that J.R. craved from Jock [Jim Davis] but never got. J.R. didn’t just despise Dusty. He envied him.”

Martin continued working in and out of Hollywood until his death

After that final Dallas appearance, Martin took guest roles in the TV shows Silk Stalkings and L.A. Law. He also acted in the 1995 comedy film Twin Sitters and narrated the 2003 short The Sun Is One Foot Wide.

Martin eventually retired from acting and cofounded the Big Picture Alliance, a nonprofit supporting young filmmakers in Philadelphia. He also worked as a professional painter and photographer. But he made one more Hollywood project, co-directing the 2016 drama film The Congressman, starring Treat Williams.

After his death, Gray mourned the loss on social media. “Rest in peace, dear Jared Martin,” she tweeted. “I have such beautiful memories of working with you as Dusty Farlow on Dallas.”