Gray's anatomy

No sooner has Linda Gray sat down for the interview than a woman thrusts two Dallas DVDs in front of her and asks her to sign them. She does so willingly and charmingly, even if the photograph of Sue Ellen on the front cover slightly alarms her. "My hair was never like that," she protests.

"That happens all the time," says the California-born actress who played the lip-trembling, booze-sodden, shoulder pad-wearing, on-off wife of nasty JR Ewing in Dallas for 11 years.

No wonder she still gets recognised. The soap about the warring Texas oil rich family was the biggest show in the world, with 350 million people in 57 countries tuning in to find out who shot JR in the series' most famous cliffhanger.

Unlike some TV stars who do their best to shut past successes out of their lives, Gray positively embraces the legacy of Dallas. "How can you dismiss that big a part of your life," she asks. "Dallas brought joy to a lot of people. It's fantastic, so I never dismiss it."

None of the actors had any idea that the Ewing saga was going to be so huge and that phenomenal. Today, nearly 30 years after the series first aired, the obsession with Dallas persists. Gray tells of going with four other cast members to a country music festival in the South of France this year. "It was madness," she says.

"We looked at each other in amazement. It was the kind of phenomenon generated in the Eighties when Dallas was the biggest show in the world. It was amazing."

Gray has packed her bags, left Dallas behind and is heading for York, to star in the world premiere of Terms Of Endearment, a new play based on the book and Oscar-winning film. The Theatre Royal date is the first on a tour taking her to Darlington Civic and nine other theatres around the country until Christmas. A London West End run is the eventual aim.

She's venturing into the unknown, not having heard of many places she's visiting. "They gave me this beautiful tourist brochure of York and it looks fantastic," she says. "I'm so looking forward to it. On a tour you can get an in-depth rather than tourist view of places. The play will be up and running, so we'll have the days off to explore. I call it an adventure."

Anyone expecting Gray to be a carbon copy of Sue Ellen will be disappointed. Everyone told me beforehand how friendly and charming she is. They were right. Not a lip tremble, alcoholic drink (she sipped water) or shoulder pad in sight.

I don't wish to sound rude or sexist but, away from the lip gloss and shoulder pads of Dallas, Gray looks great. I won't insult her by adding "for her age" - she's 67 next month - because she'd look good whatever her age.

The project began five years ago when playwright Dan Gordon approached her with the idea of making a play of Terms Of Endearment, after seeing her play Mrs Robinson in the stage version of The Graduate.

She's unfazed at following Shirley MacLaine's Oscar-winning performance as Aurora, whose love-hate-love relationship with her often-pregnant daughter Emma (played by ex-Coronation Street actress Suranne Jones) forms the core of the comedy-drama.

"Dan has turned the book and the film into a magical play. To me it's brilliant," she says. "It's a piece of life. We all have our comedy days and our tragic days. So this is life and beautifully told."

She hasn't returned to the film. "I want it to be my own Aurora. I love Shirley MacLaine and appreciate her as an actress, but I want to be my own interpreter. My Aurora is different to Shirley MacLaine's. I take a different approach. You'll see - I think it'll be a lovely surprise," she says.

She certainly enjoyed her previous appearance on the British stage, as predatory Mrs Robinson in The Graduate. Later, she took the same role on Broadway and on tour in the US. In a way, it was only right she played the role as it was her legs that had adorned the poster for Mike Nichols' film of The Graduate 40 years ago.

What she likes about theatre is that there's no stopping and starting. "In film, you stop and take this close-up, then re-light and do the other person's close-up," she explains. "In theatre, there's a continuous flow of thought and energy and communication between audience and actors. There's a different rhythm that I love.

She's also a director, having been given, somewhat reluctantly, her first chance to helm episodes of Dallas. "It was at a time in society where it was not looked on favourably to have a female director. There were a few out there, but our producers were not very much in favour.

"It was my desire to direct. That's kind of my philosophy in life - I want to try it. If I fail, I fail and if I like it, I want to do more. I learnt that from my grandmother. She said don't listen to anyone about what you should do in your life. If you want to do it, do it."

Gray is planning to direct her first feature film next year. The project is currently at that "very frustrating" stage of raising the money. She leaves that to other people. "It's not something I do or really like to do," she says.

Dallas, and it's hard not to return to the subject because it was such a big part of our lives in its heyday, is something that will never go away. Occasionally, she glimpses a re-run which usually prompts comments along the lines of "look at those clothes, those shoulder pads, the hair".

When it ended, she had withdrawal symptoms. She no longer had to get up at 4.30 in the morning - "probably the bit I could do without" - but was unable to sleep in. "Seven o'clock was like noon to me," she says.

"For the first month, I didn't wear any make-up, put wore my hair back in a ponytail and wore a baseball cap. I didn't want anyone touching me, no make-up, no hair or anything. I just needed freedom and that's what it felt like. I felt I was free, but not in a negative way."

Terms Of Endearment covers several decades but she promises there won't be a shoulder pad in sight. "When they asked me to donate an item for charity, I gave away all my shoulder pads from Dallas," she recalls.

* Terms Of Endearment: York Theatre Royal, August 24 to September 15 (tickets 01904-623568) and Darlington Civic Theatre, September 17-22 (tickets 01325-486555).