Ken Kercheval (July 15, 1935 â€" April 21, 2019) was an American
actor, best known for his role as Cliff Barnes on the television
series Dallas and its 2012 revival.Kercheval was born on July 15,
1935, in Wolcottville, Indiana, to Marine "Doc" Kercheval (1899-1967),
a local physician, and the former Christine Reiber (1903-1996), a
registered nurse. He was raised in Clinton, Indiana. As a teenager,
Kercheval often was with his dad in the operating room and once put
two stitches in his sister Kate when she had an appendectomy.
Kercheval attended Indiana University, not to become a doctor, but to
major in music and drama. He later studied at the University of the
Pacific, and starting in 1956, at the Neighborhood Playhouse in New
York City under Sanford Meisner.Kercheval made his Broadway debut in
the 1962 play Something About a Soldier. He appeared off-Broadway in
the 1972 Kurt Weill revue Berlin to Broadway with Kurt Weill, and can
be heard on the cast recording. His other theatre credits included The
Apple Tree, Cabaret (replacing Bert Convy as Cliff), and Here's Where
I Belong. In 1966, he appeared as the title character in the original
Broadway production of Fiddler on the Roof, co-starring with Herschel
Bernardi, Maria Karnilova, Julia Migenes, Leonard Frey, and Pia
Zadora.Kercheval gained his first television role, playing the part of
Dr. Nick Hunter number one on Search for Tomorrow in 1966. His later
soap-opera roles were in The Secret Storm and How to Survive a
Marriage. His film credits include The Seven-Ups with Roy Scheider and
Tony LoBianco plus F.I.S.T. with Sylvester Stallone. In 1976 he
co-starred in 2 episodes of The Adams Chronicles as James Madison.
actor, best known for his role as Cliff Barnes on the television
series Dallas and its 2012 revival.Kercheval was born on July 15,
1935, in Wolcottville, Indiana, to Marine "Doc" Kercheval (1899-1967),
a local physician, and the former Christine Reiber (1903-1996), a
registered nurse. He was raised in Clinton, Indiana. As a teenager,
Kercheval often was with his dad in the operating room and once put
two stitches in his sister Kate when she had an appendectomy.
Kercheval attended Indiana University, not to become a doctor, but to
major in music and drama. He later studied at the University of the
Pacific, and starting in 1956, at the Neighborhood Playhouse in New
York City under Sanford Meisner.Kercheval made his Broadway debut in
the 1962 play Something About a Soldier. He appeared off-Broadway in
the 1972 Kurt Weill revue Berlin to Broadway with Kurt Weill, and can
be heard on the cast recording. His other theatre credits included The
Apple Tree, Cabaret (replacing Bert Convy as Cliff), and Here's Where
I Belong. In 1966, he appeared as the title character in the original
Broadway production of Fiddler on the Roof, co-starring with Herschel
Bernardi, Maria Karnilova, Julia Migenes, Leonard Frey, and Pia
Zadora.Kercheval gained his first television role, playing the part of
Dr. Nick Hunter number one on Search for Tomorrow in 1966. His later
soap-opera roles were in The Secret Storm and How to Survive a
Marriage. His film credits include The Seven-Ups with Roy Scheider and
Tony LoBianco plus F.I.S.T. with Sylvester Stallone. In 1976 he
co-starred in 2 episodes of The Adams Chronicles as James Madison.
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