Gayle Hunnicutt, Texas-born star, dies aged 80

Gayle Hunnicutt, an actress of Texas descent who settled in the UK and was well-known for her work on the television series Fall of Eagles, The Golden Bowl, The Return of the Saint, and Dallas, passed away at the age of 80. 

She married the writer and editor Sir Simon Jenkins after divorcing the British actor David Hemmings, and along with her acting career, she established herself in the British social scene. She is most known for her role as Vanessa Beaumont, an English aristocrat whose long-ago affair with JR Ewing resulted in a son he was unaware of, in the final three seasons of Dallas, which aired from 1989 to 1991.

In 200, she and Jenkins got divorced. For the sale of the Primrose Hill estate where the couple had resided for thirty years, she produced an episode of Selling London. She dated tennis correspondent Richard Evans during her second divorce.

Gayle began her professional life at a young age. While she was performing in a University of California, Los Angeles campus performance, Warner Brothers spotted her. She debuted in the comedy Mister Roberts when she was just 23 years old. She then went on to play a part in Wild Angels. She most notably played Irene Adler in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.

She was also an actress in theater in addition to films. Her own two-hander play, The Life and Loves of Edith Wharton, spent many years touring theaters. Simon, her ex-husband, claimed that she related to the play on a personal level. She made a second appearance in the two-hander The Two Marys after that part.