TV star Kercheval loved both farm life, popcorn
Indiana native was the face of Old Capital popcorn in the 1980s
From the Farm
When actor Ken Kercheval died last month at age 83, most of his obituary attention surrounded his four decades associated with the iconic CBS primetime soap opera “Dallas,” which cast him as scheming oil tycoon Cliff Barnes, the Texas rival to the show’s villain J.R. Ewing, played by Larry Hagman.
Kercheval and Hagman, who died in 2012 at age 81, were good friends off camera, and both men hold the distinction of being the only two “Dallas” cast members to remain with the series from its 1978 launch through the series finale in 1991. The two also resurrected their dastardly alter-egos for both a 1996 “Dallas” TV movie reunion and the cable relaunch of the series in 2012, the latter of which lasted for three seasons.
Over the years, I’ve interviewed both Kercheval and Hagman, but it was the Hoosier roots of Kercheval and our Indiana farm connection that always made my chats with Kercheval extra interesting.
When Kercheval died April 21, he was back living in his Indiana hometown of Clinton, which is near
Terre Haute. Kercheval and his sister Kate were raised in the rural town by prominent parents. Their father served as the town’s doctor (who made house calls), and their mom Christine worked as a registered nurse. After attending Indiana University to study drama, Kercheval headed to New York, and his talent gained him roles on Broadway, including replacing his pal Bert Convy in the lead role of writer Cliff in “Cabaret” and later appearing in the string-instrumentplaying title role in the original stage production of “Fiddler on the Roof.”
In the early 1980s, Kercheval had a lavish lifestyle in Los Angeles, living in the former Hollywood Hills mansion of Dolores Del Rio with fame and wealth from his role on “Dallas,” where he played the conniving brother of Victoria Principal’s character, Pamela Barnes Ewing. But Kercheval always told me his heart and dreams remained in his hometown of Indiana.
“Being on ‘Dallas’ made me a household name, but being raised in Indiana made me who I am,” Kercheval told me during an interview in March
2010, when he was in Rosemont, Illinois, for an event.
In earlier years, when I would chat with Kercheval, we often talked about popcorn, since in print, I would make reference to him being a kernel counterpart to another Indiana noted name, Orville Redenbacher, who hailed from Brazil, Indiana, just a county away from Kercheval’s hometown. But Kercheval was also the first to admit his days in the popcorn field ranked as a bittersweet chapter of his life.
It was in Christmas 1984, while visiting his wife’s family in Louisville, Kentucky, that Kercheval said he first sampled the regional popcorn brand called Old Capital. The already established popcorn company, based in tiny Corydon, Indiana, since 1948, had just been purchased that same year for $2 million by married couple Edward and Linda Phillips. The brand’s name came from the fact that from 1813 to 1816, Corydon
“I loved the popcorn farming aspects, the history and the marketing part of the operations”
Ken Kercheval, Actor
had been the state capital of Indiana. Kercheval said he had always dreamed of owning a popcorn farm in his Indiana home state so he contacted the couple and offered to buy the business.
They agreed to partner with him and sold him a one-third share of the company for $1 million, which, thanks to Kercheval’s name and connections, by 1986 helped the brand grow by 300 percent, according Kercheval. He helped expand distribution beyond the Midwest to reach half the states in the U.S. He even convinced the producers and writers of “Dallas” to include a scene featuring the cast eating his popcorn for an December 1985 episode of the show.
But Kercheval said after his business partners began to question his marketing decisions, such as having his face and name appear on the redesigned logo for the Old Capital popcorn brand, the three found themselves at odds. By
April 1988, Kercheval and Linda Phillips became business allies and voted in favor that Linda’s husband Edward be removed from his management position with the company. Kercheval also purchased the remaining two-thirds of the company for $309,000.
In January 1989, the couple divorced, which caused further stress and anguish for Edward Phillips. On July 17, 1989, Edward Phillips came to Los Angeles and using a rented truck, broke through the gates at Lorimar Studios where the television show “Dallas” was taped, hoping to confront Kercheval, who was not on set that day. After shooting at the outside of the sound stage, Phillips set his truck on fire and turned his gun on himself, taking his own life. In July 1990, Kercheval sold the popcorn company to Golden Valley Microwave Foods, which manufactures ACT II microwave popcorn and also purchased the former Orville Redenbacher popcorn plant in Rensselaer.
“I loved the popcorn farming aspects, the history and the marketing part of the operations,” Kercheval told me.
“I even purchased 34 acres of my own land near our Indiana popcorn fields. But it was the business venture and partnership that just didn’t work out. The popcorn was always great.”
Kercheval, who was married four times and has two daughters and a son, also shared my same hobbies and interests of cooking and collecting historical memorabilia.
His collection was specific to President Abraham Lincoln, and his treasures included a rare campaign banner from his election and an inkpot he used during his White House years. As for cooking, he loved his mom’s recipes for ham-loaf with mustard sauce, green beans with bacon and diced tomato, and his grandmother’s recipe for an old English baked suet and molasses pudding. To help promote his popcorn brand during the 1980s, he also developed some unique popcorn themed recipes, including a curious yet delicious “popcorn souffle” recipe he shared with me.
Columnist Philip Potempa has published three cookbooks and is the director of marketing at Theatre at the Center. He can be reached at pmpotempa@comhs.org or mail your questions: From the Farm, PO Box 68, San Pierre, IN 46374.