Television: Larry Hagman: Vita Celebratio Est

In his acting debut, Larry Hagman had only one line. It never got out. Instead, the actor stared dumbly at the audience. If he has been tongue-tied in the 40 years since that grade-school pageant, the occasion has gone unrecorded. Today Hagman likes to talk the way Texans like to spend. Except on Sundays, when there is a rule of silence at his Malibu spread. "You've got to have a day of rest somewhere along the line," he explains. "Every major religion has one."

But then Hagman crowds at least a week into the other six days. He is famous for leading...