Dallas was more than a television show. In the hearts and minds of many fans, the popular nighttime soap opera became a cultural phenomenon, dominating the Nielsen ratings and making its cast into international superstars.

The actors have become almost as iconic as the characters they played on the show, which chronicled the decades-old rivalry between two Texas oil families, the Ewings and the Barnes. The show began as a five-part miniseries in 1978 that centered around the friction that results when Barnes heir Pamela Barnes (Victoria Principal) elopes with Bobby Ewing (Patrick Duffy) in the opening episode and comes to live with the Ewings on their ranch, Southfork.

Bobby and Pam were the golden couple on the show, and they were counterbalanced by Bobby's scheming, manipulative and malicious older brother, J.R. Ewing (Larry Hagman), and his unfaithful, alcoholic wife Sue Ellen (Linda Gray). The tension between those characters set the stage for much of the drama on Dallas, and J.R. got his comeuppance in an episode that made television history when he was shot by an unknown assailant in a season-ending cliffhanger that sparked an enormous wave of "Who Shot J.R.?" speculation over the summer of 1980.

Dallas ran from 1978-1991 on CBS, and in the years since then, the cast have come together periodically for television movies, reunion specials and even a reboot, while many of them have continued successful careers on other shows, on stage and in films. Some of the actors have died in the intervening years, several have changed careers, and one former Dallas star has become a very notable political activist.

Scroll through the gallery below to see the stars of Dallas today and get an update on what they've done since the show ended in 1991.

You Won't Believe What the Cast of 'Dallas' Look Like Now: