From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia Cathy Podewell born January 26 1964 Evanston Illinois is an American actress She is best remembered for her role as Cally Harper Ewing on Dallas from 1988 to 1991 in which she played the second wife of JR Ewing played by series star Larry Hagman Her first acting job was in the 1988 horror film Night of the Demons She also had guest appearances on such TV shows as Murder She Wrote Beverly Hills 90210 Walker Texas Ranger and Growing Pains It was during her tenure on Growing Pains that Hagman recommended her for a role on Dallas In high school she was a member of the marching band and a cheerleader She attended the University of California at Santa Barbara where she majored in drama and dance and was featured in such plays as No No Nanette and Jules Feiffers Hold Me She spends part of each summer as a volunteer counselor at the Muscular Dystrophy Association camp in Northern California Description above from the Wikipedia article Cathy Podewell licensed under CCBYSA full list of contributors on Wikipedia