Rebecca Barnes Wentworth

Rebecca Barnes Wentworth
Dallas character
Portrayed by Priscilla Pointer
Duration 1981-83
First appearance January 2, 1981
The Prodigal Mother
Last appearance February 11, 1983
Requiem
Created by David Jacobs
Profile
Occupation Owner of Wentworth Tool & Die
Owner of Barnes-Wentworth Oil

Rebecca Barnes Wentworth (maiden name Blake formerly Burke) is the mother of Cliff Barnes, Pamela Barnes Ewing and Katherine Wentworth.

Sometime during World War II, a barely literate 17-year-old, Rebecca Blake, started dating the much older former oil wildcatter, Digger Barnes. Digger had a drinking problem, and was still very bitter at his former best friend and business partner, Jock Ewing, who had married the love of Digger's life, Ellie Southworth, as well as later making millions of dollars off of the oil business, while Digger was left with nothing. While Rebecca was still 17, she got pregnant with Digger's child, and they married shortly afterwards. She gave birth to their son, Tyler, but Tyler died just six months after being born. Their second child was a son named Cliff. Their third child was a daughter named Catherine, who died 12 months after being born. Rebecca's marriage to Digger was mostly volatile due to Digger's drinking, and she described it decades later as an "awful life". The tragic premature deaths of Tyler and Catherine only made it worse.

Hutch McKinney was a man who got fired by Jock Ewing from Southfork Ranch in December 1952, and took Jock's gun before leaving. Rebecca had been having an affair with Hutch for some months, had become pregnant by him, and decided to leave Dallas together that night to start a new life. When Digger discovered his wife and Hutch McKinney together on the night that Hutch was fired and after Digger had been drinking, a confrontation followed where Hutch and a pregnant Rebecca both revealed that Hutch was the father of the baby and that they were leaving Dallas and taking Cliff with them. An angry Digger punched Hutch and Hutch pulled a gun on Digger, the gun being Jock Ewing's, which Hutch had stolen that night. This then resulted in Rebecca taking Hutch by surprise, disarming him, and Digger picking up the gun and shooting Hutch dead in a temper. Digger then buried Hutch's body on Southfork land, where it remained undiscovered for over 25 years. Digger and Rebecca then moved to Corpus Christi. Rebecca gave birth to Hutch's biological daughter, Pamela, and both she and Digger passed the child off as Digger's own daughter, with Digger becoming Pam's legal father. When Pam was just a year old, Rebecca left Digger, leaving Cliff and Pam behind. Rebecca left in such a way that Digger believed her to be dead. Cliff and Pam were both raised by Digger and Digger's sister, Maggie. Cliff and Pam both believed when they were growing up that their mother was dead.

After leaving Digger and playing for dead, Rebecca drew a complete line under that chapter of her life and tried to forget all about it. She changed her surname to Burke, devoted herself to improving her reading and writing skills, and she later went on to marry oil magnate, Herbert Wentworth, and they had a daughter together, Katherine. Rebecca had become a powerful woman in her own right and inherited her husband's company when he died. Herbert never found out about his wife's previous life with Digger and the children that she had during that marriage. Katherine had also known nothing about her mother's past life when she was growing up, and believed that she was an only child. Rebecca told Katherine about Cliff and Pam after Herbert Wentworth had died.

In 1980, Jock Ewing was indicted for murdering Hutch McKinney. Digger Barnes confessed on his deathbed that he had killed Hutch McKinney and that Pam was Hutch's biological daughter. Determined to find a trace of her mother, Pam hired a private investigator to track her down, who discovered that Rebecca was alive after all, and Rebecca and Pam have an emotional reunion. Rebecca confessed to Pam that she had never actually divorced Digger, as she had been scared that Digger would track her down and drag her back to her old life. Cliff had a more difficult time accepting his mother, but eventually forgave her for leaving.

When her son, Cliff, tried to commit suicide in 1982, Rebecca started to realize where Digger Barnes and his grudge against the Ewing family had come from all those decades ago, and she blamed J.R. Ewing for driving Cliff to attempt suicide, vowing to defeat Ewing Oil in the business world. Rebecca bought Luce Oil and renamed it Barnes-Wentworth Oil and gave it to Cliff to run it. She also gave Cliff, Pam and Katherine one third each of Wentworth Tool & Die, and Katherine and Pam shares and seats on the board of Wentworth Industries.

Rebecca died in 1983 in a plane crash, the result of the cold war between the Ewing and Barnes families. Rebecca was flying in Cliff's place to try to stop J.R. from buying an oil refinery. Pam blamed Bobby and J.R. for her mother's death, which led to her and Bobby's separation and eventual divorce. Rebecca named Cliff and Pam the heirs of her fortune along with Katherine who was enraged that she was no longer her mother's only heir. Rebecca's wealth was divided among her three children, but Katherine always tried to take everything from her siblings. In 1985, Cliff's girlfriend Afton Cooper gave birth to Cliff's daughter, Pamela Rebecca Barnes, naming the girl after her aunt Pam and grandmother Rebecca.

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