Charlene Tilton Stuns at 'Dallas' 45th Anniversary – Grandkids Are 'Everything' to Her Years after Financial Ruin

• Charlene Tilton from "Dallas" opened up about her difficult childhood and tending to her mentally ill mother.
• Tilton, who recently reunited with her co-stars 45 years after the debut of "Dallas," revealed she was hard of hearing.
• Tilton is a mother to her daughter, whom she describes as extremely talented. The actress is also a grandmother and dotes on her grandsons.

Charlene Tilton, popularly known as Lucy Ewing on "Dallas," was a star on the screen, but behind the scenes, she was dealing with a traumatic childhood.

Tilton became a famous face in "Dallas," a top-rated nighttime soap opera that drew 65 million viewers. While starring, the actress went through a personal crisis—she was struggling to help her mentally ill mother.

Tilton kept her struggles a secret from her "Dallas" co-stars, such as Larry Hagman. As much as the actress appeared on more than 500 magazine covers in the 80s, she didn't tell the public about her struggles at that time.

According to the soap-opera star, her mother got pregnant after meeting an Air Force pilot at the Pentagon, where they both worked. Her biological father wanted nothing to do with her, so she was raised by her mom.

The actress said since "Dallas" was a big show, her father may have known about her, but he never reached out. Tilton's mother raised her, but she struggled with severe mental illness and was later diagnosed with schizophrenia.

Tilton recalled that her mother was institutionalized when she was five. The actress spent her childhood in relatives' places and foster homes. When she turned 8, her mother was released, and they moved to California.

Though her mother got medication, the situation was still bad. She would fight with herself and have conversations on her own. Her mom also insisted on urinating in Tupperware containers only, so their house was always filthy. Tilton recalled, "I wanted to die of embarrassment. That went on for years. I could never bring friends over."

As a teen, Tilton knew she couldn't live in her mom's dirty apartment anymore, so she moved out and started living on her own. That's when she landed a part in "Dallas."

The actress started with a weekly check o$15,000, which graduated to $50,000 per episode. Tilton revealed she used most of her money to help her mother get medical help:

"My mother was very sick for a lot of years … and then at the end of her life, she was on a respirator for 19 months. I paid all of her medical bills. Keeping somebody alive on a breathing machine for 19 months is very expensive."

Tilton's mom died in 2001 and her money reserve dried out due to her mother's medical bills. She noted that she lost it all when one of her accountants embezzled her funds, and another mismanaged it. But the loss of her money wasn't the end of the actress's woes.

Tilton, who tracked her biological dad, found out he died at 93, six months before she located him.

Charlene Tilton Suffered a Hearing Loss

Since her childhood, Tilton's hearing had been impaired, and she kept it a secret throughout her acting career. The actress confessed that as a child, she had chronic ear infections that were untreated because her mother couldn't afford to get her to a doctor. She added that being a single mother, her mom didn't have the money.

One time, when the actress was eight, she had a painful ear infection. The pain was so excruciating that Tilton still remembered how it felt years later. One morning, she lifted her head from the pillow and found it covered with blood.

Her mom, who had no money and no health insurance, rushed her to a children's hospital, where she learned that her eardrums were perforated. "It left me with hearing loss," the actress recalled, I knew I was hard of hearing, but it was just something I lived with."

During her career, Tilton pretended to hear what people said at black-tie events. She missed the names of network executives, and once, while filming, she missed her cue for a scene. This forced her to disclose her ailment to the director.

Realizing she had to do something about it, Tilton decided to use a hearing aid. "At the time, Ronald Reagan had just got a hearing aid, and I knew I had to do something," she said.

The "Totally Blonde" star got a hearing aid, but it wasn't so useful back then because it only amplified sounds instead of making them clearer. Eventually, she disposed of them and went back to pretending she could hear.

Years later, when Tilton was learning to dance while ice skating, she decided to use a hearing aid again because she couldn't hear instructions. The actress was amazed by her new hearing aid as the technology had improved since the last one she had. It enabled her to hear without straining.

In 2012, Tilton launched the Sound Barriers Star Awards in collaboration with Specsavers. The award is bestowed to people who show that hearing loss is a challenge like any other that they can easily overcome.

Currently, Tilton lives a fulfilling life after overcoming financial ruin and hearing problems. On June 13, 2023, the actress met with her "Dallas" costars, and they shared their fond memories of the show. Tilton recalled:

"I think it was, to the best of my knowledge, the first show that gave you characters that were truly flawed, but they were loved by the audience."

Tilton admitted that each member of the cast had their own flaws, which showed they were still human, and the audience still loved them.

The "Freaky Friday" star also said that at her age now, she is more present and doesn't feel the pressure to take on jobs. However, she says yes to many things because she believes in the power of saying yes, trying new things, and embracing opportunities.

Aside from her career, Tilton is a mother to a daughter she describes as "extremely talented." The actress is also a happy grandmother.

Charlene Tilton's Life as a Mother and Grandmother

Tilton and her ex-husband Johnny Lee came together in 2014 to celebrate their daughter's wedding. The actress's daughter Cherish Lee, a country singer, had tied the knot with fellow country singer Matt Dunn.

The wedding was held at Southfork Ranch in Parker, Texas, where "Dallas" was shot. Tilton, who considers Southfork her second home, starred in the series playing Lucy Ewing from 1978 until 1985 and again from 2012 until 2014.

Cherish, who was born in 1982, walked down the aisle with her mother and father. Tilton revealed that Cherish and Matt met in June 2014, and it was love for the first time for them.

She revealed that Matt was also a guitar player and had spent four years with the army in Afghanistan. Tilton added that Matt proposed to Cherish under a tree at Johnny Lee's ranch, and the couple got married just four months after they met.

Tilton also revealed in an interview in 2020 that she was a grandmother of two boys. Her daughter, Cherish, blessed her with two grandkids. The 64-year-old said she loved her new life with her grandsons, who call her glamorous grandma:

"Spending time with my two grandsons, they are everything to me. Just being a grandmother, a glam-ma as they call me."

Tilton, who tracked her biological dad, found out he died at 93, six months before she located him. However, she has made peace with her difficult childhood after she took a DNA test and found out she had three stepsiblings who also didn't meet their shared biological dad.

Now, Tilton splits her time between taking care of her grandsons and acting in TV movies or for faith-based streaming services.

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