Patsy cline death biography movie

Becoming Patsy Cline

Haunted by her early experiences, the teenaged Cline directed herself toward a career as a singer with unbending single-mindedness. She sang in juke joints in the Winchester area and performed a nightclub cabaret act reminiscent of Helen Morgan, the tear-stained pop chanteuse of the 1920s said to be one of Cline’s primary influences (along with Kay Starr, Kate Smith, and Charline Arthur). Cline also appeared in amateur musicals and talent shows, and on local radio station WINC.

By age twenty, Cline connected with local country bandleader Bill Peer, an association that nurtured her desire to become a country music star. She adopted the name “Patsy” after her middle name, Patterson, possibly in a nod to singer Patsy Montana, whose feisty cowgirl persona anticipated both Cline’s spunk and early stage costumes. She married her first husband, staid Gerald Cline, on March 7, 1953, but found the relationship unfulfilling. They divorced four years later.

During this period, Cline made inroads into the thriving Washington, D.C., country music scene masterminded by country music’s “media magician,” Connie B. Gay. Beginning in the fall of 1954, Gay spotlighted Cline as a featured soloist on his Town & Country regional TV broadcasts, which included Jimmy Dean as host, along with Roy Clark, George Hamilton IV, Billy Grammer, Dale Turner, and Mary Klick.

Through her web of Washington contacts, Cline landed her first recording contract in September 1954, with Bill McCall’s Pasadena, California–based 4 Star Records, an association that lasted six years and was to become the single greatest hindrance to her career. Cline alleged that McCall swindled her out of record earnings and gave her substandard material to record.

Cline’s debut single, the country weeper “A Church, a Courtroom and Then Goodbye,” sold poorly after its release in July 1955 on the Decca label’s Coral subsidiary (by lease arrangem

Early Years

Cline was born Virginia Patterson Hensley, in a Winchester hospital, on September 8, 1932. Her parents, forty-three-year-old Samuel Lawrence Hensley, a blacksmith, and his second wife, sixteen-year-old Hilda Virginia Patterson Hensley, had married six days before the birth. Until 1937 Hensley lived on her paternal grandparents’ farm near Elkton and with her maternal grandparents in Gore, just outside Winchester in Frederick County. The Hensley family moved nineteen times in sixteen years to various towns in the Shenandoah Valley, including Lexington, and during World War II to Portsmouth. They had returned to Winchester by 1948, when Samuel Hensley deserted his wife and three children. Hensley quit school shortly after her sixteenth birthday and to help support her family began working, first in a poultry plant and then later at a bus depot and as a soda clerk at a drugstore. She also began singing professionally at night and on weekends to supplement the money her mother made as a seamstress.

During the next few years Hensley won amateur contests, sang both country and western tunes and popular standards on local radio stations, and performed with a number of bands. She auditioned in Nashville for the Grand Ole Opry but was deemed too young. In September 1952 Hensley auditioned for the country bandleader Clarence William “Bill” Peer, who had a radio show on a station in Martinsburg, West Virginia. Peer liked what he heard, hired her full-time to sing with his Melody Boys and Girls on the Maryland, Northern Virginia, and Washington music circuit, and gave her the stage name of Patsy. On March 7, 1953, she married Gerald E. Cline, the divorced son of a wealthy contractor from Frederick, Maryland. Virginia Patterson Hensley thereafter became known as Patsy Cline.

Musical Career

In September 1954 Cline signed a contract with the 4 Star Record Company, Inc., and the following June recorded her first songs in Nashville: “Hidin

American country music singer (1932–1963)

For other uses, see Patsy Cline (disambiguation).

Patsy Cline (born Virginia Patterson Hensley; September 8, 1932 – March 5, 1963) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. She is regarded as one of the most influential vocalists of the 20th century and was one of the first country music artists to cross over into pop music. Cline had several major hits during her eight-year recording career, including two number-one hits on the BillboardHot Country and Western Sides chart.

Born in Winchester, Virginia, Cline's first professional performances began in 1948 at local radio station WINC when she was 15. In the early 1950s, Cline began appearing in a local band led by performer Bill Peer. Various local appearances led to featured performances on Connie B. Gay's Town and Country television broadcasts. She signed her first recording contract with the Four Star label in 1954, and had minor success with her earliest Four Star singles including "A Church, a Courtroom, Then Goodbye" (1955) and "I've Loved and Lost Again" (1956). In 1957 Cline made her first national television appearance on Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts. After performing "Walkin' After Midnigh

1985 film by Karel Reisz

Sweet Dreams is a 1985 American biographical drama film which tells the story of country music singer Patsy Cline.

The film was directed by Karel Reisz, written by Robert Getchell, and stars Jessica Lange, Ed Harris, Ann Wedgeworth, David Clennon, James Staley, Gary Basaraba, John Goodman, and P. J. Soles.

The film was nominated for Academy Award for Best Actress (Jessica Lange). For all the musical sequences, Lange lip-synced to the original Patsy Cline recordings.The soundtrack was released in September 1985.

Plot

Patsy Cline (Jessica Lange), unhappily married and planning to divorce, is playing small-time gigs in the tri-state area of Virginia, West Virginia, and Maryland when she meets Charlie Dick (Ed Harris), whose charm and aggressive self-confidence catch her attention. After her divorce, Patsy and Charlie marry, and she is free to pursue music and, later, focus on raising their children. After Charlie is drafted into the U.S. Army, Patsy focuses on singing more, and after joining forces with manager Randy Hughes, she becomes a rising star on the country music scene.

However, Patsy's success fuels her self-confidence, much to Charlie's annoyance, and he becomes increasingly physically and emotionally abusive as Patsy attempts to assert her independence. Patsy is at the peak of her popularity as one of the first great female stars of country music when she is killed in a plane crash on March 5, 1963, at the age of 30.

Production

Many actresses wanted the role of Patsy Cline, including Meryl Streep, but she was turned down, one of three times the actress was denied a role. Jessica Lange was eventually signed on for the role, and has said that making the film was a very enjoyable experience for her. Lange did not do any of her own singing in the film; instead the actress lip-synced to Cline's original recordings. This pract