Living Proof: The Hank Williams Jr. Story

• Director: Dick Lowry
• AMG Rating:
• Genre: Drama
• Movie Type: Musical Drama, Showbiz Drama
• Themes: Fathers and Sons, Alcoholism, Musician's Life
• Release Year: 1983
• Country: US
• Run Time: 100 minutes

Plot

Richard Thomas stars as country music star Hank Williams Jr. in this made-for-TV biopic, based on Williams' own memoirs. Williams wasn't yet four years old when his father, the legendary country singer/songwriter Hank Williams, died en route to a show. By the time he was eight, his mother, Audrey (Allyn Ann McLerie), had put Hank Jr. on-stage, singing his father's songs as a novelty act. As a teenager, Williams was signed to a recording contract, still specializing in his father's material. Williams made a respectable living in the music business, but he longed to create a musical identity of his own. Williams' struggle to come out from under the long shadow of his father's legacy was a difficult one, and it took a prolonged bout with alcoholism, an unsuccessful suicide attempt, and a near-fatal fall while mountain climbing before Williams was able to come to terms with his father's reputation, forging a country-rock style all his own and finding success on his own terms. Living Proof: The Hank Williams Jr. Story also features Williams' long-time manager and friend Merle Kilgore as himself; country star Naomi Judd also makes a cameo appearance as one of Hank's many one-night romances on the road, and a 14-year-old Christian Slater plays Hank's son. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Cast

Clu Gulager; Mickey Jones; Naomi Judd; Merle Kilgore; Allyn Ann McLerie; Jay O. Sanders; Christian Slater; Noble Willingham; Richard Thomas; Lenora May; Liane Langland - June

Credit

Dick Lowry - Director, Craig McKay - Editor, Nancy Kanter - Editor, Richard Thomas - Executive Producer, Gary Weist - Production Designer, Robert M. Baldwin, Jr. - Cinematographer, Michael Lepiner - Producer, Stephen Kandel - Screenwriter, I.C. Rapoport - Screenwriter, Hank Williams, Jr. - Book Author, Michael Bane - Book Author

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