The story of Loretta Lynn, COAL MINER'S DAUGHTER charts the rise of the queen of country music from her upbringing in backwoods Appalachia to stardom at the Grand Ole Opry. One of eight children, she married at age 13 and was a mother of four at age 20.

Shy and naive, she was pushed into music by her husband, Doolittle, who gave her a guitar instead of a ring for their wedding, in what was to be a career that also tracked her complicated relationship with this man. His strengths helped her create numerous hit singles, but his weaknesses inspired such immortal songs as "You Ain't Woman Enough to Take My Man."

Sissy Spacek won an Oscar for her virtuoso performance, mimicking Lynn's voice nearly perfectly, while Beverly D'Angelo solidly impersonates Patsy Cline; unlike other music biographies, this film features both actors using their own voices in the singing scenes. Country music legend Ernest Tubb also makes a cameo. For director Michael Apted, COAL MINER'S DAUGHTER is one in a series of films AGATHA, GORILLAS IN THE MIST, and NELL he has made about strong, eccentric women.

Directed by
Michael Apted

Cast
Sissy Spacek - Loretta Lynn
Tommy Lee Jones - Doolittle "Mooney" Lynn
Levon Helm - Ted Webb
Beverly D'Angelo - Patsy Cline
Robert Elkins - Bobby Day
Bob Hannah - Charlie Dick
Jennifer Beasley - Patsy Lynn
Jessica Beasley - Peggy Lynn
Susan Kingsley - Fairground Girl
Michael Baish - Storekeeper
David L Gray - Doc Turner
Royce Clark - Hugh Cherry

Produced by
Bob Larson
Bernard Schwartz
Zelda Barron

Studio
Universal Pictures

Writer
Tom Rickman
Loretta Lynn
George Vecsey

Music
Owen Bradley