Willie Nelson

Grizzled American singer/songwriter, a giant in country music of the 1970s and early 80s who also took up acting at the peak of his success. Beginning as a songwriter in the 60s 9with his tunes sung by diverse artists including Elvis Presley and Patsy Cline), Nelson ultimately bucked the constraints Nashville system, embraced the anti-establishment spirit of his times, grew a beard, braided his long hair into pigtails and began performing his own music around 1970. By 1975 he had broken through with the seminal album "Red Headed Stranger," (one of country music's first "concept: albums telling a larger, connected story through its songlist), ultimately winning a multitude of Grammy awards and establishing himself, along with fellow iconclasts Waylon Jennings and Merle Haggard, as the vanguard of an anti-Nashville musical movement dubbed "outlaw country." With country-influenced rock and roll dominating the charts via groups like the Eagles and the Allman Brothers, Nelson also achieved a great degree of mainstream success among a pop audience as well.

Nelson's first serious acting role, as Robert Redford's manager in "The Electric Horseman" (1979), turned out surprisingly well; the following year he landed his first lead role in the frankly autobiographical "Honeysuckle Rose", for which he also contributed one of his best-known songs, "On the Road Again," followed by a winning supporting turn as an aging burglar in Michael Mann's crime drama "Thief" (1981). The bewhiskered Nelson has since turned in several fine performances, generally as country-western singers or cowboys, roles which neither tax his range nor require him to disguise his likable Texas twang. His best works include the well-crafted Western "Barbarosa" (1982) in which he played a legendary outlaw with a heart of gold; director Alan Rudolph's inside-country music comedy "Songwriter" (1984) with his close off-screen friend Kris Kristofferson (the duo also penned the film's pointedly funny songs); and "The Red-Headed Stranger" (1986) which built its Western story out of songs from Nelson's critically acclaimed album.

Nelson also delivered a fun turn as a songwriting spinmeister in the political comedy "Wag the Dog" (1997), played off of his well-known image as a marijuana advocate in the pot comedy "Half-Baked" (1998) and appeared amusingly as himself in the comedies "Dill Scallion" and "Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me" (both 1999). In 2005 he made a welcome return to the big screen, playing Uncle Jesse in the big screen remake of the TV favorite "The Dukes of Hazzard." Nelson, whose close friend Jennings played the Balladeer on the original series, lent the role his considerable folksy charm, but he was underserved by the script, which required him to delvier too many "Hee Haw" style corny jokes. On the plus side, Nelson struck up a seemingly unlikely friendship with his young co-star Jessica Simpson, and the two performed on stage together frequently to surprisingly good effect when the film debuted.

Nelson has contributed songs to a multitude of films, among them "Coal Miner's Daughter," "Porky's Revenge," "Desert Hearts," "My Cousin Vinny," "A Perfect World," "Forrest Gump," "Michael," "Space Cowboys," "Bride of Chucky" and "Shrek."

Nelson has made many TV appearances, one of them in a rehash of "Stagecoach" (1986) which co-starred Johnny Cash and Nelson's frequent collaborators Jennings and Kristofferson (the foursome also made up the country music supergroup The Highwaymen). His other telepics included "The Last Days of Frank and Jesse James" (1986), "Once Upon a Texas Train" (1988), "Where the Hell's That Gold?!!?" (1988) and, with Kristofferson, two "Pair of Aces" films (1990, 1991). As a full-fledged pop culture icon, he's appeared and performed as himself on countless country music series and specials, and proved a facile raconteur on the talk show circuit. He acted on such series as "Miami Vice" and "Nash Bridges" and had a recurring role on "Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman," played himself on "Monk" and lent his voice to the animated series "The Simpsons" and "King of the Hill." As an advocate of the struggling American farmer, Nelson also famously teamed with rock singer John Mellencamp in the mid-1980s to create and headline the long-running series of "Farm Aid" benefit concerts.

• Also Credited As:
  William Hugh Nelson
• Born:
  William Hugh Nelson on April 30, 1933 in Abbott, Texas, USA
• Job Titles:
  Singer, Songwriter, Actor, Producer, Disc jockey, Encyclopedia salesman (sold door to door)

Family

• Daughter: Amy Nelson. Born in 1973; mother, Connie Koepke
• Daughter: Lana Nelson. Born in 1953; mother, Martha Matthews
• Daughter: Paula Nelson. Born in 1969; mother, Connie Koepke
• Daughter: Susie Nelson. Born in 1956; mother, Martha Matthews
• Father: Ira Nelson.
• Mother: Myrle Nelson.
• Sister: Bobby Lee Nelson.
• Son: Billy Nelson. Born c. 1958; mother, Martha Matthews; committed suicide by hanging himself on Dec. 25, 1991 in Nashville, Tennessee; married to Janet Caldwell and had recently separated before his suicide; had undergone a 30-day hospital program for alcohol abuse in 1990
• Son: Jacob Micah Nelson. Born in 1990; mother, Annie D Angelo
• Son: Lukas Autry Nelson. Born in 1989; mother, Annie D Angelo

Significant Others

• Wife: Annie D Angelo. Married Sep. 16, 1991 in Dallas; fourth wife; met on set of Red Headed Stranger (1986); couple has two sons
• Wife: Connie Koepke. Married in the early 1970s; divorced in 1988; have two daugters together
• Wife: Martha Matthews. Cherokee Indian; married in 1952; divorced in 1962; died in December 1989; mother of three of his children
• Wife: Shirley Collie. Married c. 1962; divorced in 1971

Milestones

• 1937 First public performance, recited a poem at a church picnic at age four
• 1943 Joined first band, John Raycjeck s Bohemian Polka Band
• 1956 Released first album, the self-financed No Place for Me ; sold over the radio in Vancouver, Washington
• 1961 Had first success as a songwriter with the Patsy Cline song, Crazy
• 1962 Duets with second wife Shirley Collie hit the charts
• 1964 Debuted at the Grand Old Opry (November 28)
• 1970 Moved from Nashville back to Texas after his Tennessee home was destroyed in a fire
• 1973 Released what is considered breakthrough album, Shotgun Willie
• 1975 Became established star with release of Red Headed Stranger album
• 1979 Made feature film acting debut in The Electric Horseman
• 1980 First leading role in a film, Honeysuckle Rose ; also wrote songs and music; earned Oscar nomination for Best Song for On the Road Again
• 1980 In the mid-1980s, Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Kris Kristofferson, and Johnny Cash formed a group called The Highwaymen
• 1982 Made TV acting debut in the docudrama, Coming Out of the Ice
• 1983 Appeared in the documentary, Hells Angels Forever
• 1986 First credit as producer, Red-Headed Stranger
• 1990 Seven-year dispute with the IRS ended with IRS agents seizing Nelson s possessions (including the Pedernales Country Club and Recording Studio near Austin TX and his 44-acre Dripping Springs ranch, as well as properties in four other states and his instruments, recordings and memorabilia) in November, claiming he owed $16.7 million in back taxes, penalties and interest
• 1993 Released Across the Borderline , with guests Bob Dylan, SinĂ©ad O Connor, David Crosby, Bonnie Raitt, Kris Kristofferson and Paul Simon
• 1996 Featured on the Beach Boys now out-of-print album Stars and Stripes Vol. 1 , singing a cover of their 1964 song The Warmth of the Sun
• 1998 Had a cameo in Half Baked as an elderly Historian Smoker
• 2004 Released the album, Outlaws & Angels ; earned two Grammy nominations
• 2005 Cast as Uncle Jesse in the big-screen version of The Dukes of Hazzard based on the 1970 s hit show
• 2006 Released You Don t Know Me: The Songs of Cindy Walker , featuring songs written by the late Cindy Walker; earned a Grammy nomination for Best Country Album
• 2007 Second collaboration with Dukes co-star Jessica Simpson, Blonde Ambition
• 2008 Appeared in the comedy Surfer, Dude starring Matthew McConaughey
• 2009 Earned three Grammy nominations, including one for his album, Willie and the Wheel , and one for his collaboration with Norah Jones, Baby, It s Cold Outside
• 2010 Earned a Grammy nomination for the album Country Music
• Moved to Nashville
• Moved to Texas in the late 1950s; settled in Houston and worked as a disc jockey
• Raised by his paternal gradparents after parents divorce