June Carter Cash

June Carter Cash (born June 23, 1929, Maces Spring, Virginia, U.S.—died May 15, 2003, Nashville, Tennessee) was an American singer, songwriter, and actress who was a leading figure in country music, especially noted for her work with the Carter Family and Johnny Cash.

Carter was introduced to country music, specifically Appalachian folk songs, at a very young age. Her mother, Maybelle Carter, was part of the Carter Family, a popular trio that grew to include June and her sisters Anita and Helen Carter. After the group disbanded in 1943, June began touring with her mother and sisters as the Carter Sisters and Mother Maybelle. The act was featured on several radio and television programs, eventually becoming a regular at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville.

Noted for her comedic skills and her talents with various musical instruments, especially the autoharp, June began a successful solo career while continuing to work with her family; she made her solo debut at the Grand Ole Opry in 1950 and later toured with Elvis Presley. She also pursued an acting career, studying with Lee Strasberg and garnering roles on television shows such as Gunsmoke. In 1952 she married country singer Carl Smith, with whom she had a daughter, Carlene (who later performed as a musician under the name Carlene Carter). Their marriage ended in 1956, and June married businessman Edwin Lee (“Rip”) Nix the following year, with whom she had her second child, Rosie.

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In 1961 Carter joined the road show of famed country singer Johnny Cash. Two years later she cowrote what was perhaps her best-known song, “Ring of Fire,” to describe her complicated feelings about Cash, whose rendition of it became a hit. In 1966 Carter’s marriage to Nix ended in divorce, and Cash’s marriage to his first wife, Vivian, soon followed suit. Carter and Cash soon began performing together and earned a Grammy Award for their duet “Jackson” (1967). Carter encouraged Cash to seek treatment for his drug addiction, and the couple married in 1968. They had a son, John Carter Cash, in 1970.

June continued to record popular duets with Cash as well as perform as a solo artist—she earned her first Grammy as a solo artist for Press On (1999)—and as a member of the Carter Family, which had re-formed in the 1950s. Her autobiographies, Among My Klediments and From the Heart, were published in 1979 and 1987, respectively. Her relationship with Cash figured prominently in Walk the Line (2005), a film based on Cash’s life in which she was played by Reese Witherspoon.