Coal Miner’s Daughter was released on 7 March 1980.
Loretta Lynn picked Sissy Spacek to portray her (prematurely announcing her choice on The Tonight Show) and Spacek did all of her own singing. Lynn also approved of Michael Apted as director, and has cited his outsider perspective as “crucial to the movie's success.”
The film was the 7th highest-grossing film of 1980, and was nominated for 7 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay (Tom Rickman), Best Sound (Jim Alexander, Roger Heman, and Richard Portman), Best Art Direction (John Corso and John Dwyer), Best Cinematography (Ralf Bode), and Best Editing (Arthur Schmidt). Spacek received the film’s only Oscar, for Best Actress.
39-year-old Levon Helm made his acting debut as Loretta Lynn’s father (who was only 9 years older than Spacek).
