"I went inside and an older guy, around 50, came back out with me, looked in the back seat, and said, 'I think you've got a problem'. "Fan It" and "Alexander's Ragtime Band", recorded by Williams at age 15; the homemade recordings of him singing "Freight Train Blues", "New San Antonio Rose", "St. Louis Blues" and "Greenback Dollar" at age 18; and a recording for the 1951 March of Dimes. Advance ticket sales totaled US$3,500 (equivalent to US$35,714.9 in 2011). Marshall had been previously convicted for forgery, and had been paroled and released from the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in 1951. Williams had also married Sheppard before her divorce was final, on the 10th day of a required 60-day reconciliation period. [5] He met Horace Raphol "Toby" Marshall in Oklahoma City, who claimed to be a doctor. 'The Garden Spot Programs' 1950", "Hank Williams' 'The Garden Spot Programs' Named Best Historical Album at the 2015 Grammy Awards", "Tom Hiddleston played country icon Hank Williams in biopic", "File Action to Untangle Hank Williams Estate", "Mother's Best, Hank's Best: A Conversation With Jett Williams and the Students", "The Year's Top Country & Western Artists/The Year's Top Country & Western Records", "PBS 'Country Music' - Native stories of Hank Williams Sr., Loretta Lynn and Peter La Farge", "Native American Music Awards Hall of Fame", "Country Music by Ken Burns Episode 3 The Hillbilly Shakespeare", Listing of all Hank Williams's songs and alternatives, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hank_Williams&oldid=1142672396, Special Awards and Citation for his pivotal role in transforming country music, This page was last edited on 3 March 2023, at 19:34. Probably taught his first chords by Payne, Williams began playing the guitar at age 8. [16] Lillie Williams began booking show dates, negotiating prices and driving them to some of their shows. [78] His final concert was held in Austin, Texas, at the Skyline Club on December 19. Lillie was unwilling to let him reclaim his position as the head of the household. He died of a heart attack at the age of 29 in 1953 in the backseat of his Cadillac. Is Hank Williams Sr single? It provided the title for the 1964 biographical film of the same name, which starred George Hamilton as Williams. YouTubes privacy policy is available here and YouTubes terms of service is available here. From The Montgomery Advertiser. Williams had to cancel the concert due to an ice storm; he hired college student Charles Carr to drive him to his next appearance, a concert on New Year's Day 1953, at the Canton Memorial Auditorium in Canton, Ohio. The ceremony featured Ferlin Husky interpreting "I Saw the Light". [53], Williams signed with MGM Records in 1947 and released "Move It on Over"; considered an early example of rock and roll music, the song became a country hit. Before it was over, some 20,000 people had filled the auditorium and the street outside for what was described as the largest funeral in Montgomerys history. A. She was a headstrong, recently divorced mother of a 2-year-old, six months his senior and also a musician. He was unable to read or notate music to any significant degree. [25] His funeral was said to have been far larger than any ever held for any other citizen of Alabama,[27][21] and the largest event ever held in Montgomery,[28] surpassing Jefferson Davis' inauguration as President of the Confederacy. His childhood was also shaped by his spinal condition, spina bifida, which set him apart from other kids his age and fostered a sense of separation from the world around him. [10] Carr and Williams headed out of Knoxville from the Andrew Johnson Hotel via Gay Street to Magnolia Ave to 11w. Williams, who was recently separated from WSM "for failure to make appearances," was a resident of Montgomery, Ala. As a youth he sold peanuts and shined shoes, meanwhile strumming on a. Little did he know that the woman he would fall in love with would be the key to his success. Williams was an American singer-songwriter and musician regarded as one of the most significant country music artists of all time. That night, the singers body was taken back to Montgomery. Williams, Sheppard, and the Drifting Cowboys band in 1951 The American entry into World War II in 1941 marked the beginning of hard times for Williams. Later that year he received his first recording contract, with Sterling Records; however, it was on the start-up label MGM that he had his first hit, Move It on Over in 1947. While Jett was a college junior at the University of Alabama in Montgomery majoring in recreation therapy, her adoptive . If he came to this conclusion (of suicide), he still had enough prestige left as a star to make a first-class production of it whereas, six months from now, unless he pulled himself back up into some high-class bookings, he might have been playing for nickels and dimes on skid row. [121] In 1999, Williams was inducted into the Native American Music Hall of Fame. Around this time Williams released more hit songs, such as "My Son Calls Another Man Daddy", "They'll Never Take Her Love from Me", "Why Should We Try Anymore", "Nobody's Lonesome for Me", "Long Gone Lonesome Blues", "Why Don't You Love Me", "Moanin' the Blues", and "I Just Don't Like This Kind of Living". .css-m6thd4{-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;display:block;margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;font-family:Gilroy,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif;font-size:1.125rem;line-height:1.2;font-weight:bold;color:#323232;text-transform:capitalize;}@media (any-hover: hover){.css-m6thd4:hover{color:link-hover;}}Rock Icon KISS Is Saying Goodbye (For Real), Rihanna and 10 Other Great Pregnant Performances, Burt Bacharachs Legacy: 5 Notable Collaborations, 2023 Grammy Awards: Six Winners Who Made History. As a boy, Williams was the musical protg of Rufus Payne, an African American street performer who went by the name Tee-Tot and busked on the streets of Georgiana and Greenville, Alabama. Less than 48 hours later, Hank Williams was dead. He won the first prize of $15, singing his first original song "WPA Blues". . He was only 29. As if straight out of a country song, it was revealed decades later that Williams had fathered a daughter, Jett, who was born shortly after his death. He had a message. [30] Payne and Williams lost touch, though Payne also eventually moved to Montgomery, where he died in poverty in 1939. While he was medically disqualified from military service after suffering a back injury caused by falling from a bull during a rodeo in Texas, his band members were all drafted to serve. "I saw that the overcoat and blanket that had been covering Hank had slipped off," Carr told yet another reporter. His funeral took place on January 4 at the Montgomery Auditorium,[23] with his coffin placed on the flower-covered stage. [66] In 1951, "Dear John" became a hit, but it was the flip side, "Cold, Cold Heart", that became one of his most recognized songs. On New Year's Day 1953, he took his seat in the back of his 1952 powder blue Cadillac. Secondly,how did hank williams pass away? Many artists have covered his songs and he has influenced Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, George Jones, George Strait, Charley Pride, the Beatles, and the Rolling Stones, among others. The authors of Hank Williams: The Biography pointed out that "Hank" sounded more "like a hillbilly and western star" than "Hiram". [73] That same year, Williams had a brief extramarital affair with dancer Bobbie Jett, with whom he fathered a daughter, Jett Williams. For a time his relationship with Fred Rose deteriorated, but the two were able to mend fences, paving the way for Williams to become a regular on the "Louisiana Hayride," a regular Saturday night performance hosted by a radio station in Shreveport. "[25] An estimated 15,000 to 25,000 people passed by the silver coffin, and the auditorium was filled with 2,750 mourners. [50], On September 14, 1946, Williams auditioned for Nashville's Grand Ole Opry, but was rejected. Meanwhile, between tour schedules, Williams returned to Montgomery to host his radio show. Williams' version became a huge country hit; the song stayed at number one on the Billboard charts for four consecutive months,[56] and gained Williams a place in the Grand Ole Opry. Williams was pronounced dead a short while later. One year later, he released a cover of "Lovesick Blues", a huge country hit, which propelled him to stardom on the Grand Ole Opry. The result of the original autopsy indicated that Williams died of a heart attack. Hank Williams Jr. was performing his father, Hank Sr.'s, songs on stage at age 8. In 1952, he divorced Sheppard and married singer Billie Jean Horton. 29, January 1st 1953. A picture from the past came slowly stealing As I brushed your arm and walked so close to you Then suddenly I got that old time feeling I can't help it if I'm still in love with you. Carr was exhausted and, according to the police reports, nervous enough to invite suspicion that foul play had been involved in Williams' death. Discover Hank Williams' Death Car in Montgomery, Alabama: Cadillac where country's first big star was found dead. The first celebration, in 1954, featured the unveiling of a monument at the Cramton Bowl that was later placed at the gravesite of Williams. Lillie Williams became the Drifting Cowboys' manager. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Hank-Williams. The lanky guitar player with twangy voice began his musical career in Montgomery, singing over WSFA, the newspaper reported. If Williams had lived, it's not entirely certain that the Nashville music community, so eager to shed its hillbilly roots, would have continued to embrace Williams' music. As the titles of some of Williams' songs suggest, heartbreak and turmoil were never that far from his life. He also requested a doctor for Williams, as Williams was feeling the combination of the chloral hydrate and alcohol he had drunk on the way from Montgomery to Knoxville. Jett was 21 when she realized Williams could be her biological father. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. [Part 1]", "Hank Williams Sr. makes his Grand Ole Opry debut", "The Year's Top Country and Western Records", "Hank Williams' last ride: Driver recalls lonesome end", Huber, Patrick, Goodson, Steve & Anderson, David 2014, Haislop, Neil, Lathrop, Tad & Sumrall, Harry 1995, "1985 Inductee: Lifework Award for Performing Achievement", "Hank Williams Wins Again, And Inspires Countless Covers | uDiscover", "Hank Williams receives additional Grammy Recognition as "Lovesick Blues" inducted into Grammy Hall of Fame", "The Beatles' catalogue wins 'Best Historical Album' Grammy", "Hank Williams: Native American group Inducts Him", "The 2010 Pulitzer Prize Winners Special Awards and Citations", "Hilary Williams Details Her Brush with Death in 'Sign of Life', "New exhibit explores Hank Williams' family legacy", "Hilary Williams on Triumphant New Album 'My Lucky Scars,' Family Legacy", "Country Singer Hank Williams Jr.'s Daughter, 27, Killed in Tennessee Car Crash", "The Hank Williams Lineage Continues with Hank3's Son "IV", "Nashville Skyline: Hank Williams' Life After Death", "The Lost Notebooks of Hank Williams to be released in October", "Nashville Skyline: Johnny Cash and Hank Williams: Got Some More Music Here", "Hear a newly discovered Hank Williams performance", "Six Decades Later, A Long-Lost Hank Williams Recording Resurfaces", "Newly Discovered Hank! Encyclopedia of Alabama - Biography of Hank Williams Sr. Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum - Biography of Hank Williams, Alabama Music Hall of Fame - Biography of Hank Williams, Hank Williams - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up), Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum (1987). Regardless, Carr said he next drove to "a cut-rate gas station". "Ol' Hank" was just 29 years old when he died, the same age as English Romantic Poet Shelley when he drowned in the Gulf of . He returned to perform in KWKH and WBAM shows and in the Louisiana Hayride, for which he toured again. [17] From that time on, Lillie assumed responsibility for the family. [8] Williams and Carr departed from Montgomery, Alabama at around 1:00p.m. Williams arrived at the Andrew Johnson Hotel in Knoxville, Tennessee, where Carr checked in at 7:08 p.m and ordered two steaks in the lobby to be delivered to their rooms from the hotel's restaurant. Meanwhile, "Weary Blues From Waitin'" reached No. His life and career were the subject of I Saw the Light, a 2015 biopic, starring Tom Hiddleston as Williams and Elizabeth Olsen as his first wife, Audrey. Williams and his wife approached Fred Rose, the president of the company, during one of his habitual ping-pong games at WSM radio studios. Long plagued by alcoholism, Williams fell ill at the Andrew Johnson Hotel in Knoxville on the last night of 1952. [39] The band started playing in theaters before the start of the movies and later in honky-tonks. Hank Williams in his coffin. In 1953, months after Hank Sr.'s death, Williams paid his second wife, Billie Jean Jones, $30,000 to relinquish the title of "Hank Williams's Widow". Astrological Sign: Virgo, Death Year: 1953, Death date: January 1, 1953, Death State: West Virginia, Death City: Oak Hill, Death Country: United States, Article Title: Hank Williams Biography, Author: Biography.com Editors, Website Name: The Biography.com website, Url: https://www.biography.com/musicians/hank-williams, Publisher: A&E; Television Networks, Last Updated: September 18, 2019, Original Published Date: April 2, 2014. He was scheduled to perform a few gigs on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day to see in. [91] Carr later drove on until he stopped for fuel at a gas station in Oak Hill, West Virginia, where he realized that Williams had been dead for so long that rigor mortis had already set in. At this stage Williams began abusing alcohol, a problem that haunted him the rest of his life but that came about partly as a result of his attempts to self-medicate agonizing back pain caused by a congenital spinal disorder. In regards to her half-brother and where they stand today, Jett said: As far as having a personal relationship, we dont have like a brother-sister relationship, but we do get along; we do business and I think the world does realize that both of us have our dads best interest at heart.. Arthur Whiting was also a guitarist for the Drifting Cowboys. We may earn commission from links on this page, but we only recommend products we back. Carr called the Charleston auditorium from Knoxville to say that Williams would not arrive on time owing to the ice storm and was ordered to drive Williams to Canton, Ohio for the New Year's Day concert there. Williams told a story in later concerts that attributed his name change to a cat's yowling. [76] In October 1952 he married Billie Jean Jones. "Long Gone Daddy: A Biography of Hank Williams, Country Music's Tragic Hero". In 2011, Williams' 1949 MGM number one hit, "Lovesick Blues", was inducted into the Recording Academy Grammy Hall of Fame. Chief Winfred Patterson who arrested Hank said to the Alabama Journal in 1971 that Hank was "more or less having DT's (delirium tremens). "[36], On March 19, Marshall declared that he felt Williams was depressed and committed suicide by taking a higher dose of the drugs he had prescribed. ), He was racked by physical and emotional afflictions, and these coupled with his gift of song, made him kin to millions.. His iconic status was amplified by his death at age 29 and by his reputation for hard living and heart-on-the-sleeve vulnerability. He told Hill that his mother was interested in talking to him about his problems and her need to collect Elonzo's disability pension. They later drove to Oak Hill in search of a hospital, stopping at a Pure Oil station on the edge of town. [81] A relationship with a woman named Bobbie Jett during this period resulted in a daughter, Jett Williams, who was born five days after Williams died. The two were often rivals for Williams' time and attention. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). [132] Broadcast in 1949, the shows were recorded for the promotion of Hadacol. Later life and death. During an initial hearing, Marshall insisted that he was a doctor, refusing to answer further statements. If this world should last a thousand years, Lyons said, Hank shall remain dear to millions of hearts.. The worker claimed that she sold Williams' notes to a representative of the Honky-Tonk Hall of Fame and the Rock-N-Roll Roadshow. Here are more vintage images and stories of Alabamas past. Williams and Sheppard lived and worked together in Mobile. Also, the Drifting Cowboys were at the time backing Ray Price, while Williams was backed by local bands. In 1947, he released "Move It on Over", which became a hit, and also joined the Louisiana Hayride radio program. The Georgiana native hired a college student, Charles Carr, to drive him to perform a concert planned in Canton, Ohio. Marshall had been previously convicted for forgery, and had been paroled and released from the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in 1951. As a girl, Jones had lived down the street from Williams when he was with the Louisiana Hayride, and now Williams began to visit her frequently in Shreveport, causing him to miss many Grand Ole Opry appearances. A little more than a year later, on December 30, 1952, Williams, newly married to a younger woman named Billie Jean, left his mother's home in Montgomery for Charlestown, West Virginia. In 1951, Williams fell during a hunting trip in Tennessee, reactivating his old back pains. Hank Williams Sr. On the evening of Dec. 30, 1952, the restless, rail-thin 29-year-old tossed and turned in bed at his home in Montgomery, Ala. The couple were married in 1944 at a Texaco Station in Andalusia, Alabama, by a justice of the peace. Ernest Tubbs began the funeral with Beyond the Sunset and Red Foley and The Statesman Quartet sang Peace In The Valley.. During World War II Williams commuted between Mobile, where he worked in a shipyard, and Montgomery, where he pursued a musical career. Red Foley, Roy Acuff, and Ernest Tubb, among others, sang Williamss gospel-influenced I Saw the Light at his funeral, which was attended by thousands. He remained hospitalized for eight years, rendering him mostly absent throughout Williams' childhood. [106], On February 8, 1960, Williams' star was placed at 6400 Hollywood Boulevard on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In the 1970s, he created his own musical identity, combining country with Southern rock and blues. Audrey Williams asked Rose if her husband could sing a song for him on that moment,[51] Rose agreed, and he liked Williams' musical style. After Hawkshaw Hawkins and other performers started singing Williams' song "I Saw the Light" as a tribute to him, the crowd realized that he was indeed dead and began to sing along. If you purchase a product or register for an account through one of the links on our site, we may receive compensation. In mid-June 2020, Katherine Williams-Dunning the daughter of country singer Hank Williams Jr. was killed in a car crash in Tennessee. Author Colin Escott concluded in his . In April 1948, he scored a second Billboard success with "Honky Tonkin.'". I told Carr that Williams looked dead but I did not press the point when Carr explained that Williams had been given two sedatives, Kitts was quoted as saying. Hiram "Hank" Williams (September 17, 1923 January 1, 1953) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician. "I think he had a profound sadness in him," says Marc Abraham, writer and director of I Saw The Light. About 3,000 friends of the family shuffled through his mothers living room on Montgomerys North McDonough Street where Williams body was lain in state that Saturday night. By the early 1940s, he'd caught the attention of music executives in Nashville. medically disqualified from military service, I Can't Help It (If I'm Still in Love with You), Grammy for Best Country Vocal Collaboration, "Luke the Drifter and the Secrets of Country | ABCtales", "Cowtown Birthplace of Western Swing - Hank Williams", Escott, Colin, Merritt, George & MacEwen, William 2015, "Show 9 Tennessee Firebird: American country music before and after Elvis. Long plagued by alcoholism, Williams fell ill at the Andrew Johnson Hotel in Knoxville on the last night of 1952. But along with this early success came increased erratic behavior from Williams, who often showed up at live performances drunk. 1 on the country charts for six weeks. [59] During 1949, he joined the first European tour of the Grand Ole Opry, performing in military bases in England, Germany and the Azores. [13], The town's coroner and mortician, Dr. Ivan Malinin, a Russian immigrant who barely spoke English, performed the autopsy on Williams at the Tyree Funeral House. Over the next several years he churned out a number of other big hits, including "Cold, Cold Heart," "Your Cheatin' Heart," "Hey Good Lookin'," "Lost Highway," and I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive." Malinin also found that, apparently unrelated to his death, Williams had also been severely kicked in the groin during a fight in a Montgomery bar a few days earlier[14] in which he had also injured his left arm, which had been subsequently bandaged. Years of back pain, alcoholism, and prescription drug abuse severely compromised Williams' health. [35] His recent win at the Empire Theater and the street performances caught the attention of WSFA producers who occasionally invited him to perform on air. PolyGram contended that Williams' contract with MGM Records, whose back catalogue they owned at the time, prior to current owner Universal Music's absorption of PolyGram the next year, gave them rights to release the radio recordings. [72], During the spring of 1952, Williams flew to New York with steel guitarist Don Helms, where he made two appearances with other Grand Ole Opry members on The Kate Smith Evening Hour. [93] Dr. Ivan Malinin performed the autopsy at the Tyree Funeral House. In 1951, Williams fell during a hunting trip in Tennessee, reactivating his old back pains and causing him to be dependent on alcohol and prescription drugs. A 3-CD selection of the tracks, restored by Joe Palmaccio, was released by Time-Life in October 2008 titled The Unreleased Recordings. Despite his physical failings, Williams was cleared for more travel. Jones refused to pay, and further stated that Marshall later intended to convince her to pay him by assuring that he would "pave her the way to collect her husband's state". [37], In August 1938, Elonzo Williams was temporarily released from the hospital. He was one of the finest young men that we ever knew, Acuff said. [125][126] In July 2020, his granddaughter Katherine (Hank Jr.'s daughter) died in a car crash at the age of 27. Williams was scheduled to perform at the Municipal Auditorium in Charleston, West Virginia. Under Williams' guidance, Sheppard started playing bass and began performing in his band. The break had to come, he added. Hank Williams, the 29-year-old King of Country Music, was to have flown to Charleston, West Virginia for a New Years Eve concert but an ice storm near Nashville kept him away. They had a son together, .css-47aoac{-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;text-decoration-thickness:0.0625rem;text-decoration-color:inherit;text-underline-offset:0.25rem;color:#A00000;-webkit-transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;}.css-47aoac:hover{color:#595959;text-decoration-color:border-link-body-hover;}Hank Williams Jr., on May 26, 1949. Meanwhile, Lewis Fitzgerald's son Ricky billed himself as Hank Williams IV following his father's claim of being Williams' son. The funeral took place on January 4 at the Montgomery Auditorium, where an estimated 15,000 to 25,000 attended while the auditorium was filled with 2,750 mourners. Stars of the Grand Ole Opry were expected along with thousands of fans to bid farewell to Williams. Beside Hanks coffin were two large wreaths shaped like guitars, another set of flowers was shaped like a Bible, two lamps were shining purple lights, and in his hands there was a small Bible. This addiction eventually led to his divorce from Audrey Williams and his dismissal from the Grand Ole Opry. I was a pretty good imitator of Roy Acuff, but then I found out they already had a Roy Acuff, so I started singin' like myself. [27] Payne taught Williams chords, chord progressions, bass turns, and the musical style of accompaniment that he would use in most of his future songwriting. The album, named The Lost Notebooks of Hank Williams, was released on October 4, 2011. In addition, her relationship with Williams' mom proved complicated. He later started to consume painkillers, including morphine, and alcohol to help ease the pain. Cut from rural stock, Williams, the third child of Lon and Lillie Williams, grew up in a household that never had much money. [37] On March 21, Robert Travis of the State Crime Bureau determined that Marshall's handwriting corresponded to that of Dr. Cecil W. Lemmon on six prescriptions written for Williams. Why was Hank Williams an alcoholic? Williams dropped out of school in October 1939 so that he and the Drifting Cowboys could work full-time. But coupled with Williams' obvious talents as a singer and songwriter was an increasing dependence on alcohol, which he'd started abusing in order to relieve his sometimes excruciating back pain. The performances greatly increased Williams' name recognition, but he still lacked a number one hit. Hank jr. was three years old when his father died in 1959 His father actually died January 1, 1953, and of course Jr was 3 years old. Both women had been using the description professionally. [86] Fitzgerald was interviewed, and he suggested that Lillie Williams operated a brothel at her boarding house in Montgomery. [64][65] Some of the compositions were accompanied by a pipe organ. However, much of what led to his non-sobriety is exactly what made his music as good as it was. [33], As part of an investigation of illicit drug traffic conducted by the Oklahoma legislature, representative Robert Cunningham seized Marshall's files. A doctor injected Williams with B12 and morphine and porters carried the legendary singer-songwriter to the car. [71] On December 13, 1951, he had a spinal fusion at the Vanderbilt University Hospital, being released on December 24. Around this time, he met Billie Jean Jones, a girlfriend of country singer Faron Young, at the Grand Ole Opry. [60] Williams released seven hit songs after "Lovesick Blues", including "Wedding Bells",[55] "Mind Your Own Business", "You're Gonna Change (Or I'm Gonna Leave)", and "My Bucket's Got a Hole in It". At his mothers request, the concert in Canton went on as planned. Montgomery, Alabama - Family at Hank Williams memorial unveiling. The Journal that day reported WSFA received hundreds of calls and telegrams requesting the station play his songs. Williams, who wrote most of his songs himself, crafted direct, emotionally honest lyrics that had a poetic simplicity that spoke not only to fans of country and western music but to a much broader audience, as evidenced by the pop hit crooner Tony Bennett had with his cover of Cold, Cold Heart in 1951. "Your Cheatin' Heart" was written and recorded in 1952 but released in 1953 after Williams's death. It included 10 songs: "Mother Is Gone", "Won't You Please Come Back", "My Darling Baby Girl" (with Audrey Sheppard), "Grandad's Musket", "I Just Wish I Could Forget", "Let's Turn Back the Years", "Honkey-Tonkey", "I Loved No One But You", "A Tramp on the Street", and "You'll Love Me Again". [12] Stamey and Janney found some empty beer cans and the unfinished handwritten lyrics to a song yet to be recorded in the Cadillac convertible. [33] In 1943, Williams met Audrey Sheppard at a medicine show in Banks, Alabama. [84], A man named Lewis Fitzgerald (born 1943) claimed to be Williams' illegitimate son; he was the son of Marie McNeil, Williams' cousin. It was something he apparently saw coming. Carr later kept driving until he reached a gas station in Oak Hill, West Virginia, where Williams was discovered unresponsive in the back seat. [46], In 1945, when he was back in Montgomery, Williams started to perform again for the WSFA radio station. We strive for accuracy and fairness.If you see something that doesn't look right,contact us!