Coal Miner's Daughter

Credit: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty

Loretta Lynn Married Just Shy of 16, Not at 13, as Long Claimed

Originally posted 05/22/2012 07:30AM

One of country's greatest legends – that Loretta Lynn was married at 13 – has been shot down by a new report that the Coal Miner's Daughter, believed to be 77, is really three years older than she claims to be.

Combing through the records at the state Office of Vital Statistics in Frankfort, Ky., and checking the records of relatives', the Associated Press reports that Lynn was born April 14, 1932, in the Bluegrass State's Johnson County and is actually 80.

As was memorably told in her bestselling 1976 autobiography Coal Miner's Daughter, which then became a 1980 box-office hit that won a Best Actress Oscar for leading lady Sissy Spacek, Lynn wed husband Doolittle "Doo" Lynn at 13, moved with him to Washington State at 16 and was mother to four (of their eventual six kids) by 18.

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Filed Under: Scandals & Feuds, Still Woman Enough, Coal Miner's Daughter, Loretta Lynn

Credit: Russ Harrington

Zooey Deschanel to Hit Broadway – as Loretta Lynn

Originally posted 05/11/2012 08:40AM

There's a new girl coming to Broadway.

Cast by the country icon herself, Zooey Deschanel will play Loretta Lynn in an upcoming stage musical about the singer's life, Coal Miner's Daughter, producers for the Broadway-bound production have announced.

Lynn personally introduced Deschanel Thursday night on the stage of Nashville's historic Ryman Auditorium during Opry Country Classics. The two then sang "Coal Miner's Daughter."

"It's a long way from Butcher Holler to Broadway in New York City. I never imagined I'd see Coal Miner's Daughter on a movie screen, and now I can't believe it's going to be on a stage for people to see," Lynn, 77, said in a statement.