Johnny Paycheck

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BIRTHDAY

May 31, 1938

DIED

February 18, 2003

BIOGRAPHY

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A wild-eyed, country music singing rebel whose blue-collar anthem "Take This Job and Shove It" inspired a popular 1981 film of the same name, Johnny Paycheck recorded 70 albums over the course of his enduring and sometimes troubled career. Born Donald Lytle in Greenfield, OH, the future country star was strumming a guitar by the age of six and embarking on a professional music career by 15. Joining the Navy in the '50s, the rowdy sailor was court-martialed and jailed for two years following an incident in which he punched an officer. Moving to Nashville, he played bass for such luminaries as George Jones and Faron Young. Although he would record as Donald Young for Decca and Mercury early in his music career, it wasn't long before Lytle changed his name to Johnny Paycheck (capitalizing the "C" in the mid-'90s) and began to climb the charts with such hits as "Don't Take Her, She's All I Got" and "Slide Off Your Satin Sheets." Following such headline-grabbing incidents in which he shot a man in the head outside an Ohio bar and filed for bankruptcy in the early '90s, Paycheck's reputation as a drug-fueled madman came to a head, although his later years at the Grand Ole Opry (beginning in 1997) found him mellowed and changing paths while coming to terms with his wild past. He died February 18, 2003, in a Nashville nursing home as a result of emphysema and asthma. He was 64.

~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

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Headlines

News Roundup, Feb. 20: Celebs Speak Out in TV Spot

Feb. 20, 2003

Antiwar celebs are making their political views known via--what else? the small screen. Martin Sheen, who plays fictional U.S. President Jed Bartlet on NBC's The West Wing, headlines a TV ad that debuts in Los Angeles and Washington today. Also: Michael Jackson R Kelly Adam Johnny Paycheck Rich Alfred Molina Doc Ock Spider-Man sequel Jud Taylor Martin Sheen Trista Rehn The Bac...

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