42 Years Later, This True Crime Cult Classic Starring Johnny Cash as a Georgia Sheriff and His Wife as a One-Eyed Soothsayer Still Gives Me Chills

Not all country music performers confine their talents to the stage. Some also find success on the silver screen, with examples including Kris Kristofferson, Dolly Parton, and Reba McEntire. You can also add Johnny Cash to that list. The Man in Black’s filmography is extensive, with roles in the 1961 neo-noir crime film Five Minutes To Live and the 1971 Western A Gunfight, acting opposite Kirk Douglas. The “Ring Of Fire” crooner even got the opportunity to co-star alongside his wife, June Carter Cash, in the made-for-TV film Murder In Coweta County, released on this day (Feb. 15) in 1983.

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Johnny Cash Clashes With Andy Griffith in This True Crime Film

The premise of Murder In Coweta County is fairly straightforward. It centers on the real-life 1948 murder of poor tenant sharecropper Wilson Turner by wealthy landowner John Wallace in Coweta County, Georgia. The film is based on the 1976 book of the same name, written by Newnan Times-Herald reporter Margaret Anne Barnes.

Griffith, namesake star of the sitcom The Andy Griffith Show, plays Wallace, the first white man handed a death sentence in Georgia based off the testimony of two Black men. (Spoiler alert.) Meanwhile, Johnny Cash portrays Coweta County Sheriff Lamar Potts, the dogged lawman who took down Wallace and ended his lengthy reign in neighboring Meriwether County. (Wallace’s pursuit of Turner crossed the Coweta County line, hence the sheriff’s jurisdiction and the film’s name.)

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Murder in Coweta County

♬ Ring of Fire – Johnny Cash

The country singer’s wife, June Carter Cash, landed the role of Mayhayley Lancaster. A lawyer, political activist, and self-avowed fortune teller, Lancaster played a key role in the successful prosecution of John Wallace, who was executed via electric chair in 1950.

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Cash Wanted to Faithfully Tell the Story of Sheriff Potts

Fascinated by the real-life true crime tale and the relentless officer of the law at its center, Johnny Cash immediately began plans to buy the screen rights.

“This film is important because Potts was a great American hero,” Cash said.

However, the late sheriff’s son, Rev. Lamar Potts Jr., wanted to ensure an accurate on-screen portrayal of his father. After he wrote Cash a letter expressing his concerns, the Man in Black responded. He welcomed any advice Potts Jr. was willing to extend.

Potts gifted his father’s pistol to Cash, who thanked him with a book of poetry.

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