Can you imagine being Patsy Cline's daughter? The legendary country singer died in a 1963 plane crash at the far-too-young age of 30. At the time, Cline had two children, including 4-year-old daughter Julie. That daughter is now 61, and Julie Fudge just co-produced the Lifetime movie Patsy & Loretta with Loretta Lynn's daughter, Patsy Lynn.
Patsy & Loretta premiered last night (October 19) and focused on the real-life friendship between the country singers -- with Smash star Megan Hilty as Patsy Cline and Jessie Mueller as Loretta Lynn. The movie also gave glimpses of the stars' home lives.
Patsy Cline's daughter Julie Fudge added her own real-life memories into Patsy & Loretta, and some of the filming took place in the house where the family lived in the last year of Cline's life. Fudge said scenes showing "how hard it was" when her mom would have to leave for her work as a singer were accurate to Fudge's memories.
There are always emotional moments when we deal with Mom and her legacy and her music and telling her story. But at the same time we really like sharing, it keeps her alive, it keeps her vivid.
Reliving her mom's ultimately tragic story in Patsy & Loretta could've been heartbreaking, but Julie Fudge told Country Living it makes her happy to see her mother remembered in this way.
With all the years that have passed, you kind of grow accustomed to talking about things, and it’s also been a pleasure to have her remembered. [Patsy & Loretta] is just such a happy program that I really didn’t feel a lot of sadness. I actually felt kind of warm and comfortable.
Julie Fudge said Patsy Cline was "very much a hands-on mom" who wanted to be there and "really would rather have been at home, I believe." The movie shows Cline saying she wanted two things -- hit records and babies. She certainly got both.
Patsy Cline's daughter told People what she hopes fans take away from Patsy & Loretta:
[I hope viewers] see more of a real person. Of course, in the 56 years she’s been gone, we have almost iconicized her, and we don’t know the real person anymore. But she was a mom. She was a young girl. She wasn’t but 30 when she died. And so these were two girls having fun and just trying to learn the ropes and get started.
Speaking of a young girl, Julie Fudge shared a cute memory with Country Living that wasn't shown in the Lifetime movie:
When I was little, my mother and I would color and she had her own coloring book and I was not allowed to color in her coloring book. She had her own crayons and coloring book before it was, you know, cool, to do that as a grownup.
Always ahead of her time, our Patsy! Back in 2018, while at the Patsy Cline Museum in Nashville, Julie Fudge told AXS how it's been growing up with a trailblazing but tragic icon as a mother.
Growing up, I am not sure when I ever had that 'aha' moment and realized how famous Patsy Cline really was because she was just mom to me. Creating this museum has really shown me how far reaching her career was. When I hear a singer like Bryan Adams say he’s a big fan of Patsy Cline, or a big TV star comes into the museum [who] tells me I grew up listening to your mom. I am always amazed and proud of her.
Fans of all ages still listen to Patsy Cline's inimitable voice. Patsy & Loretta helped some fans get a new appreciation for Patsy Cline:
Country music fans have been treated to some great history in the past month. Before the Patsy & Loretta movie, many fans watched Ken Burns' eight-episode Country Music documentary miniseries on PBS, which also featured Patsy Cline and Loretta Lynn. Keep up with everything still airing on TV this year with our handy 2019 fall TV premiere schedule.
