A 1989 movie about a rock and roll legend was partially filmed in Arkansas. Dennis Quaid portrayed rocker Jerry Lee Lewis in “Great Balls of Fire,” a film covering his early life and the period in the 1950s when he married his thirteen-year-old cousin, played by Winona Ryder, and damaged his rise to stardom.
Alec Baldwin played Lewis’s cousin, televangelist Jimmy Swaggart, in the film. While most of the movie was filmed in Memphis, where Lewis recorded in Sun Studios, several scenes were shot in the Crittenden County towns of Marion and West Memphis. Lewis was impressed by Quaid’s interpretation of his songs and suggested that he sing them in the movie but the actor ultimately lip-synced Lewis’s recordings.
The hands of Jason D. Williams of El Dorado, who is often compared to Lewis, were shown in piano-playing scenes. Film critic Roger Ebert found the movie “simple-minded rock ‘n’ roll history” but gave Quaid high marks for his energetic stage performances.
To learn more, visit encyclopediaofarkansas.net.
You can read the entire Encyclopedia entry at Great Balls of Fire! - Encyclopedia of Arkansas,
