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November 25, 2025

How much true crime is on Johnny Cash's acting c.v.?

the true crime that's worth your time

Margaret Howie runs the true-crime résumé numbers on The Man In Black.

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Last October the legendary Johnny Cash was the subject of a culture-baiting attempt by the Wall Street Journal that claimed he wasn’t considered cool, which is hilarious because Johnny Cash is out here looking like this on a postage stamp. Johnny Cash stays cool even in a Wikipedia entry where he’s pictured posing with two different Republican presidents.

Cash and Richard Nixon engaged in conversation in a black and white photo.
Cash visits Richard Nixon at the White House in 1972. Hilariously, the AI alt-text app thought this was Pesci and De Niro. (Nixon Library)

Compare Cash to fellow icons Elvis or Sinatra and he out-cools both of them without lifting a finger. Like them, Cash wasn’t just a musician, but had a side hustle as an actor, with a career that was spotty but ranged over five decades.

So let’s run a BET-CRP: the Best Evidence True-Crime Résumé Percentage on Mr. Folsom Prison Blues himself.

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