Forever known as the country music's iconic Man in Black, and famous for dark themes and a special bond with men in jail, Johnny Cash was also a deeply spiritual Christian. It was this dual quality of a man who could sing gospel music one day and then sing of killing a man in Reno the next that kept him so elusive and popular.

John R. Cash was born into a big struggling farm family in 1932, in Arkansas. The family crop – like those of many southern households – was cotton, and John and his four siblings picked it by hand, year after year. But young John always had an ear for music, and enjoyed listening and singing church hymns with his mother, much to the consternation of his father, who considered it all frivolous during such hard times.With music as a strong side interest, Cash worked at an automobile factory in Michigan and then joined the Air Force in 1950. Upon completing his tour of duty – which included a stint in Germany – Cash came back home to the south and married young Vivien Liberto, settling in Memphis, Tennessee.

Working as a door-to-door salesman, Cash couldn’t shake the performing bug, and he took a course in radio announcing. But even that wasn’t enough, and soon he auditioned for Sun Records and in record time signed a contract with Sun’s legendary producer Sam Philips, who was already jumpstarting the career of a young Elvis Presley. Cash’s first single was the immensely popular “Hey, Porter.” Cash blossomed under the label, jamming with soon-to-be-superstars such as Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins; they all earned the appropriate nickname, “The Million Dollar Quartet.” But even as Cash grew in popularity, his music stayed dark and sometimes menacing – lyrics for “I Walk the Line” and “Ring of Fire” – written by fellow performer June Carter – betrayed a man beset by pain, loneliness and searing temptation. Much of that inner turmoil was in part of the unrequited love of Carter, whom he eventually married in 1968, after splitting from his first wife, with whom he already had children.

It was Carter who returned Cash to his religious roots, in part to help him with his growing addiction to prescription drugs and painkillers. Cash turned into a regular churchgoer, and proceeded to record gospel albums throughout his life. But he also continued to battle his drug-fueled inner demons, too, which led to destructive behavior and trouble with the law.

While steeped in tradition, Cash was also an innovator. He defended Bob Dylan when he caused an uproar by “going electric,” and later in life he recorded music with U2. But perhaps his most famous move was recording a controversial live album at a small concert at Folsom Prison, the inspiration for his early hit, “Folsom Prison Blues.” Record producers were leery at first, fearing that Cash’s open kinship and sorrow for convicted men would alienate his religious fans. But Cash maintained that forgiveness and caring were cornerstones of his beliefs.

Although Cash never again achieved the heights of his musical output in the 1950 and 60s, he remained popular in the decades to follow, briefly starring in his own country music show on ABC and teaming with Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson and Waylon Jennings to form the country group, “The Highwaymen” in the 1980s. He later signed with rock and rap producer Rick Rubin and generated several critically acclaimed albums from the relationship.

Cash also enjoyed a steady side career as an actor, beginning with "Door-to-Door Maniac" (1961), a low-budget crime drama in which he played a bank robber who rterrorizes a town by committing murders after knocking on random doors. A turn as a weary gunman opposite Kirk Douglas in 1971's "A Gunfight" (1971) provided an entry into Westerns and rural dramas, the genre that would suit him best and most frequently, particularly in made-for-television fare such as "Thaddeus Rose and Eddie" (1978) in the title role opposite Bo Hopkins, Diane Ladd and June Carter Cash; "The Pride of Jesse Hallam" (1981) in the title role as a Kentuckian who faces his illiteracy after a move to the big city; the above-average "Murder in Coweta County" (1983) as a dogged country sheriff who pursues a loathesome tycoon (a stellar Andy Griffith) who believes himself above the law; as part of the all-star cast of "North and South" (1985), and the highly rated ABC miniseries based on John Jakes' civil war novels. Cash also teamed with his good friend Kristofferson for the telepic "The Last Days of Frank and Jesse James" (1986) as the legendary outlaws late in life, and that same year both stars joined their fellow Highwaymen Nelson and Jennings to headline a country star-filled TV remake of the John Ford classic Western "Stagecoach." His last on-screen role was as the narrator of the Tommy Lee Jones-Benecio del Toro starrer "The Hunted" (2003).

Pn the small screen, Cash was a frequent musical presence on such country music-centric series as "Ranch Party" and "Hootenanny Hoot," as well as mainstream comedy/variety series like "Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In" and "Saturday Night Live." He headlined two of his own variety shows, 1969's "The Johnny Cash Show" and "Johnny Cash and Friends" (1976), while also co-writing, producing and starring in the much-maligned pro-Christian telepic "Gospel Road: A Story of Jesus" (1973). Along with headlining and appearing in scores of music-oriented specials, Cash also acted on several series, including "Little House on the Prairie," a recurring role as Kid Cole on "Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman," and memorably on "The Simpsons" as the voice of the Coyote in Homer Simpson's psychedellic soul journey in the 1997 episode "El Viaje Misterioso de Nuestro Homer."

Johnny Cash remained restless, and innovative, up until the end, recording a cover the Nine Inch Nails song “Hurt,” and appearing in a powerful and popular accompanying video, which garnered recognition and awards on MTV. Throughout the years, he always made clear the importance in his life of his religion and his wife. After 35 years of marriage and collaboration, June Carter Cash passed away in May of 2003 and, bereft following her loss, Cash passed away in September of that year, but his legend lived on--not just in his music, but in director James Mangold's well-made, highly regarded 2005 biopic "Walk the Line," based on one of Cash's autobiographies, which focused on the musician's rise to fame, struggles with addiction, and most prominently his intially stormy but salvation-based relationship with June. The film featured a blistering pair of performances by Joaquin Phoenix as Cash (a casting choice the singer approved) and Reese Witherspoon as June. Both actors equated themselves as singers, performing the couple's tunes in the film.