The biographical portrait of legendary roadie Ben Dorcy premieres April 27 at the Dallas International Film Festival.
Who was Ben Dorcy and why did they make a documentary about him?
There are several good reasons, all of them vividly detailed and affectionately celebrated in Willie Nelson Presents: The King of the Roadies. It’s a hugely entertaining cinematic portrait of the remarkable man once described as the true-life Forrest Gump of country music, and who prompted no less a luminary than Waylon Jennings to pen a tune in his honor, “Ode to Ben.”
The film, which premieres April 27 at the Dallas International Film Festival, duly covers Dorcy’s salad days as a member of the Ice Capades and gardener/chauffeur to John Wayne, but devotes most of its running time to the many years he toured with such greats as Johnny Cash, June Carter Cash, Elvis Presley, Patsy Cline, Willie Nelson, Kinky Friedman, Jack Ingram, and Jamey Johnson. Throughout the documentary, Nelson and friends share stories of the country music hero who pioneered an entire profession as the world’s first roadie.
Known as “Lovey” to the many who knew and worked with him, Dorcy continued to work until the week before he died in 2017, at age 92. But his legend lives on Willie Nelson Presents: The King of the Roadies, which was co-directed by Amy Lee Nelson (pictured above), Willie’s daughter, and Trevor Doyle Nelson, his great-grandnephew. We spoke with Amy earlier this week about the man and the movie in the C&I Studio.
