His story will have you singing, laughing, crying, cheering, and stomping your feet
A chronicle of the rise and brief career of rock 'n' roll star Buddy Holly, who aspires to play music the way he wants it to sound. Holly and his band, the Crickets, are first invited to record in Nashville, where they encounter creative differences with the producing staff. Later they play a major booking at the Apollo Theater, scheduled there under the mistaken assumption that they're a black band. Holly's career eventually goes solo -- until the tragic day the music dies.
The Buddy Holly Story (1978) is a drama and music film directed by Steve Rash, released on May 18, 1978 with a runtime of 1h 54m. It stars Gary Busey, Don Stroud, Charles Martin Smith and Conrad Janis. Viewers rate it 7.1 out of 10 across 134 ratings.
Watch the official trailer for The Buddy Holly Story before you stream it.
Official trailers, teasers, clips and featurettes for The Buddy Holly Story.
Trailer
Featurette
Gary Busey
as Buddy Holly
Don Stroud
as Jesse Charles
Charles Martin Smith
as Ray Bob Simmons
Conrad Janis
as Ross Turner
William Jordan
as Riley
Maria Richwine
as Maria Elena Holly
Amy Johnston
as Cindy Lou
Dick O'Neill
as Sol Gittler
Fred Travalena
as Madman Mancuso
Neva Patterson
as Mrs. Holly
Arch Johnson
as Mr. Holly
John F. Goff
as T.J.
Directed by Steve Rash, written by Robert Gittler and Alan Swyer.
Average viewer score of 7.1/10 from 134 ratings.
Aside from a passable resemblance to the man himself, Gary Busey also sounds a bit like Buddy Holly in this biopic of a man who blazed a trail through the American music industry. Despite the popularity of his toe-tapping "Peggy Sue" type numbers, he still faced quite an uphill battle to convince the powers that be that his quirky style of lyric writing and performing was not quite as Satanic as some of the more…
Reviewed on August 6, 2024
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The Buddy Holly Story (1978) is available to stream on Criterion Channel and Sony Pictures Core Amazon Channel, and to rent or buy from Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home and MovieMe. Streaming availability is checked against JustWatch data and can change by region.
The main cast of The Buddy Holly Story (1978) includes Gary Busey, Don Stroud, Charles Martin Smith, Conrad Janis and William Jordan. The film was directed by Steve Rash. You can see the full cast and crew list, with character names, further up this page.
The Buddy Holly Story was released on May 18, 1978 and runs for 1h 54m.
The Buddy Holly Story (1978) holds an average rating of 7.1 out of 10 from 134 viewer votes, and is a good pick if you enjoy drama and music films. Read the viewer reviews on this page to decide for yourself.
Yes. The official The Buddy Holly Story trailer is embedded in the trailer section of this page and plays instantly, no download or sign-up required.
