Musician, Actor. Drummer with the music group The Band. Born Mark Lavon Helm, the son of a cotton farmer and part-time musician, his love of music was born from his family's encouragement. Listening to the Grand Ole Opry also shaped his musical interests. He received his first guitar at the age of nine and while a teenager, he formed his own group The Jungle Bush Beaters and learned showmanship while watching the likes of Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard. His break came when he caught the attention of Conway Twitty with whom we would occasionally sit in on performances. Helm (now playing the drums) began to collaborate with Ronnie Hawkins in 1959 and the pair acquired a following which resulted after the release of the hits "Forty Days" and "Mary Lou", in addition to an appearance on Dick Clark's American Bandstand. Robbie Robertson, Rick Danko, Richard Manuel and Garth Hudson were recruited and eventually formed Levon and the Hawks minus Hawkins. They joined forces with Bob Dylan on tour, later taking up residence in Woodstock, New York and renamed themselves The Band, releasing their first studio album "Music from Big Pink" (1968), followed up with "The Band" (1969) and "Stage Fright" (1970). Several hits from this period include "The Weight" (1968), "Chest Fever" (1968), "I Shall Be Released" (1968), "Up on Cripple Creek" (1969), "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" (1969), "Rag Mama Rag" (1969), "Stage Fright" (1970), "The Shape I'm In" (1970) and "Ophelia" (1975). In addition, they recorded their famous sessions with Dylan called "The Basement Tapes" (1975). On Thanksgiving Day 1976, The Band held their farewell concert "The Last Waltz" at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco, which included a wide array of music greats. That farewell concert was subsequently released as a concert film and live album in 1978. Helm went onto a solo recording career and also concentrated on acting. In 1980, he made his film debut as Loretta Lynn's father in the Oscar-nominated film Coal Miner's Daughter. Three years later, he played test pilot and aeronautical engineer Jack Ridley in the Oscar-nominated film The Right Stuff. In 1994, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of The Band. He died following a lengthy battle with cancer.