Editing Patsy Cline (section)

==Early life==
[[File:Patsy Cline's Home in Winchester, Virginia.jpg|thumb|right|[[Patsy Cline House|Cline's house]] on South Kent Street in Winchester, Virginia where she lived from age 16 to 21.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/magazine/1985/09/29/sweet-dreams/7eb27412-edbb-42fd-b117-7c3c5dd15655/|title=Washington Post Washington, DC, Sweet Dreams Article|last=McGhee|first=Dorothy|date=September 29, 1985|website=ICPSR Data Holdings|access-date=March 9, 2019}}</ref>]]
Virginia Patterson Hensley was born in [[Winchester, Virginia]], on September 8, 1932, to Hilda Virginia (née Patterson) and Samuel Lawrence Hensley.<ref name="The Post">{{cite news |last1=Pae |first1=Peter |title=CRAZY OVER CLINE |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1995/08/27/crazy-over-cline/e12f009d-80bf-49cf-a062-402184101f8e/ |access-date=August 15, 2019 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]}}</ref><ref name="Celebrating Patsy Cline">{{cite web |title=About Patsy |url=https://celebratingpatsycline.org/about-patsy/ |website=Celebrating Patsy Cline.org |access-date=August 15, 2019 |archive-date=August 15, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190815221635/https://celebratingpatsycline.org/about-patsy/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> Mrs. Hensley was only 16 years old at the time of Cline's birth. Sam Hensley had been married before; Cline had two half siblings (aged 12 and 15), who lived with a foster family because of their mother's death years before. After Cline, Hilda Hensley gave birth to  Samuel Jr. (called John) and Sylvia Mae.{{sfn|Nassour, Ellis|1993|p=7}}<ref>{{cite web |title=Daughter of a Single Mom, Singer Patsy Cline Is Still Loved |url=https://esme.com/single-moms/sons-daughters/daughter-single-mom-singer-patsy-cline-still-loved |website=Esme |date=May 7, 2018 |access-date=September 16, 2019}}</ref> Besides being called "Virginia" in her childhood, Cline was referred to as "Ginny".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Sawyer |first1=Bobbie Jean |title=10 Things You Didn't Know About Patsy Cline |url=https://www.wideopencountry.com/patsy-cline-things-you-didnt-know/ |website=Wide Open Country |access-date=September 16, 2019}}</ref>

She temporarily lived with her mother's family in [[Gore, Virginia]], before relocating many times throughout the state. In her childhood, the family relocated where Samuel Hensley, a blacksmith, could find employment, including [[Elkton, Virginia|Elkton]], [[Staunton, Virginia|Staunton]], and [[Norfolk, Virginia|Norfolk]]. When the family had little money, she would find work, including at an Elkton poultry factory, where her job was to pluck and cut chickens.{{sfn|Nassour, Ellis|1993|p=8}} The family moved often before finally settling in Winchester, Virginia, on South Kent Street.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/magazine/1985/09/29/sweet-dreams/7eb27412-edbb-42fd-b117-7c3c5dd15655/|title=Sweet Dreams|last=McGhee|first=Dorothy|date=September 29, 1985|newspaper=Washington Post}}</ref> Cline would later report that her father sexually abused her.<ref name="Country Music Hall of Fame">{{cite web |title=Patsy Cline – Country Music Hall of Fame |url=https://countrymusichalloffame.org/artist/patsy-cline/ |website=[[Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum]] |access-date=August 15, 2019}}</ref> When confiding the abuse to friend [[Loretta Lynn]], Cline told her, "take this to your grave." Hilda Hensley would later report details of the abuse to producers of Cline's 1985 biopic ''[[Sweet Dreams (1985 film)|Sweet Dreams]]''.<ref name="Encyclopedia">{{cite web |title=Cline, Patsy (1932–1963) |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/women/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/cline-patsy-1932-1963 |website=[[Encyclopedia.com]] |access-date=August 15, 2019}}</ref>

At age 13, Cline was hospitalized with a throat infection and [[rheumatic fever]]. Speaking of the incident in 1957, she said, "I developed a terrible throat infection and my heart even stopped beating. The doctor put me in an oxygen tent. You might say it was my return to the living after several days that launched me as a singer. The fever affected my throat and when I recovered, I had this booming voice like [[Kate Smith]]'s."{{sfn|Nassour, Ellis|1993|p=9}}<ref name="U Discover">{{cite web |last1=U Discover Staff |title=50 Facts About Patsy Cline |url=https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/50-facts-about-patsy-cline/ |website=U Discover |access-date=August 16, 2019}}</ref>During this time, she developed an interest in singing. She started performing with her mother in the local Baptist choir. Mother and daughter also performed duets at church social events.{{sfn|Nassour, Ellis|1993|p=9}} She also taught herself how to play the [[piano]].<ref name="Biography">{{cite web |title=Patsy Cline – Singer, Pianist |url=https://www.biography.com/musician/patsy-cline |website=[[Biography (TV program)|Biography]] |access-date=August 16, 2019}}</ref>

With the new performing opportunities, Cline's interest in singing grew, and at the age of 14, she told her mother that she was going to audition for the local radio station. Her first radio performances were at [[WINC (AM)|WINC]] in the Winchester area. According to WINC's radio disc jockey Joltin' Jim McCoy, Cline appeared in the station's waiting room one day and asked to audition. McCoy was impressed by her audition performance, reportedly saying, "Well, if you've got nerve enough to stand before that mic[rophone] and sing over the air live, I've got nerve enough to let you."{{sfn|Nassour, Ellis|1993|p=10}} While performing on the radio, Cline also started appearing in talent contests and created a nightclub cabaret act similar to performer [[Helen Morgan (singer)|Helen Morgan's]].<ref name="Country Music Hall of Fame"/>

Cline's parents had marital conflicts during her childhood, and by 1947, her father had deserted the family. Author Ellis Nassour of the biography ''Honky Tonk Angel: An Intimate Story of Patsy Cline'' reported Cline had a "beautiful relationship" with her mother. In his interviews with Hilda Hensley, he quoted Cline's mother as saying they "were more like sisters" than parent and child.{{sfn|Nassour, Ellis|1993|p=11}} Cline attended the ninth grade at [[John Handley High School]] in Winchester.<ref name="Encyclopedia"/> However, the family had trouble sustaining an income after her father's desertion, and Cline dropped out of high school to help support the family. She began working at Gaunt's Drug Store in the Winchester area as a clerk and [[soda jerk]].{{sfn|Nassour, Ellis|1993|p=11}}