Editing Willie Nelson (section)

==Other ventures==
Nelson's acting debut was in the 1979 film ''The Electric Horseman'', followed by appearances in ''[[Honeysuckle Rose (film)|Honeysuckle Rose]]'', ''[[Thief (film)|Thief]]'', and ''[[Barbarosa]]''. He played the role of Red Loon in ''[[Coming Out of the Ice]]'' in 1982 and starred in ''Songwriter'' two years later. He portrayed the lead role in the 1986 film version of his album ''Red Headed Stranger''.{{sfn|Allmovie staff|2011}} Other movies that Nelson acted in include ''[[Wag the Dog]]'', ''[[Gone Fishin' (film)|Gone Fishin']]'' (as Billy 'Catch' Pooler), the 1986 television movie ''[[Stagecoach (TV film)|Stagecoach]]'' (with Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, and Kris Kristofferson), ''[[Half Baked]]'', ''[[Beerfest]]'', ''[[The Dukes of Hazzard (film)|The Dukes of Hazzard]]'', ''[[Surfer, Dude]]'' and ''[[Swing Vote (2008 film)|Swing Vote]]''. He has also made guest appearances on ''[[Miami Vice]]'' (1986's "El Viejo" episode); ''[[Delta (American TV series)|Delta]]''; ''[[Nash Bridges]]''; ''[[The Simpsons]]''; ''[[Monk (TV series)|Monk]]''; ''[[Adventures in Wonderland (1992 TV series)|Adventures in Wonderland]]''; ''[[Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman]]''; ''[[King of the Hill (TV series)|King of the Hill]]''; ''[[The Colbert Report]]''; ''[[Swing Vote]]''; and ''[[Space Ghost Coast to Coast]]''.{{sfn|Yahoo! Movies staff|2011}}

[[Image:Willie's Place near Hillsboro, TX IMG 4050.JPG|right|thumb|In 2008, Nelson reopened the truck stop [[Willie's Place]] near [[Hillsboro, Texas]]|alt=A store with a sign that reads "Willie's Place". The apostrophe is replaced in the sign by a bullet hole. The structure of the store is constructed in wooden with three columns. There are four windows and there are a red and a grey car in the parking lot.]]
In 1988 his first book, ''[[Willie: An Autobiography]]'', was published.{{sfn|Nelson|Shrake|Shrake|2000}} ''[[The Facts of Life: And Other Dirty Jokes]]'', a personal recollection of tour and musical stories from his career, combined with song lyrics, followed in 2002. In 2005 he co-authored ''Farm Aid: A Song for America'', a commemorative book about the twentieth anniversary of the foundation of Farm Aid.{{sfn|George-Warren|Hoekstra|2005}} His third book, co-authored with long-time friend [[Turk Pipkin]], ''The Tao of Willie: A Guide to the Happiness in Your Heart'', was published in 2006.{{sfn|NPR staff|2010}} In 2007 a book advocating the use of bio-diesel and the reduction of gas emissions, ''On The Clean Road Again: Biodiesel and The Future of the Family Farm'', was published.{{sfn|Nelson|2007a|p=29}} His next book, ''A Tale Out of Luck'', published in 2008 and co-authored by Mike Blakely, was Nelson's first fictional book.{{sfn|Nelson|2008}} In 2012, it was announced the release of a new autobiography by Nelson, ''[[Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die: Musings from the Road]]''. Released on November 13, it was named after the song from his album ''Heroes''. The book contained further biographical details, as well as family pictures and stories about Nelson's political views, as well as his marijuana advocacy. The artwork of the book was designed by Nelson's son, Micah, and the foreword written by Kinky Friedman.{{sfn|Whitaker|2012}} In 2015, the publication of a second Nelson autobiography entitled ''[[It's a Long Story: My Life]]'' co-authored with [[David Ritz]], the book was published on May 5, 2015.{{sfn|Hachette staff|2015}} ''[[Pretty Paper (book)|Pretty Paper]]'', another collaboration with Ritz was published the following year.{{sfn|Nelson|Ritz|2016}}

In 2002, Nelson became the official spokesman of the [[Texas Roadhouse]], a chain of steakhouses. Nelson heavily promoted the chain and appeared on a special on [[Food Network]]. The chain installed ''Willie's Corner'', a section dedicated to him and decked out with Willie memorabilia, at several locations.{{sfn|Carey|2003}} In 2004, Nelson and his wife Annie became partners with Bob and Kelly King in the building of two Pacific Bio-diesel plants, one in [[Salem, Oregon]], and the other at Carl's Corner, Texas (the Texas plant was founded by Carl Cornelius, a longtime Nelson friend and the eponym for Carl's Corner). In 2005, Nelson and several other business partners formed [[Willie Nelson Biodiesel]] ("Bio-Willie"), a company that was marketing bio-diesel bio-fuel to truck stops.{{sfn|SmithTaylor|2008|p=173}} The fuel was made from vegetable oil (mainly soybean oil), and can be burned without modification in [[diesel engine]]s.{{sfn|Associated Press staff|2005}} Nelson registered his company with Earth Biofuels and he became a board member. In 2007, Nelson forfeited six million shares of the company as he left the board.{{sfn|Brick, Michael|2014}} By 2008, he reopened [[Willie's Place]], a truck stop in [[Carl's Corner, Texas]]. The [[U.S. Bankruptcy Court]] allowed Nelson to invest in it. The establishment had about 80 employees,{{sfn|Dunn|2011}} and was used as a concert hall with a bar and a {{convert|1000|sqft}} dance floor.{{sfn|Willie's Place staff|2010}} Willie's Place also featured BioWillie pumps. At the time, the government of the United States offered a one dollar tax credit to producers of biodiesel. As the competition grew, the tax credit was discontinued while the prices of fossil fuels continued to drop. Nelson and his partners defaulted the $4,75 million loan they took for the construction of Willie's Place. Nelson then paid $35,000 back, while a judge later rejected the request of his creditors to receive more money from him. [[TravelCenters of America]] bought Willie's Place during its foreclosure in 2011. The BioWillie plant was then put on the market for sale. Nelson kept the trademark for BioWillie, which is sold in the islands of Maui and Hawaii. Meanwhile, Nelson owns shares of Big Island Biodiesel in Hawaii and SeQuential-Pacific Biodiesel in Oregon.{{sfn|Brick, Michael|2014}}

In 2010, Nelson founded with the collaboration of producers and filmmakers [[Luck Films]], a company dedicated to produce feature films, documentaries and concerts.{{sfn|Chagollan|2010}} The next year, he created the [[Willie's Roadhouse]] show which aired on channel 56 of [[SiriusXM]] radio. The channel was a result of the merger of his two other channels ''The Roadhouse'' and ''Willie's Place''.{{sfn|Opry.com staff|2011}} In November 2014, it was announced that Nelson would be the host of the television series ''Inside Arlyn'', shot at Arlyn Studio in Austin, Texas. The thirteen-episode first season would feature artists being interviewed by Nelson and [[Dan Rather]], followed by a performance. The series concept received attention from cable channels that requested to see the pilot episode.{{sfn|Swiatecki|2014}} Following the legalization of marijuana in different states, Nelson announced in 2015 through spokesman Michael Bowman the establishment of his own marijuana brand, [[Willie's Reserve]]. Plans to open chain stores in the states where marijuana was legalized were announced, to be expanded state-to-state if marijuana legalization is further expanded. Bowman called the brand "a culmination of (Nelson's) vision, and his whole life".{{sfn|Guardian Music staff|2015}}

In 2017, Nelson appeared as himself in [[Woody Harrelson]]'s live film, ''[[Lost in London]]''.{{sfn|Lodderhose|2016}} In June 2017, he appeared alongside Merle Haggard in the documentary ''[[The American Epic Sessions]]'' directed by [[Bernard MacMahon (filmmaker)|Bernard MacMahon]]. They performed a song Haggard had composed for the film, "The Only Man Wilder Than Me",{{sfn|Solomon|2017}}{{sfn|Hautzinger|2017}} and [[Bob Wills]]'s classic "Old Fashioned Love",{{sfn|Hautzinger|2017}} which they recorded live direct to disc on the first [[History of sound recording#The electrical era (1925 to 1945) (including sound on film)|electrical sound recording]] system from the 1920s.{{sfn|Locke|2017}} It was the last filmed performance of the pair. ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' commented that "in the final performance of Sessions, Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard perform the duet 'The Only Man Wilder Than Me.' Haggard has a look of complete joy on his face throughout the session in the old-timey recording setup once used by his musical heroes."{{sfn|Appleford|2017}}