Names and faces

LITTLE ROCK — Conway Twitty, who started as a teen rock idol in the 1950s and crossed over to country music to become a star, will be honored with a marker on the Mississippi Country Music Trail. The marker will be unveiled today in Friars Point. Twitty was born in Friars Point in 1933, as Harold Lloyd Jenkins, named after the silent movie star. He changed his name in 1957 by borrowing from Conway, Ark., and Twitty, Texas. After spending many years as a songwriter, his performing career took off with the name change. He recorded more than 40 No. 1 hits, including “Hello Darlin’,” “It’s Only Make Believe,” “Tight-Fittin’ Jeans” and “Linda On My Mind.” Twitty died in 1993 at the age of 59. Twitty and Loretta Lynn won the Country Music Association’s Vocal Duo of the Year award in 1972, 1973, 1974 and 1975.They won a Grammy for their 1971 duet, “After The Fire Is Gone.” Twitty got his break as a rockabilly artist in the 1950s, writing songs for the Sun Records’ stable of singers that included Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis and Johnny Cash. His first hit was “It’s Only Make Believe,” which soared to No. 1 on the pop charts in 1958. Twitty capitalized on his teen idol status by starring in the films Sex Kittens Go to College and College Confidential. Despite the advice of managers, booking agents and record company people, Twitty made the switch to country and turned out a string of No. 1 hits until “Georgia Keeps Pulling On My Ring” missed in 1977. In1982, Twitty opened Twitty City, a 9-acre tourist complex in Hendersonville, a Nashville suburb. It included performance facilities, and Twitty often would go out and greet visitors.

Andie MacDowell will be a pioneer for theHallmark Channel, starring in the network’s first prime-time series. Hallmark said Wednesday that MacDowell will portray municipal court Judge Olivia Lockhart in Cedar Grove. It will start with a two-hour movie airing later this year and continue with a 13-episode series early in 2013. The new series is based on books by author Debbie Macomber. Movie adaptations of Macomber’s books have been among the top-rated programs that Hallmark has shown over the past three years. MacDowell’s movie credits include Sex, Lies and Videotape, Groundhog Day and Four Weddings and a Funeral.