Tom Hiddleston portrayed a singer that died.
Hiram King `` Hank '' Williams ( [ ˈhæŋk_ˈwɪljəmz _ ] September 17 , 1923 -- January 1 , 1953 ) was an American country music singer-songwriter and musician . Williams died on New Year 's Day of 1953 at the age of 29 , from heart failure exacerbated by pills and alcohol . Tom Hiddleston . In 2015 , he starred in Guillermo del Toro 's Crimson Peak , Ben Wheatley 's High Rise , and played the troubled country music singer Hank Williams in the biopic I Saw The Light .