Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fabulous Dolly Parton

There have been so many stories about Dolly Parton that I’m not sure there’s anything left to say; except to add my name to the list of millions who enjoy her music, her appearances on TV and in the movies, and any tidbit of history defining her rise in fame to an Entertainment ICON. So, bear with me as I tell you some things you already knew, and maybe there will be a few things you didn’t, about this seriously talented lady who is confident enough to laugh at herself and her iconic body.

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Dolly, a shrewd businesswoman, started her own publishing company about 20 years ago and owns her entire music catalog, with over 3,000 songs, worth an estimated $150 million. In 2023, she is reported to be worth between $650 and $800 million. Some speculate she would be a billionaire if it were not for her generosity. She starts her day after only 3 to 5 hours of sleep and claims to do her best work at 3:00 am.

With all her money, Dolly still chooses to live in a 3,324 sq ft home in Brentwood, Tennessee, that she and her husband, Carl Dean, bought in 1999 for $400,000. Pictures show the beautiful acreage and all the structures erected on the grounds over the years. Still, it is conservative in comparison to the outrageous opulent dwellings of most multimillionaires.

Click here to read about Annie Potts.

Dolly met her husband, Carl Dean, who is retired from the asphalt paving business, at a laundromat, and they have been married since 1966; they have no children. Whether or not Dolly broke her marriage vows isn’t clear, and really … none of my business. In interviews over the years, she didn’t fan the flames or put them out when asked about possible extramarital affairs.

People think she may have been romantically involved with Burt Reynolds, a rumor that both actors denied. In the 1982 movie, “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas,” Dolly sang the song “I’ll Always Love You” to Burt Reynolds. She wrote the song several years before for her Country music (platonic) partner, Porter Wagoner, when their careers split off in different directions. Unlike the powerful version sung by Whitney Houston, years later, the song was tearfully and softly delivered; and one could imagine the two actors pairing up off camera. Always entertaining and outspoken, Dolly was asked about working with Burt Reynolds soon after the movie was released. Dolly replied, “Burt and I have a lot in common; we both have 40-inch chests, we both wear heels, and we both wear wigs.”  Mr. Reynolds was not amused.

Dolly Rebecca Parton (her real name) was born in 1946 in Sevier County, Tennessee, the fourth of 12 children. She was raised in a one-room cabin with no indoor plumbing or electricity. The doctor, who delivered several Parton children and Dolly, was compensated for the visit with a bit of grain since money for the family was non-existent.

Of all the songs she wrote, one of her favorites is “The Coat of Many Colors.”  The family was so poor they barely had enough to eat. The winters in Tennessee can be brutal, so her mother made a coat for Dolly from scraps of material and rags that people had given her. Along with the pieced coat, her mother relayed the bible story of Jacob’s gift to his son, Joseph, a coat of many colors. Dolly was thrilled with her coat until she became the subject of ridicule at school for wearing what the bullies called a coat of rags. Years later, when she was on the tour bus with the Porter Wagoner group, the idea for a song about that coat came to her. With nothing to write on, she tore off a dry-cleaning receipt from the plastic covering one of Porter’s sequined suits and wrote her song about a terribly embarrassing time in her life. Porter Wagoner kept and framed that receipt with Dolly’s handwritten lyrics.

Click here to learn about Dixie Carter and the Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia.

Her songs and appearances in movies and on TV are too numerous to list. She has earned eight Grammy Awards, two Academy Award nominations, ten Country Music Association Awards, Seven Academy of Country Music Awards, three American Music Awards, and the Country Music Association’s Entertainer of the Year Award (only given to seven female artists). Because the votes were split and she didn’t want to cause a divide, Dolly initially turned down the induction to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame but was later inducted with the 2022 recipients.

As a true fan who has followed her career beginning with the Porter Wagoner show and all through the years of movies, TV specials, and the many wonderful songs, my favorite “Dolly” quote that best describes this bedazzled authentic lady is when she said: “I wear wigs. I might be artificial, but I’m real where it counts … right here in my heart.”

Dolly Parton pays about $30 for her synthetic wigs and never uses expensive skin care. She wears high heels and high hair to appear taller. She keeps her hands covered to hide the scars from surgeries and the respectable tattoos that were supposed to cover the scars but didn’t.

With the exception of the 15 to 20 minutes it takes to wash her face and apply her makeup very early in the morning, she is never without what she terms a “complete face.”  That is, she wears her makeup to bed, and she calls it being “ambulance-ready” at all times.

She dislikes her short hands, so she wears acrylic nails to make them appear longer. She says they come in handy as guitar picks or when opening a soda can. Those acrylics and a nail file helped to develop the beat for the hit song that inspired a movie of the same name, “Nine to Five.”

She laughs as she admits to a little surgical intervention. According to Dolly, her husband asks, “Why would I ever cheat on you when I get a new woman every three years.”

Since she is not a fan of exercise, she frequently diets.

Dolly Parton Diet:

Breakfast: egg salad on toast with tomato or, as an alternative, a bagel with cream cheese and cucumbers, and tomato slices.

Main Meals: cabbage soup (see a recipe below … there are many versions) with fruit and veggies.

Cabbage Soup

Ingredients:

6 medium onions

2 large green bell peppers

1 large cabbage

1 medium celery bunch

1 or 2 large cans of whole tomatoes or fresh tomatoes

1 pouch dry onion soup mix

Herb seasoning (optional)

Water to cover

Directions:

Cut veggies into medium pieces, add all ingredients to a soup pot, cover and boil for 10 minutes. Turn to low and simmer until veggies are desired tenderness. Refrigerate leftovers.