Dolly Parton
Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter, actress, and philanthropist, known primarily for her decades-long career in country music. Widely considered to be one of the top cultural icons in American history, after achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton made her album debut in 1967 with Hello, I'm Dolly, which led to success during the remainder of the 1960s (both as a solo artist and with a series of duet albums with Porter Wagoner), before her sales and chart peak came during the 1970s and continued into the 1980s. Some of Parton's albums in the 1990s did not sell as well, but she achieved commercial success again in the new millennium and has released albums on various independent labels since 2000, including her own label, Dolly Records.
Dolly Parton
- Singer
- songwriter
- musician
- actress
- philanthropist
- businesswoman
1956–present
- Bill Owens (uncle)
- Randy Parton (brother)
- Stella Parton (sister)
- Rachel Parton George (sister)
With a career spanning over fifty years, Parton has been described as a "country legend" and has sold more than 100 million records worldwide, making her one of the best-selling music artists of all time.[2][3] Parton's music includes Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA)-certified gold, platinum and multi-platinum awards. She has had 25 singles reach no. 1 on the Billboard country music charts, a record for a female artist (tied with Reba McEntire). She has 44 career Top 10 country albums, a record for any artist, and she has 110 career-charted singles over the past 40 years. She has composed over 3,000 songs, including "I Will Always Love You" (a two-time U.S. country chart-topper, and an international hit for Whitney Houston), "Jolene", "Coat of Many Colors", and "9 to 5". As an actress, she has starred in films including 9 to 5 (1980) and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982), for which she earned Golden Globe nominations for Best Actress, and Rhinestone (1984), Steel Magnolias (1989), Straight Talk (1992) and Joyful Noise (2012).
She has received 11 Grammy Awards out of 50 nominations, including the Lifetime Achievement Award; ten Country Music Association Awards, including Entertainer of the Year and is one of only seven female artists to win the Country Music Association's Entertainer of the Year Award; five Academy of Country Music Awards, also including Entertainer of the Year; four People's Choice Awards; and three American Music Awards. She is also in a select group to have received at least one nomination from the Academy Awards, Grammy Awards, Tony Awards, and Emmy Awards. In 1999, Parton was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. In 2005, she received the National Medal of Arts and in 2022, she was nominated for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, a nomination she had initially declined but ultimately accepted, and was subsequently inducted.
Outside of her work in the music industry, she also co-owns The Dollywood Company, which manages a number of entertainment venues including the Dollywood theme park, the Splash Country water park, and a number of dinner theatre venues such as The Dolly Parton Stampede and Pirates Voyage. She has founded a number of charitable and philanthropic organizations, chief among them is the Dollywood Foundation, which manages a number of projects to bring education and poverty relief to East Tennessee where she grew up.
Artistry[edit]
Influences[edit]
Parton, though influenced by big name stars, often credits much of her inspiration to her family and community. On her own mother Parton, in her 2020 book Songteller: My Life in Lyrics, wrote "So it was just natural for my mom to always be singing. My mother had that old-timey voice, and she used to sing all these songs that were brought over from the Old World. They were English, Irish, Welsh, folk songs where people tell stories." Parton calls her mother's voice "haunting". "Lord you would feel it", she wrote.[94] Her biggest influence however was her Aunt Dorothy Jo: "People often ask me who my influences were, they think I'm going to say some big names, and there were a few 'stars' I was impressed with. But my hero was my aunt Dorothy Jo. Mama's baby sister. She was not only an evangelist, she played banjo, she played guitar, and she wrote some great songs."[94] Of course, fellow singers also had an impact on Parton, describing George Jones as her "all time favorite singer",[95] and recognizing her love for other artists such as Kitty Wells, Roy Acuff, and Rose Maddox.[96][97]
Musicianship[edit]
Though unable to read sheet music, Parton can play many instruments, including: the dulcimer, autoharp, banjo, guitar, electric guitar, fiddle, piano, recorder, and the saxophone.[98] Reflecting on her multi-instrumental abilities, Parton said, "I play some of everything. I ain't that good at none of it, but I try to sell it. I really try to lay into it."[99] Parton has also used her fingernails as an instrument, most evident on her 1980 song "9 to 5", which she derived the beat from clacking her nails together while backstage on the set of the film of the same name.[100]
Acting career[edit]
Acting breakthrough[edit]
In addition to her performing appearances on The Porter Wagoner Show in the 1960s and into the 1970s, her two self-titled television variety shows in the 1970s and 1980s, and on American Idol in 2008 and other guest appearances, Parton has had television roles. In 1979, she received an Emmy award nomination as "Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Variety Program" for her guest appearance in a Cher special.[122] During the mid-1970s, Parton wanted to expand her audience base. Although her first attempt, the television variety show Dolly! (1976–77), had high ratings, it lasted only one season, with Parton requesting to be released from her contract because of the stress it was causing on her vocal cords. (She later tried a second television variety show, also titled Dolly (1987–88); it too lasted only one season).
In her first feature film, Parton portrayed a secretary in a leading role with Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin in the comedy film 9 to 5 (1980). The movie highlights discrimination against women in the workplace and created awareness of the National Association of Working Women (9–5).[123] She received nominations for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy and a Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year – Actress.[17][124] Parton wrote and recorded the film's title song. It received nominations for an Academy Award for Best Song and a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song.[124] Released as a single, the song won both the Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance and the Grammy Award for Best Country Song. It also reached no. 1 on the Hot 100 chart and it was no. 78 on the "AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs" list released by the American Film Institute in 2004. 9 to 5 became a major box office success, grossing over $3.9 million its opening weekend, and over $103 million worldwide. Parton was named Top Female Box Office Star by the Motion Picture Herald in both 1981 and 1982 due to the film's success.[125]
In late 1981, Parton began filming her second film, the musical film The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982).[17] The film earned her a second nomination for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy.[124] The film was greeted with positive critical reviews and became a commercial success, earning over $69 million worldwide. After a two-year hiatus from films, Parton was teamed with Sylvester Stallone for Rhinestone (1984). A comedy film about a country music star's efforts to mould an unknown into a music sensation, the film was a critical and financial failure, making just over $21 million on a $28 million budget.
Continued roles[edit]
In 1989, Parton returned to film acting in Steel Magnolias (1989), based on the play of the same name by Robert Harling. The film was popular with critics and audiences, grossing over $95 million in the U.S. Parton starred in the television movies A Smoky Mountain Christmas (1986), Wild Texas Wind (1991), Unlikely Angel (1996), portraying an angel sent back to earth after a deadly car crash, and Blue Valley Songbird (1999), where her character lives through her music. She starred with James Woods in Straight Talk (1992), which received mixed reviews, and grossed a mild $21 million at the box office.[126]
Parton's 1987 variety show Dolly lasted only one season. She made a cameo appearance as herself in The Beverly Hillbillies (1993), an adaptation of the long-running TV sitcom of the same name (1962–1971).[17] Parton has done voice work for animation for television series, playing herself in Alvin and the Chipmunks (episode "Urban Chipmunk", 1983) and the character Katrina Eloise "Murph" Murphy (Ms. Frizzle's first cousin) in The Magic School Bus (episode "The Family Holiday Special", 1994). She also has guest-starred in several sitcoms, including a 1990 episode of Designing Women (episode "The First Day of the Last Decade of the Entire Twentieth Century") as herself, the guardian movie star of Charlene's baby.[127] She made a guest appearance on Reba (episode "Reba's Rules of Real Estate") portraying a real-estate agency owner and on The Simpsons (episode "Sunday, Cruddy Sunday", 1999). She appeared as herself in 2000 on the Halloween episode of Bette Midler's short-lived sitcom Bette, and on episode 14 of Babes (produced by Sandollar Productions, Parton and Sandy Gallin's joint production company). She made cameo appearances on the Disney Channel as "Aunt Dolly", visiting Hannah and her family in fellow Tennessean and real-life goddaughter Miley Cyrus's series Hannah Montana (episodes "Good Golly, Miss Dolly", 2006, "I Will Always Loathe You", 2007, and "Kiss It All Goodbye", 2010). She was nominated for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series.[128]
Parton appeared as an overprotective mother in the comedy Frank McKlusky, C.I.. (2002) She made a cameo appearance in the comedy film Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous, starring Sandra Bullock. She was featured in The Book Lady (2008), a documentary about her campaign for children's literacy. Parton expected to reprise her television role as Hannah's godmother in the musical comedy film Hannah Montana: The Movie (2009), but the character was omitted from the screenplay.[129]
Since 2010[edit]
Parton had a voice role in the comedy family film Gnomeo & Juliet (2011), an animated film with garden gnomes about William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. She co-starred with Queen Latifah in the musical film Joyful Noise (2012),[130] playing a choir director's widow who joins forces with Latifah's character, a mother of two teens, to save a small Georgia town's gospel choir.[131]
Dolly Parton's Coat of Many Colors, a made-for-TV film based on Parton's song of the same name, and featuring narration by Parton, aired on NBC in December 2015, with child actress Alyvia Alyn Lind portraying the young Parton. Parton also had a cameo in the sequel, which aired in November 2016.[132]
In June 2018, Parton announced an eight-part Netflix series, featuring her music career.[133][134] She is its executive producer and co-star.[135] The series, called Dolly Parton's Heartstrings, aired in November 2019.[136]
Parton is the subject of the NPR podcast Dolly Parton's America. It is hosted by Jad Abumrad, who also hosts Radiolab.[137]
In December 2019, the biographical documentary Here I Am was added to the catalog of the Netflix streaming service. The documentary, a co-production of Netflix and the BBC, takes its name from Parton's 1971 song.
In November 2020, Parton produced and starred in the Netflix musical film Dolly Parton's Christmas on the Square, which won her a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Television Movie.[138]
In November 2021, Parton was confirmed to be appearing in the final season of Grace and Frankie in a guest-starring role, reuniting with her 9 to 5 co-stars Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda.[139]
In July 2022, Parton appeared as a simulation of herself on sci-fi show The Orville in the episode "Midnight Blue".[140]
In December 2022, Parton appeared in an NBC special titled Dolly Parton's Mountain Magic Christmas.
On Thanksgiving 2023, Parton performed songs during halftime at the Washington Commanders and Dallas Cowboys NFL football game.[141]
Personal life[edit]
Family[edit]
Parton is the fourth of 12 children. Her siblings are Willadeene, David Wilburn, Coy Denver, Robert Lee, Stella Mae, Cassie Nan, Randel Huston (deceased), Larry Gerald (deceased), twins Floyd Estel (deceased) and Frieda Estelle, and Rachel Ann.[142]
On May 30, 1966, Parton and Carl Thomas Dean (born July 20, 1942, in Nashville, Tennessee) were married in Ringgold, Georgia.[143][144] Although Parton does not use Dean's surname professionally, she has stated that her passport reads "Dolly Parton Dean", and she sometimes uses Dean when signing contracts.[145]
Dean, who is retired from running an asphalt road-paving business in Nashville, has always shunned publicity, and rarely accompanies his wife to any events. Parton has jokingly said that he has only seen her perform once. She also has said in interviews that even though it appears they spend little time together, it is simply that nobody sees him publicly. She has commented on Dean's romantic side, saying that he does spontaneous things to surprise her, and sometimes even writes poems for her.[146] In 2011, Parton said, "We're really very proud of our marriage. It's the first for both of us. And the last."[147]
On May 6, 2016, Parton announced that she and Dean would renew their vows in honor of their 50th wedding anniversary later in the month.[148]
While Parton has never had children, she and Dean helped raise several of her younger siblings in Nashville, leading her nieces and nephews to refer to them as "Uncle Peepaw" and "Aunt Granny"; the latter a moniker that later lent its name to one of Parton's Dollywood restaurants.
Parton is also the godmother of singer-songwriter and actress Miley Cyrus.[149]
Faith[edit]
Parton says that she is a committed Christian, which has influenced many of her musical releases.[150]
She talked about her liberal approach to faith in the January issue of New Humanist magazine. "I wouldn't even say I'm religious, though I grew up with that background. But I have a lot of faith in myself and I've been so blessed to have been around great people my whole life, my Uncle Bill and my family being supportive, and all the people I met along the way."
[151]
Theatrical releases
