ACTOR
Dolly Parton
- Known for
- Nine to Five (1980), The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982), Joyful Noise (2012), Rhinestone (1984)
79 archived facts 4 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
Dolly Parton is an actor best known for Nine to Five, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas and Joyful Noise.
All facts (79)
- #001
Dolly Parton lost a Dolly Parton look-alike contest.
- #002
In 1993 she received the Country Music Association's first "Country Music Honors" Award. As of 2009, she remains the only person to have received the honor.
- #003
One of 12 children, she grew up in a one-room cabin in Locust Ridge, Tennessee, that had neither electricity nor running water.
- #004
She and her husband, Carl Dean, raised five of her younger siblings.
- #005
In 1978 she became one of the few celebrities to own her own pinball machine, manufactured by the Bally Manufacturing Company. The "Dolly" pinball machine played her number-one single "Here You Come Again" while the machine was active. The item is a much sought-after piece of Dolly Parton memorabilia.
- #006
Although not credited by name, Dolly Parton was one of the executive producers of the cult classic teen horror series Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997), through her production partnership with Sandy Gallin, who managed Parton's career (known as Sandollar Entertainment).
- #007
An allergic reaction to birth control pills when she was young left her unable to have a child of her own.
- #008
She met her husband, Carl Dean, at a laundromat.
- #009
Dolly, the sheep that was the world's first cloned mammal, was named after Dolly Parton.
- #010
The children's series Sesame Street (1969) introduced a character paying tribute to Dolly Parton. She had purple skin and yellow hair and went by the name Polly Darton.
- #011
Her father, Robert Lee, was one of 15 children, and her mother, Avie Lee (Owens), was one of 10 children.
- #012
In 2008 Parton was commissioned as a Kentucky Colonel, the highest honor awarded in the state of Kentucky (USA).
- #013
She was Peter Gabriel's first choice to sing the female vocal on the 1986 duet "Don't Give Up" (a Top Ten hit in the United Kingdom in 1986). When Parton turned down the offer (she did not know who Gabriel was), Kate Bush recorded it with him instead.
- #014
On November 8, 2009, she was honored with a star on the Music City Walk of Fame in Nashville, Tennessee.
- #015
On December 23, 2010, she received the 2010 Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
- #016
In 2006 she donated $500,000 to Fort Sanders Medical Center.
- #017
She ranked 4th on the list of Country Music's 40 Greatest Women, behind 3rd-place Loretta Lynn, 2nd-place Tammy Wynette and 1st-place Patsy Cline.
- #018
On January 4, 1969, she was inducted as a member of the Grand Ole Opry.
- #019
In 2006 she was awarded the Lindy Boggs Award from the Stennis Center for Public Service, becoming its first non-political recipient.
- #020
A bronze statue of Dolly Parton stands on the grounds of the courthouse in her hometown of Sevierville, Tennessee.
- #021
On August 9, 1995, Parton was honored with the Outstanding Service to Youth Award by Tennessee District - Optimist International.
- #022
Dolly Parton was awarded the National Medal of Arts (2005).
- #023
She has a star for Grammy Award winners on the Starwalk in Nashville. She also has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame representing her achievements in the recording arts.
- #024
She was named the 4th Sexiest Woman on CMT's list of the 20 Sexiest Women in Country Music.
- #025
She owns and gives her name to "Dollywood," a Smoky Mountain region theme park located in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.
- #026
She performed the rock group Collective Soul's song "Shine," turning the alternative rock ballad into a bluegrass song.
- #027
Her younger sister, Rachel Parton George, played her character from the film 9 to 5 (1980) in the sitcom of the same name.
- #028
On July 5, 2006, she was among 120 celebrities and film industry executives invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). The Academy normally admits only 30 new members each year, but in 2006 it invited more people to replace previous members who had died or retired. Other celebrities who received invitations included Jake Gyllenhaal, Werner Herzog, Felicity Huffman, Joaquin Phoenix, Terrence Howard, Heath Ledger and Dakota Fanning.
- #029
She sang with Solomon Burke on his 2006 CD "Nashville." The pair duetted on "Tomorrow is Forever," a song Dolly wrote. The song was first recorded in 1969 by Parton and Porter Wagoner and rose to No. 9 on Billboard's Hot Country Singles chart.
- #030
Dolly Parton, Steven Spielberg, Smokey Robinson, Andrew Lloyd Webber and conductor Zubin Mehta were awarded the Kennedy Center Honors (2006).
- #031
She created the "My People Fund" to raise money for victims of the wildfires that swept through the Great Smoky Mountains region, forcing 2,000 people to evacuate and destroying 100 buildings.
- #032
She was awarded the Cliffie Stone Pioneer Award from the Academy of Country Music (2007). This lifetime achievement award is given to pioneers of country music who have made lasting contributions to the genre.
- #033
She ranked 34th on VH1's list of the Greatest Women of Rock N Roll.
- #034
The shoot for Straight Talk (1992) was such a terrible experience that she effectively retired from screen acting. All of her work since then has been television work or appearances as herself.
- #035
When Drew Barrymore spoke about her film Home Fries (1998) before its release, she explained that her character was a big Dolly Parton fan. She said the film would feature several of Parton's songs and that they had shot for two days at Dollywood. When the film was finally released, the only reference to Dolly Parton was on the walls of Drew's bedroom, covered with Dolly posters and pictures.
- #036
She turned down two separate offers of the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Donald Trump. She was unable to attend the first because her husband Carl Dean was very ill, and the second because of the Covid-19 pandemic. She insists neither instance was for political reasons.
- #037
The University of Tennessee - Knoxville awarded Parton an honorary Doctor of Humane and Musical Letters degree (2009). Parton was also awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters degree from Carson-Newman College (1990).
- #038
She is the sister of Willadeene Parton, Randy Parton and Stella Parton.
- #039
On August 1, 2007, it was announced that she would launch her own record label, Dolly Records. She is the only artist signed to the label. This is Parton's second record label launch. In 1994 she and producer Steve Buckingham founded Blue Eye Records, where Dolly was also the only artist on the roster. The Blue Eye Records imprint appeared on every Parton solo CD from 1994 to 2006. Dolly Records' first album would be Parton's February 2008 CD "Backwoods Barbie." Dolly personally finances her recordings and then leases the finished albums to other record companies for distribution. She will also personally take on responsibility for marketing CD releases on the Dolly Records label, with major label partners handling only the distribution of the projects.
- #040
Dolly Parton was offered $7 million to play the role of Selena in the film Supergirl (1984), but she turned the offer down because she felt she could not play a sorceress. The role was ultimately filled by Faye Dunaway.
- #041
In November 2007, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars of the Smithsonian Institution honored Dolly Parton with the Woodrow Wilson Award for Public Service for her civic work on children's literacy.
- #042
On June 15, 2007, she was honored with a lifetime membership in the Tanasi Girl Scout Council, a division of the Girl Scouts of the USA.
- #043
Dolly Parton is Miley Cyrus's godmother.
- #044
On June 14, 1984, she was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Recording at 6712 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California.
- #045
In poker, the hole card combination of a 9 and a 5 is called a "Dolly Parton," a name that comes from her song and film 9 to 5 (1980).
- #046
She married her husband Carl Dean on May 30, 1966, at the First Baptist Church at 7608 Nashville Street in Ringgold, Georgia.
- #047
Parton released her first officially licensed calendar for the year 2011.
- #048
She has a soprano vocal range and can sing across three octaves.
- #049
Her song "Jolene" was also performed by Olivia Newton-John, who sang it at a concert taped at the Dee Events Center in Ogden, Utah.
- #050
She was selected in 2007 by the American Songwriters Hall of Fame as the recipient of the prestigious Johnny Mercer Award.
- #051
Before Louie Anderson was hired, she was a candidate to host Family Feud (1999).
- #052
Her cousin is the adult performer and model Julia Parton, officially known as Nina Alexander.
- #053
Dolly Parton appeared in a television commercial for the Trinkets and Treasures retail store in Nashville, Tennessee (2010).
- #054
On January 9, 2012, Parton interviewed Queen Latifah as part of Cinemax's "60 Seconds With" program. The interview spot was made as part of the promotional campaign for their film Joyful Noise (2012).
- #055
Her ancestry includes English, German, Irish, Scottish and Welsh.
- #056
On December 31, 2006, Parton was named 2006 Tennessean of the Year by the Tennessean newspaper for her work on children's literacy. The newspaper has chosen a Tennessean of the Year since 1994.
- #057
Various tabloid magazines reported that she had her breast implants increased in size from 38CC to 48DD, a claim she has never disputed.
- #058
Gilley's Bar held a Dolly Parton look-alike contest for Urban Cowboy (1980).
- #059
Dolly Parton has been inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame (1986), the American Songwriters Hall of Fame (2001), the Country Music Hall of Fame (1999), the Blue Ridge Music Hall of Fame [Songwriter Category] (2008), the Gospel Music Hall of Fame (2009) and the Country Gospel Music Hall of Fame (2010).
- #060
In April 2020, Dolly Parton announced that she was donating $1 million to Vanderbilt University's efforts to find a COVID-19 vaccine. On November 16, 2020, the pharmaceutical company Moderna announced that the vaccine it had tested was 95% effective; the early stages of the research for that vaccine were funded by Ms. Parton's donation. Parton was encouraged to donate to COVID research in general and to Vanderbilt in particular because of her unlikely friendship with professor and doctor Dr. Naji Abumrad, whom she first met when he treated her at Vanderbilt University Medical Center after a minor car accident (2013).
- #061
In October 2012, Dolly Parton Video Slots was released in Las Vegas alongside Two Doors Down and Nine to Five Spinning Reels, produced by International Gaming Technologies (IGT). The slot machines featured interactive jukebox-style song selections, big bonus action and front-row concert experiences, rounded out by Parton cheering the player on.
- #062
Dolly Parton largely kept her married life out of the public eye.
- #063
Dolly Parton was buried beside her husband, Carl Dean, inside the Cross Mausoleum at Woodlawn Memorial Park and Mausoleum in Nashville, Tennessee. Woodlawn-Roesch-Patton Funeral Home provided the casket.
- #064
During the 1st Annual HEMI Awards, Dolly Parton became a member of WIVK Radio's 2006 Americana Highway HEMI Award Honor Roll. Winners in all categories were announced on September 24, 2006.
- #065
Dolly Parton's husband is an asphalt contractor.
- #066
Dolly Parton recorded the song "My Tennessee Hills" with folk icon Janis Ian for Ian's 2004 album "Billie's Bones."
- #067
In September 2002, Governor Don Sundquist named Dolly Parton Tennessee's official film and music ambassador. Her role was to promote the state to industry executives in Hollywood and to raise awareness of Tennessee's capacity to produce television, film and recording projects (soundtracks) for Hollywood productions.
- #068
Dolly's classic song "Jolene" was covered by Sherrié Austin on her third album, "Followin' a Feelin'" (2001).
- #069
Dolly Parton received the Applause Award from the Tennessee Performing Arts Center (2010).
- #070
Dolly Parton produced and starred in Heavens to Betsy, and also performed songs she wrote herself and came up with the story idea.
- #071
Dolly Parton's birthday is listed as a holiday in Ban.Do's daily planners.
- #072
Dolly Parton is the sister-in-law of Richard Dennison.
- #073
Dolly Parton was born eight days after country singer, actress and friend Naomi Judd.
- #074
Although Dolly Parton is publicly known as a modest dresser and turned down magazine offers several times, she appeared on the cover of Playboy's 1978 issue.
- #075
Dolly Parton's song "Jolene," written when she thought her husband was being unfaithful to her, was inspired by the time he spent at the bank.
- #076
Dolly Parton is a distant cousin of screenwriter R. J. O'Sullivan.
- #077
Gretchen Wilson mentioned Dolly Parton in the song "California Girls."
- #078
Dolly Parton was parodied by Raven-Symoné on the sitcom That's So Raven (2003).
- #079
An unusual connection between Dolly Parton and actor Keanu Reeves: Keanu's English mother, Patric Reeves (born Patricia Taylor), designed the only bunny costume Dolly wore, for the cover of Playboy's October 1978 issue. Shortly afterward, when Keanu was 16, he wore the same costume to a Halloween party as a joke.
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