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Dolly Parton
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Miami Vice Performer
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Born
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January 19, 1946, Sevierville, Tennessee
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Active
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1959-present
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Spouse
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Carl Dean (1966-2025, his death)
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Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is a Grammy Award winning country singer-songwriter, businesswoman and actress whose song "Great Balls of Fire" appeared in the episode "Golden Triangle (Part I)" of the show Miami Vice.
Career[]
Parton was born in Sevierville, Tennessee, the fourth of twelve children. She described her family as "dirt-poor" and lived in a one room rustic cabin in Locust Ridge, Tennessee, near the Great Smoky Mountains. The song "Coat of Many Colors" was written about her early family life. At age 9 she was singing in local TV shows and at age 13 she appeared in the Grand Ole Opry. After graduating from high school Parton went to Nashville, and released her first album, Hello, I'm Dolly, in 1967.
Around that time she joined a syndicated country music TV show, The Porter Wagoner Show, starring Porter Wagoner, and after a short period of audience resistance, Parton was accepted and began recording songs with Wagoner, in 1968 they reached the Country Top 10 with "The Last Thing On My Mind", after which their duets began reaching the Top 10 with consistency, but Parton's solo success was slow to kick in until she sang "Mule Skinner Blues", which became her first Top 10 single and her first #1, "Joshua", but it was her second #1, Jolene, that launched her solo career and she left Wagoner's show in 1976, but she wrote a song for him, "I Will Always Love You" that also reached #1 (later duplicated by the late Whitney Houston in 1992), and it was her decision not to sell half of the publishing rights to Elvis Presley that made her reputation as a shrewd businesswoman. In 1976 she had her own syndicated variety show, Dolly!, that lasted one season, and she began making records designed to crossover to pop, such as "Here You Come Again" (for which she won a Grammy for Best Female Country Vocal Performance) and "Two Doors Down", then her song 9 to 5 reached #1 on both pop and country charts, won her two Grammys and an Academy Award nomination for Best Song. In 1983 she returned to #1 with her hit duet with Kenny Rogers, "Islands In The Stream", but Parton's career was stalling until her 1987 release, Trio with Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt, the album won a Grammy and her Dolly! variety show was revived for another run by ABC, again it lasted one season. But in the 1990s a wave of contemporary country music hit the genre and most of the veteran singers were swept off the charts, Parton included. But her records continue to sell, she has released albums of contemporary country (Trio II) and folk rock (Those Were The Days) and a country/dance album, Better Day. Parton was up for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, initially she declined the offer, indicating she did not feel herself worthy of induction, but later she relented, indicating it was an honor to be considered, and was inducted in 2022.
Acting[]
Parton's first acting role was in the movie 9 to 5, other appearances include The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas, Rhinestone, A Smoky Mountain Christmas (with Dan Hedaya and Anita Morris), Steel Magnolias (with Julia Roberts), Straight Talk (with Michael Madsen), Joyful Noise, and episodes of Reba and Hannah Montana, along with countless cameo appearances in movies and TV shows. In 2015 her song "Coat of Many Colors" was made into a TV movie, narrated by Parton and featuring soap actress Alyvia Alyn Lind playing a 9-year-old Parton. Lind reprised the role in the 2016 sequel Christmas of Many Colors.
Dollywood/Dixie Stampede[]
In 1986 Parton opened Dollywood, an amusement park located in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee previously known as Silver Dollar City Tennessee. The park has been the biggest ticketed tourist attraction in Tennessee for over a decade, expanded to 150 acres from its' original 75, and draws nearly 2.5 million visitors a year. She started her other venture, the Dixie Stampede dinner theater, in 1988, also in Pigeon Forge. It has expanded to sites in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina (closed in 2010, reopened as "Pirates Voyage" in 2011) and Branson, Missouri. The theater changed its' name at both Pigeon Forge and Branson locations to Dolly Parton's Stampede in 2018.
Personal life[]
Parton keeps most details about her family private, she did marry Carl Dean in 1966 and the marriage lasted until his death on March 3, 2025 at age 82, ending their 58 year marriage. They have no children, though Parton helped raise several of her younger siblings. Parton is also the godmother of singer/actress Miley Cyrus.