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Biography
Dolly Rebecca Parton was born on January 19, 1946, one of 12
children of Robert Lee Parton, a tobacco farmer, and Avie Lee
Parton (née Owens). Dolly grew up on a run-down farm in Locust
Ridge, TN. At 12 she was appearing on Knoxville TV, and at 13 she
was already recording on a small label and appearing at the Grand
Ole Opry. After graduating from high school in Sevier County,
Tennessee, in 1964, she moved to Nashville to launch her career as
a country singer. She fell in love with Carl Dean, who ran an
asphalt-paving business; they got married on May 30, 1966 (and they
are still together). The next year, Dolly's singing caught the
attention of Porter Wagoner. He hired Dolly to appear on his
program, "The Porter Wagoner Show." Dolly stayed with the show for
7 years, their duets became famous, and she appeared with his group
at the Grand Ole Opry; she also toured and sold records. By the
time her hit "Joshua" reached #1 in 1970, her fame had overshadowed
Porter's, and she struck out on her own, though still recording
duets with him. She left him for good to become a solo artist in
1974. Dolly gained immense popularity as a singer/songwriter. Dolly
won numerous Country Music Association awards (1968, 1970, 1971,
1975, 1976). This petite (5'0") beauty was a natural for
television, and by the mid-1970s Dolly was appearing frequently on
TV specials and talk shows. Dolly then got her own show, aptly
titled "Dolly" (1976). In 1977 Dolly got her first Grammy award:
Best Female Country Vocal Performance, for her song "Here You Come
Again." Dolly's movie debut was in _Nine to Five (1980)_ (qv),
where she got an Oscar nomination for writing the title tune, and
also Grammy awards 2 and 3, Best Country Song, and Best Female
Country Vocal Performance for "9 to 5." Dolly got more fame for
appearing in _Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, The (1982)_ (qv),
and in _Rhinestone (1984)_ (qv) with the song "Tennessee Homesick
Blues." She is the head of Dolly Parton Enterprises, a $100 million
media empire, and in 1986 she founded Dollywood, a theme park in
Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, celebrating her Smokey Mountain
upbringing. She appeared as Herself in "Dolly" (1987) TV series. In
1988 she won another Grammy award: Best Country Performance Duo or
Group with Vocals, for "Trio." Dolly was in the acclaimed picture
_Steel Magnolias (1989)_ (qv) with 'Julia Roberts' (qv), and went
on to appear in 15 movies and TV-movies for the 1990s, and of
course garnered more Country Music Association awards. In 2000,
Dolly received her 5th Grammy award: Best Country Collaboration
with Vocals. She also released a Bluegrass Album. Dolly is known
for beautiful songs such as "Coat of Many Colors" and "Jolene" and
"I Will Always Love You." Dolly said in an interview, "My music is
what took me everywhere I've been and everywhere I will go. It's my
greatest love. I can't abandon it. I'll always keep making
records."
Biography courtesy of the Internet Movie Database (www.imdb.com).
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Dolly Parton
