Quoting the funny Dolly Parton :

“I wanted to be the first woman to burn her bra, but it would have taken the fire department four days to put it out.”

“I have got little feet because nothing grows in the shade.”

“I'm not offended by all the dumb blonde jokes because I know I'm not dumb... and I also know that I'm not blonde.”

“I never let a rhinestone go unturned”

“My husband said 'show me your boobs' and I had to pull up my skirt... so it was time to get them done!”

“Plastic surgeons are always making mountains out of molehills.”

"If I have one more facelift I'll have a beard!"

“You'd be surprised how much it costs to look this cheap!”

Dolly Rebecca Parton . . . born January 19, 1946 . . . is an American Grammy-winning and Academy Award-nominated country singer, songwriter, composer, author, actress and philanthropist. She can be considered as the most successful country act in history.

She was born in Sevierville, Tennessee, the fourth of 12 children born to Robert Lee Parton and Avie Lolo Owens. Her siblings are Willadeene Parton (a poet), David Parton, Denver Parton, Bobby Parton, Stella Parton (a singer), Cassie Parton, Larry Parton (who died shortly after birth), Randy Parton (a singer), twins Floyd Parton (a songwriter) and Freida Parton (a singer), and Rachel Dennison (an actress).

Her family was, as she described them, "dirt poor", and lived in a rustic, dilapidated one-room cabin in the Great Smoky Mountains, near Locust Ridge, Tennessee. Parton's parents were parishioners in the Assembly of God Church, a Pentecostal denomination, and music was a very large part of her church experience. She once told an interviewer that her grandfather was a Pentecostal "holy roller" preacher and today, when appearing in live concerts, she frequently performs spiritual songs. (Parton, however, professes no denomination, claiming only to be Christian while adding that she believes that all the Earth's people are God's children.)

On May 30, 1966, at the age of 20, she married Carl Dean (whom she met on her first day in Nashville, aged 18, at the Wishy-Washy Laundromat) in Ringgold, Georgia. His very first words to her were: "You're gonna get sunburnt out there, little lady." Dean, who runs an asphalt-paving business in Nashville, has always shunned publicity and rarely accompanies her to any events. The couple have raised several of Dolly's younger siblings at their home in Nashville.

Parton began performing as a child, singing on local radio and television programs in East Tennessee. At age 9 she was appearing on "The Cas Walker Show" on WATE-TV in Knoxville, Tennessee, and at 13, she was recording on a small record label and appearing at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tennessee. When she graduated from high school in 1964 she moved to Nashville, taking many traditional elements of folklore and popular music from East Tennessee with her.

Parton's initial success came as a songwriter, writing hit songs for Hank Williams, Jr. and Skeeter Davis. She signed with Monument Records in late 1965, where she was initially pitched as a bubblegum pop singer, earning only one national chart single, "Happy, Happy Birthday Baby," which did not crack the Billboard Top 100. Additional pop singles also failed to chart.

The label agreed to have Parton sing country music after her composition "Put It Off Until Tomorrow" as recorded by Bill Phillips (and with Parton, uncredited, on harmony) went to No. 6 on the country charts in 1966. Her first country single, "Dumb Blonde" (one of the few songs during this era that she recorded but didn't write), reached No. 24 country 1967, followed later the same year with "Something Fishy," which went to Number 17. The two songs anchored her first full-length album, Hello I'm Dolly, that same year.

In 1967, Parton was asked to join the weekly syndicated country music TV program hosted by Porter Wagoner, replacing Norma Jean, who had returned to Oklahoma after her marriage. Parton also signed with RCA Victor, Wagoner's label, during this period, where she would remain for the next two decades. Wagoner and Parton immediately began a hugely successful career as a vocal duet in addition to their solo work and their first single together, a cover of Tom Paxton's "The Last Thing on My Mind," reached the top ten on the U.S. country charts in late 1967, and was the first of over a dozen duet singles to chart for them during the next several years.

Parton is a hugely successful songwriter, having begun by writing country songs with strong elements of folk music in them based upon her upbringing in humble mountain surroundings. Her songs "Coat of Many Colors" and "Jolene" have become classics in the field, as have a number of others. As a composer, she is also regarded as one of country music's most gifted storytellers, with many of her narrative songs based on persons and events from her childhood. Dolly Parton has published almost 600 songs with BMI to date and has earned 24 BMI awards for her material.

Despite originally being typecast in many circles as a "Country and Western" singer, Parton later also had commercial success as a pop singer and actress. Her 1977 album Here You Come Again was her first million-seller, and the title track became her first top-ten single on the pop charts; many of her subsequent singles charted on both pop and country charts simultaneously. Her albums during this period were developed specifically for pop/crossover success. With less time to spend on her song writing as she focused on a burgeoning film career, the early 80's found Dolly for the first time recording mostly outside material from noted pop songwriters such as Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, Rupert Holmes, Gary Portnoy, and Carole Bayer Sager.

Standing at an even 5 foot 2 (157 cm), Parton is well known for her large bust and low-cut, tight-fitting costumes. Her short height and thin waist accentuates her 40-inch bustline. She has turned down several offers to pose for Playboy magazine and similar publications. Breast-obsessed filmmaker Russ Meyer wanted to make movies about her.

On a 2003 taping of Oprah, the talk show host asked what kind of cosmetic surgery Parton had ever undergone. Parton stated that she felt that cosmetic surgery was imperative in keeping with her famous image, but jokingly admitted "If I have one more facelift I'll have a beard!". Parton has repeatedly joked about her physical image and surgeries, saying "If I see something sagging, bagging and dragging, I’m going to nip it, tuck it, and suck it!" and "It takes a lot of money to look this cheap."

During the mid-1970s, Parton had her eyes set on expanding her audience base. The first step towards meeting this goal was her attempt at a variety show, Dolly!. Even though it had high ratings, the show lasted merely one season, with Parton asking out of her contract due to the stress it was causing her vocal cords. (In 1987 she tried a second TV variety show, also titled Dolly, which lasted only one season.)

In 1980, Jane Fonda decided Parton was a perfect candidate for her upcoming film, 9 to 5. She was looking for a brassy Southern woman for a supporting role and felt the singer was perfect. Parton received acclaim for her performance, receiving Golden Globe nominations for Best Motion Picture Actress - Musical/Comedy and New Star of the Year in a Motion Picture - Female. She also scored the biggest solo hit of her career with the title song, which she wrote; it earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song. She received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Original Song - Motion Picture. The song won two Grammy Awards, for Best Female Country Vocal Performance and Best Country Song. It reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was also #78 on American Film Institute's 100 years, 100 songs. She was also named the Top Female Box Office Star title by Motion Picture Herald in both 1981 and 1982. Parton's other films include The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982), for which she received another Golden Globe nomination, Rhinestone where she was paired with Sylvester Stallone, and Steel Magnolias.

Aside from 9 to 5, Parton's music has been featured prominently in other films. In 1982, she recorded a second version of "I Will Always Love You" for The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas; the second version proved to be another #1 country hit and also managed to reach the pop charts, going to #53 in the United States.

In 1992, "I Will Always Love You" was performed by Whitney Houston on The Bodyguard soundtrack. Houston's version became the best-selling hit ever written and performed by a female vocalist, with worldwide sales of over 12 million copies. As Parton owned the song, she reaped the benefits of the royalties from Houston's version. The song was also covered by music legend Kenny Rogers on his 1997 album "Always and Forever," which sold over 4 million copies worldwide, as well as by Leann Rimes.

Parton has twice been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song, for "9 to 5" in 1980, and for "Travelin' Thru" from Transamerica, filmed in 2005. She was considered the front-runner in the 2005 Oscar song category, but the song lost to "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp," from the movie Hustle and Flow. Had Parton's song won, she would have become the first country artist to win an Oscar.

Parton is the most-honored female country performer of all time. She has achieved 25 RIAA certified gold, platinum and multi-platinum honors She has had 26 songs reach No. 1 on the Billboard country charts, a record for a female artist. She has 41 career top 10 country albums, a record for any artist, and 110 career charted singles over the past 40 years. All inclusive sales of singles, albums, hits collections, paid digital downloads and compilation usage during Parton's career have reportedly topped 100 million records around the world.

She has received 7 Grammy Awards and a total of 42 Grammy nominations. At the American Music Awards, she has won 3 awards, but has received 18 nominations. At the Country Music Association, she has received 10 awards and 42 nominations. At the Academy of Country Music, she has won 7 awards and 39 nominations. She is one of only 5 other female artists (including Reba McEntire, Barbara Mandrell, Shania Twain, and Loretta Lynn), to win the Country Music Association's highest honor, "Entertainer of the Year".

She was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Recording in 1984, located at 6712 Hollywood Boulevard in [[Hollywood, California|Hollywood] a star on the Nashville Star Walk for Grammy winners; and a bronze sculpture on the courthouse lawn in Sevierville, Tennessee. She has called the statue of herself in her hometown "the greatest honor," because it came from the people that knew her.

Parton was inducted into the Grand Ole Opry in 1969 and in 1986, was named one of Ms. Magazine's Women of the Year. In 1986, Parton was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. In 1999, Parton received country music's highest honor, an induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame. She recieved an honorary doctorate from Carson-Newman College in 1990. This was followed by induction into the National Academy of Popular Music/Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2001.

Since the mid-1980s Parton has been praised for her many charitable efforts, particularly in the area of literacy. Her literacy program, Dolly Parton's Imagination Library, which mails one book per month to children from the time of their birth until they enter kindergarten, began in Sevier Country, Tennessee, but has now been replicated in 566 counties across thirty-six U.S. states, as well as Canada. It has resulted in Parton's receiving the Association of American Publishers' AAP Honors in 2000, Good Housekeeping's Seal of Approval in 2001 (the first time the seal had been given to a person), the American Association of School Administrators' Galaxy Award in 2002, the Chasing Rainbows Award from the National State Teachers of the Year in 2002, and the Child and Family Advocacy Award from the Parents As Teachers National Center in 2003. The program distributes more than 2.5 million free books to children annually.

Parton invested much of her earnings into business ventures in her native East Tennessee, notably Pigeon Forge, which includes a theme park named Dollywood and a dinner show called Dolly Parton's Dixie Stampede, which also has venues in Branson, MO, Orlando, FL, and Myrtle Beach, SC. The area is a thriving tourist attraction, drawing visitors from large parts of the Southeastern and Midwestern United States. This region of the U.S., like most areas of Appalachia, has suffered economically for decades; Parton's business investment has revitalized the area.

She also owns Sandollar Productions, a film and television production company, which produced the Fox TV Show Babes and Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the features Father of the Bride I & II, Straight Talk, Sabrina, and Academy Award-winning (for Best Documentary) Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt, among other shows. Sandollar is co-owned by Sandy Gallin, Parton's former manager.

Excerpted from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Photo credit: Wikipedia

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