Dolly Parton loved her family, but she was frustrated with the way they — and her dad in particular — showed their affection. While Parton knew her father loved her because of his actions, he practically never outright said this to her. Parton eventually grew so frustrated with this that she taught him to say “I love you.”
Dolly Parton had to teach her dad to say ‘I love you’
For years, Parton noted her family’s struggle to verbally tell people they loved them.
“Always at holidays or other family gatherings, people would hug and say good-bye, but they would never say ‘I love you,’” she wrote in her book Dolly: My Life and Other Unfinished Business. “Sure, I know that the love is there, but dammit, I want to hear it! I was the first one in my family, that I know of, to ever tell other family members that I loved them.
Dolly Parton had to teach her dad to say ‘I love you’
For years, Parton noted her family’s struggle to verbally tell people they loved them.
“Always at holidays or other family gatherings, people would hug and say good-bye, but they would never say ‘I love you,’” she wrote in her book Dolly: My Life and Other Unfinished Business. “Sure, I know that the love is there, but dammit, I want to hear it! I was the first one in my family, that I know of, to ever tell other family members that I loved them.
- 4/16/2024
- by Emma McKee
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
Dolly Parton sang on television before her family owned one. One day, the young “Jolene” singer entered a contest and won herself $250 (a lot of money for her back then). With the earnings, she bought her family a TV. But it ended up bringing more bad to the Partons than good.
Dolly Parton won the ‘greasy pole’ contest
When Parton was about 10 years old, she started singing on The Cas Walker Show. At one of the events Walker put on, there was a contest called the “greasy pole.” It involved a telephone pole that was sanded down smooth and then greased up with lard. At the top of the pole was $250. Parton had a plan to get to the top of the pole (a seemingly impossible feat).
“First I got myself good and wet, then went out into the parking lot and rolled around in the dirt,” she wrote in her first memoir,...
Dolly Parton won the ‘greasy pole’ contest
When Parton was about 10 years old, she started singing on The Cas Walker Show. At one of the events Walker put on, there was a contest called the “greasy pole.” It involved a telephone pole that was sanded down smooth and then greased up with lard. At the top of the pole was $250. Parton had a plan to get to the top of the pole (a seemingly impossible feat).
“First I got myself good and wet, then went out into the parking lot and rolled around in the dirt,” she wrote in her first memoir,...
- 6/18/2023
- by Kelsey Goeres
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
Dolly Parton and her siblings got new shoes once a year. Their father, Robert Lee Parton, would make the trek into town with his childrens’ foot sizes marked in sticks and pick out 12 pairs of shoes to last through the fall and winter. Whether the shoes actually fit or not, the Parton kids would always tell their dad the shoes fit perfectly.
Dolly Parton | Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images How Robert Lee would buy his kids’ shoes
Every year, the Parton kids needed new shoes. But there wasn’t a good way to haul all 12 of them into town to try them on.
“Transportation was a big problem, and Daddy was not about to try to drag all of us into town with him,” Parton wrote in her first memoir, Dolly: My Life and Other Unfinished Business. “He usually only went about once every six weeks or so, and it...
Dolly Parton | Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images How Robert Lee would buy his kids’ shoes
Every year, the Parton kids needed new shoes. But there wasn’t a good way to haul all 12 of them into town to try them on.
“Transportation was a big problem, and Daddy was not about to try to drag all of us into town with him,” Parton wrote in her first memoir, Dolly: My Life and Other Unfinished Business. “He usually only went about once every six weeks or so, and it...
- 6/3/2023
- by Kelsey Goeres
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
Dolly Parton’s childhood in the great smoky mountains of East Tennessee was filled with DIY fun. She and her 11 siblings didn’t have toys or games from a store. They made their own fun. One day, young Parton got in her head that she’d like to go to China. She was an avid reader for her age and had read a book about the country. The “Coat of Many Colors” singer thought it sounded like the most fascinating, magical place. So she convinced all the kids to help her dig there.
Dolly Parton | John Seakwood/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images Somebody told Dolly Parton that a person could dig to China from America
Young Parton was so interested in China after reading about it that she talked of little else. Somebody told her that if she dug far enough, she could reach the country. That’s all she needed to hear.
Dolly Parton | John Seakwood/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images Somebody told Dolly Parton that a person could dig to China from America
Young Parton was so interested in China after reading about it that she talked of little else. Somebody told her that if she dug far enough, she could reach the country. That’s all she needed to hear.
- 5/20/2023
- by Kelsey Goeres
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
That's all that matters. For now! As Ausiello reported yesterday, Fox has picked up a comedy starring Will Arnett and Keri Russell called Running Wilde. Arrested Development mastermind Mitch Hurwitz is attached, so maybe it will be great. Or maybe it will be stupid. Maybe it will be "too smart for the lower common denominators who don’t get cerebral comedy, and thus canceled too early," as EW reader Kerri points out. And dear lord, if it has a laugh track? Forget it! Horror show! But Right Now, what's in my and likely many of your tunnel visions is that G.
- 5/13/2010
- by Annie Barrett
- EW.com - PopWatch
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