ACME Dolly! Biography


	Biography

It's difficult to find a country performer (except, of course, for Elvis Presley) who has moved from country roots to international fame more successfully than Dolly Parton. Her autobiographical single Coat of Many Colors shows the poverty of growing up one of 12 children on a run-down farm in Locust Ridge, TN. At 12 years old she was appearing on Knoxville television; at 13 she was recording on a small label and appearing on the Grand Ole Opry.

Upon graduating from high school, she moved to Nashville to launch a career as a country singer. Her 1967 hit Dumb Blonde (and she's not) caught Porter Wagoner's ear, and he hired Parton to appear on his television show, where their duet numbers became famous. For the next seven years she performed with this group at the Grand Old Opry, in tours and on records.

By the time her Joshua reached #1 in 1970, Parton's fame had overshadowed the boss's, and she struck out on her own, though still recording duets with him. Parton left Wagoner for good to became a solo artist in 1974, very quickly gaining immense popularity as a singer-songwriter. Nationally known as a media celebrity by the late '70s, she appeared frequently on TV specials and talk shows.

Parton's debut on the silver screen was in the 1980 hit 9 to 5 co-starring Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda, for which she received an Oscar nomination as the composer of the title song. The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas brought further fame, or notoriety, two years later. In 1984 she and Sylvester Stallone starred (and in fact sang a duet) in Rhinestone. Tennessee Homesick Blues, from the film's soundtrack, earned Parton another Grammy nomination.

Since then she has appeared in Steel Magnolias as a small-town gossipy beautician, and in Wild Texas Wind, a made-for-TV thriller-melodrama co-starring Ray Benson, leader of Asleep at the Wheel. She heads Dolly Parton Enterprises, a $100 million media empire. In 1986 her company opened Dollywood, a theme park celebrating her Smokey Mountain upbringing in Tennessee.

The critics have told us that she can act, but can Parton sing? Yes, and very well, in spite of her reputation created by her movies, her cheesecake image, and her many forays into pop music. She can still be pure country when she wants, all tinsel aside. Try listening to "Coat of Many Colors," "Jolene," "But You Know I Love You," and "Tennessee Homesick Blues." Parton is a woman of considerable talents, country singing chief among them.