Dolly Parton

This Biography episode is one of the best, most detailed ones they have ever done with Dolly herself being interviewed in depth. The program is loaded with rare photographs of Dolly (including home movie footage of her as a child!) and most surprisingly, multiple pictures of her reclusive husband, Carl Dean. Dolly's a delight and it's nice to see so many of her relatives - including her beautiful, underrated baby sister Stella Parton - and there are lots of wonderful interviews with many of her contemporaries. Most of the Hollywood stars seem the most sincere and friendly in their comments (among them Lily Tomlin, Henry Winkler, Olympia Dukasis, Darryl Hannah) but I was shocked that many of the country stars come across a little fake, coy, and/or pretentious (the worst of the lot is Kathy Mattea, who is quite obnoxious with her humorless, heavy-handed analysis of the "real woman" who is under Parton's image) - how times have changed as country stars were once the most down to earth people in show business! Dolly still is and so are many country stars from her era. Dolly is of course still going strong in show business, still beautiful, not just a legend but one with many more triumphs to come in the future.

This was one of the most entertaining "Biography" shows I've seen. The fact that it was two hours long - twice the length of the normal episode - and still kept my interest, says something about Dolly. I'm not even a fan of her music or films but this woman was so interesting, so intelligent and so honest with everything she said that the program turned out to be a fast-moving two hours. When it was over, I had a ton of respect for her.

After watching this, I can see why this woman is such a beloved figure. Whether it's in the singing business, or songwriting, or acting profession, business world.....whatever, everyone who has worked with this Dolly seems to really like her.....male or female.

Dolly is the first one to poke fun at herself. "Hey, it takes a lot of money to look this cheap!" That kind of self-effacing endears herself to everyone. Whatever she looks like on the outside, on the inside this is the real deal, a genuinely nice, down-home person with no ego problems and an appreciation of life. I enjoyed all the other artists (except Kathy Mattea, who across as some phony Liberal elitist) who had nothing but admiration for the way Parton handles herself and her career.

By the way, she's been married to the same guy her adult life, too. She also grew up dirt- poor, the fourth of twelve children. She created "Dollywood" to help the place she grew up, and did so by creating tons of jobs for people in that area. Thus, you see what I mean about her attitude and outlook on life.

She's easy to like and admire and now I see why this stretched this particular "biography" to two hours.

Dolly Parton: a true inspiration!