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Dolly Parton Was ‘Afraid to Appear Human,’ Said this interviewer,Dolly Parton said she tries to present herself truthfully to the public. Here’s why one interviewer thought she was putting
Dolly Parton has spent her career cracking jokes at her own expense and telling stories of her humble beginnings in Tennessee. It’s worked well for her, as she has maintained the support of her dedicated fan base for years. In the 1970s, though, one reporter said Parton didn’t seem to want to be human.
When Parton crossed over to the pop charts and became more of a mainstream celebrity, many people didn’t seem to know what to do with her. She wore exaggerated outfits, wigs, and makeup and cracked jokes about herself, but she was clearly a talented artist. Journalists began publishing pieces to see if she was really the way she presented herself. Dave Hershey of the New York Daily News did not believe she was fully genuine.
“I was sent down to do the ‘Dolly Parton — Is She For Real?’ story— what’s behind the cornpone charm,” he said in the book Dolly by Alanna Nash. “And it’s a very well-cultivated act, I think. I tried to catch her at odd moments when she wasn’t hooked into her stage persona, but she always seems to be on. She’s just a very, very charming person, and you can’t catch her with her guard down. I’ve done a lot of big-time celebrities in the last year and a half, but she is as tough to catch off-guard as anybody.”
Dolly Parton seemed afraid to be human
When Parton crossed over to the pop charts and became more of a mainstream celebrity, many people didn’t seem to know what to do with her. She wore exaggerated outfits, wigs, and makeup and cracked jokes about herself, but she was clearly a talented artist. Journalists began publishing pieces to see if she was really the way she presented herself. Dave Hershey of the New York Daily News did not believe she was fully genuine.
“I was sent down to do the ‘Dolly Parton — Is She For Real?’ story— what’s behind the cornpone charm,” he said in the book Dolly by Alanna Nash. “And it’s a very well-cultivated act, I think. I tried to catch her at odd moments when she wasn’t hooked into her stage persona, but she always seems to be on. She’s just a very, very charming person, and you can’t catch her with her guard down. I’ve done a lot of big-time celebrities in the last year and a half, but she is as tough to catch off-guard as anybody.”
A black and white picture of Dolly Parton wearing a jumpsuit and leaning forward.
Dolly Parton | Richard McCaffrey/ Michael Ochs Archive/ Getty Images
Hershey said Parton dodged questions about her childhood, which made him believe she wasn’t genuine.
“She’s very guarded about her childhood. Everytime I would say, ‘It sounds like you had a miserable childhood,’ she would say, ‘Oh, no, no, it was really quite happy, joyful. I’m not like Loretta Lynn. I’ve had a very happy life,’” he said. “She’s afraid to appear human, and that’s sad. It’s just a matter of time before people see through it. I went out there totally objective, and I could tell it was an act the whole time.”
Parton has spoken frequently about her childhood over the years. She has said that while the family was poor, they were happy.
Dolly Parton seemed afraid to be human
When Parton crossed over to the pop charts and became more of a mainstream celebrity, many people didn’t seem to know what to do with her. She wore exaggerated outfits, wigs, and makeup and cracked jokes about herself, but she was clearly a talented artist. Journalists began publishing pieces to see if she was really the way she presented herself. Dave Hershey of the New York Daily News did not believe she was fully genuine.
“I was sent down to do the ‘Dolly Parton — Is She For Real?’ story— what’s behind the cornpone charm,” he said in the book Dolly by Alanna Nash. “And it’s a very well-cultivated act, I think. I tried to catch her at odd moments when she wasn’t hooked into her stage persona, but she always seems to be on. She’s just a very, very charming person, and you can’t catch her with her guard down. I’ve done a lot of big-time celebrities in the last year and a half, but she is as tough to catch off-guard as anybody.”
A black and white picture of Dolly Parton wearing a jumpsuit and leaning forward.
Dolly Parton | Richard McCaffrey/ Michael Ochs Archive/ Getty Images
Hershey said Parton dodged questions about her childhood, which made him believe she wasn’t genuine.
“She’s very guarded about her childhood. Everytime I would say, ‘It sounds like you had a miserable childhood,’ she would say, ‘Oh, no, no, it was really quite happy, joyful. I’m not like Loretta Lynn. I’ve had a very happy life,’” he said. “She’s afraid to appear human, and that’s sad. It’s just a matter of time before people see through it. I went out there totally objective, and I could tell it was an act the whole time.”
Parton has spoken frequently about her childhood over the years. She has said that while the family was poor, they were happy.
Another journalist believed she was genuine
Though Hershey believed Parton wasn’t the real deal, other journalists didn’t think it was all an act. Journalist Joan Dew thought Parton would have to be the greatest actor in the world to completely conceal her true self.
“She can convince me of anything in an interview,” Dew said. “You’ve heard all these stories about her marriage being an arrangement, and you’ve heard that she is so ambitious that nothing stands in her way. And then you spend an hour with her, and she shines those big blue eyes on you, and that soft, little-girl voice, and she’s sweet. There’s a sweetness, an innocence about her, that can’t be all phony. Unless she’s the world’s greatest actress.”
Dew believed that all the glowing interviews of Parton backed up her belief.
“Have you ever read a cynical, bitter interview with Dolly Parton? An interview where the reporter doubted in print her sincerity?” Dew asked. “Never. And you probably never will. Did you read the Rolling Stone interview? Now, you know how cynical they are. The guy was eating out of her hand!”
Parton said she tries to present herself truthfully to the public, but she admitted she created a persona when she rose to fame.
“I look one way and am another. It makes for a good combination,” she said, per the book Dolly on Dolly, adding, “I always think of ‘her,’ the Dolly image, like a ventriloquist does his dummy. I have fun with it. I think, what will I do with her this year to surprise people? What’ll she wear? What’ll she say?”
A number of celebrities have said they do the same thing in order to manage fame.
“I’m saying this as a wife — someone who watches her husband put his health on the line every single week for his team and for this game. I can accept a loss. I can accept how physical football is. But what happened tonight went far beyond that line. Everyone knows what a legal football play looks like. And everyone knows when a defender completely abandons the play and launches himself at a quarterback who has already released the ball. That’s no longer reaction. That’s a choice. And the hit on Patrick Mahomes was not an accident. He was fully exposed, in the most vulnerable position possible — and the defender still chose to drive straight through him. That’s reckless. That’s dangerous. And that’s how careers, and even lives, can be changed in a split second. What hurt the most was what came after — the celebrations, the smirks, the chest-pounding, as if injuring a quarterback was something to be proud of. If anyone wants to understand what was really shown tonight, don’t look at the scoreboard. Look at the reactions after that hit. Look at the silence on our sideline — and the noise on theirs. I don’t need to name names. Anyone who watches the replay knows exactly what happened. And I want to speak directly to the league and the officials: the hesitation, the late flags, the way dangerous moments get brushed aside or ‘managed’ instead of judged — we see it. The fans see it. And the lack of accountability is louder than any stadium tonight. The NFL talks constantly about protecting quarterbacks and player safety. But week after week, dangerous hits get labeled as ‘physical football,’ depending on whose jersey is involved. If that’s the standard now, then a line that should never be crossed has clearly been erased. We lost the game 13–16. That’s the score. But what’s unacceptable is that Patrick gave everything to keep his team in it — and paid for it with his health. The entire country saw what happened. You can’t erase that hit from the conversation just because the game kept moving. And I’ll say this clearly — if the league doesn’t truly step up to protect its players, if these standards continue to shift based on convenience, then tonight will not be the last time I speak up to defend my husband and tell the truth.” WATCH FULL [VIDEO] Via the link 👇👇👇
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