| Biography 
Dolly Rebecca Parton was  born  on  January  19,  1946,  one  of  12
  children  of  Robert  Lee  Parton,  a  tobacco  farmer, and Avie Lee
  Parton (née Owens). Dolly grew up  on  a  run-down  farm  in  Locust
  Ridge,  TN.  At  12 she was appearing on Knoxville TV, and at 13 she
  was already recording on a small label and appearing  at  the  Grand
  Ole  Opry.  After  graduating  from  high  school  in Sevier County,
  Tennessee, in 1964, she moved to Nashville to launch her  career  as
  a  country  singer.  She  fell  in  love  with Carl Dean, who ran an
  asphalt-paving business; they got married on May 30, 1966 (and  they
  are  still  together).  The  next  year,  Dolly's singing caught the
  attention of Porter  Wagoner.  He  hired  Dolly  to  appear  on  his
  program,  "The  Porter Wagoner Show." Dolly stayed with the show for
  7 years, their duets became famous, and she appeared with his  group
  at  the  Grand  Ole  Opry;  she also toured and sold records. By the
  time her hit "Joshua" reached #1 in 1970, her fame had  overshadowed
  Porter's,  and  she  struck  out  on her own, though still recording
  duets with him. She left him for good to become  a  solo  artist  in
  1974.  Dolly gained immense popularity as a singer/songwriter. Dolly
  won numerous Country Music Association  awards  (1968,  1970,  1971,
  1975,   1976).   This   petite  (5'0")  beauty  was  a  natural  for
  television, and by the mid-1970s Dolly was appearing  frequently  on
  TV  specials  and  talk  shows.  Dolly  then got her own show, aptly
  titled "Dolly" (1976). In 1977 Dolly got  her  first  Grammy  award:
  Best  Female  Country Vocal Performance, for her song "Here You Come
  Again." Dolly's movie debut was  in  _Nine  to  Five  (1980)_  (qv),
  where  she  got  an Oscar nomination for writing the title tune, and
  also Grammy awards 2 and 3,  Best  Country  Song,  and  Best  Female
  Country  Vocal  Performance  for  "9  to 5." Dolly got more fame for
  appearing in _Best Little Whorehouse in  Texas,  The  (1982)_  (qv),
  and  in  _Rhinestone  (1984)_ (qv) with the song "Tennessee Homesick
  Blues." She is the head of Dolly Parton Enterprises, a $100  million
  media  empire,  and  in  1986 she founded Dollywood, a theme park in
  Pigeon   Forge,   Tennessee,   celebrating   her   Smokey   Mountain
  upbringing.  She appeared as Herself in "Dolly" (1987) TV series. In
  1988 she won another Grammy award: Best Country Performance  Duo  or
  Group  with  Vocals,  for "Trio." Dolly was in the acclaimed picture
  _Steel Magnolias (1989)_ (qv) with 'Julia Roberts'  (qv),  and  went
  on  to  appear  in  15  movies  and  TV-movies for the 1990s, and of
  course garnered more Country  Music  Association  awards.  In  2000,
  Dolly  received  her  5th  Grammy  award: Best Country Collaboration
  with Vocals. She also released a Bluegrass  Album.  Dolly  is  known
  for  beautiful  songs such as "Coat of Many Colors" and "Jolene" and
  "I Will Always Love You." Dolly said in an interview, "My  music  is
  what  took me everywhere I've been and everywhere I will go. It's my
  greatest  love.  I  can't  abandon  it.  I'll  always  keep   making
  records."
 Biography courtesy of the Internet Movie Database (www.imdb.com).
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