DOLLY PARTON

    Dolly Rebecca Parton was born on January 19, 1946, in Sevierville, Tennessee. Dolly was one of 12 children of Robert Lee Parton, a tobacco farmer, and Avie Lee Owens.

    At the age of 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 1964, she moved to Nashville to launch her career as a country singer. Here she fell in love with Carl Dean, they got married on May 30, 1966.

    The following 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.

    In 1970 her hit "Joshua" reached #1. Her fame had overshadowed Porter's, and she struck out on her own though still recording duets with Porter. She left him for good to become a solo artist in 1974.

    Dolly won numerous Country Music Association awards. This petite beauty was a natural for television, and by the mid-1970s Dolly was appearing frequently on TV specials and talk shows.

    Dolly's movie debut was in "Nine to Five" in 1980, 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 as starred in "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas" in 1982, and in Rhinestone in 1984.

    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.

    Dolly likes to kid around about her enourmous breasts, however she does take them seriously as they are insured through Lloyd's of London for an undisclosed sum of money.