Dolly Parton and Her Husband’s Love ‘Impressed’ Those Around Them
Dolly Parton and her husband, Carl Dean, have kept their relationship away from the public eye for decades. While Parton has often spoken about Dean in interviews, he practically never joins her in public. Their interactions, therefore, take place entirely in private. According to a friend of the couple, the visible love they had for each other was impressive.
Dolly Parton and her husband were very much in love
In 1967, Ed Enoch — a member of the Stamps Quartet, a group that played with Elvis Presley — befriended Dean. According to him, Dean spoke often of Parton and the pride he felt in her blossoming career.
“He was happy for her to have her career, and we used to talk about his wife traveling on the road,” Enoch said in the book Dolly by Alanna Nash, adding, “He said it didn’t matter to him, that he wanted her to have her place, and he was proud of her. He really loved her.”
When Parton had time away from work, she spent a day by the pool with Dean and Enoch. He was struck by the obvious love between them.
“They was just typical married people, you know,” Enoch said. “They seemed very, very happy. I was very much impressed with that, ’cause they seemed so much in love. But it was a respect of one for the other. I could tell how much she tried to make him feel loved.”
Enoch said that Parton didn’t have to say how much she loved and admired Dean. It was clear from the way she looked at him.
She believed their marriage would last forever
While the love between Parton and Dean came through clearly to Enoch, not everyone felt the same way. Persistent rumors around Nashville claimed that their marriage was strictly a business arrangement. Parton bristled at these whispers.
“A lot of people don’t understand it, and no one who doesn’t have a marriage like ours could understand it,” she said. “I hadn’t intended to marry. All I had ever known was housework and kids and workin’ in the fields. But I didn’t want to be domestic; I wanted to be free. I had my songs to sing, I had an ambition, and it burned inside me.”
She explained that she knew from the moment she met Dean that he was someone special. He understood and supported her ambition, allowing her to reach the career heights she’d dreamed of. While rumors about their relationship flew, she knew their marriage would last.
“We’ve both only been married once, and that’s to each other,” she said. “But it’ll be the only time I’m ever married, unless my husband should die. Because we’re that sure of each other and what we have. I’m sure it will last forever.”
Dolly Parton and her husband renewed their vows in recent years
Decades after their 1966 wedding, Parton and Dean are still happily together. They quietly eloped when they married, and Parton finally had the wedding of their dreams in 2016, when the couple renewed their vows.
“If I had it to do all over, I’d do it all over again, and we did,” Parton told Entertainment Tonight. “I’m dragging him kicking and screaming into the next 50 years. Wish us luck.”
