Dolly Parton Joked to Johnny Carson That Carl Dean Talked About Him Like Part of Their Family
The first time Dolly Parton visited Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show, she told him her husband, Carl Dean, was an adoring viewer. She shared that he loved Carson so much in the ’70s that he talked about him like a family member or old friend. But regarding her music and fame, she mentioned that Dean wasn’t her “biggest fan.”
Dolly Parton stopped by for her first ‘Tonight Show’ visit with Johnny Carson on her birthday
Carson took over as host of The Tonight Show in 1962, making himself a late-night staple in American living rooms. Millions of viewers tuned in nightly to catch the host’s monologue and conversations with international celebrities.
When Parton stopped by for her first Tonight Show appearance in 1977, on her 31st birthday, Carson said he didn’t know what took so long to get her there. Never one to miss a joke, she said it was because he’d never asked, but he disagreed with that. She then explained it was because she was so often on the road.
While they chatted, Carson told Parton he was a fan, and she confessed to being a big fan of his, too. But she told him he had an even bigger fan in her husband, Carl Dean, to whom she’d already been married a decade by then.
Dolly Parton told Johnny Carson that her husband, Carl Dean, talked about him like a family member or friend
Once Carson brought up her marriage, Parton used the opportunity to tell him how much Dean liked the show. “He talks about you like you’re a part of the family or some friend that he’s just went to visit,” she confessed.
Parton explained to Carson that Dean had never seen her perform before at that point, but he had never missed an episode of The Tonight Show. “But he won’t be watching tonight,” she shared, adding she thought it made him nervous to see her.
Carson asked if Dean listened to her records, and she laughingly told him, “He’s not my biggest fan.”
“He loves me,” she told a somewhat perplexed Carson. “We have a great relationship. It’s just [that] I’m not one of his favorite singers.”
When Parton added that their secret to happiness was not knowing much about each other, Carson, who married four times, told her it was plausibly the formula for success.
Dolly Parton and Carl Dean celebrated 55 years of marriage in 2022
Parton married Dean in an elopement, and they’ve now been married for more than 55 years. “I like the way he loves me,” she told Playboy in 1978 (per Us Weekly). “His understanding of me and the things I do. The way he lets me be free. And lets me be me.”
She added, “He just don’t have any desire to be in show business. He don’t want to have his picture in the paper. He don’t want to go out to the supermarket and have people say, ‘That’s Dolly Parton’s husband.’”
