Dolly Parton’s Good Humor Comes From Both Sides of the Family
Everyone knows Dolly Parton can write songs, sing, and act. But she’s a comedian, too, making her humor part of her stage shows and sometimes considering offers to make a comedy special or album someday.
While talking about being naturally funny, Parton revealed it’s just how she thinks about life, in rhymes and jokes. But she added the comedy roots run deep in her family tree, noting that a good sense of humor came to her from both sides.
Dolly Parton’s parents had 12 kids by the time they were 40
Parton grew up in a large family, and there wasn’t always much to go around. Her parents married and started having children as teenagers, and the country star eventually had 11 siblings.
“By the time they were 35 and 37, they had 12 kids — six girls, six boys. We just were mountain people, grew up in the church,” Parton said (Us Weekly). Life in a big family in a small cabin in the Tennessee Smoky Mountains made her realize that she wanted to be an entertainer.
She explained, “I just knew that I wanted to be out in a bigger world. I knew there was more than just the Smokies. I love my people, [and] I love my home, but I just wanted to do more.”
Dolly Parton said a good sense of humor comes from both sides of her family
In an interview with Bobby Bones, Parton talked about being funny, noting she’d been approached about making a comedy album “a lot of times.”
Parton told Bones she often writes comedy bits for her stage shows and will sit down “for days” thinking of funny things to include. More specifically, she said if she’s not writing songs, she’s writing jokes. So, she’s considered making an album or even a Netflix-style comedy special.
While Parton confessed many people have commented on how funny she is, she said she doesn’t know that to be true about herself. However, she noted that a good sense of humor comes from both sides of her family, sharing that her mom and dad came from “hysterical” people.
“I just think funny, I guess,” she shrugged, explaining that she looks at life in rhymes and jokes. And regarding the album or special, she concluded, “That might be something that I might do.”
Sally Field revealed Dolly Parton’s sense of humor is filthy
In an interview with Andy Cohen on Watch What Happens Live, Cohen asked Sally Field, who starred with Parton in Steel Magnolias, about the “most wonderfully weird person” she’d ever worked with. After naming Shirley MacLaine and describing her as “divinely funny,” she placed the country music icon in “a close second” place.
“Dolly is so filthy,” Field declared. “She has just a tongue on her [that] you wouldn’t believe. Everybody falls down … except the guys, who are like [cringes].”
Of course, that’s not news to those who keep up with Parton. She’s joked about having a threesome with her husband and Jennifer Aniston, which was on The Tonight Show. So, it’s a bit fun to guess how “filthy” she might get with her humor in private and hold out hope she might record an album or special in the future.
