Feeds
1. Dolly and her 11 brothers and sisters grew up in a one-room cabin in the Great Smoky Mountains, Tennessee. She says: "After Momma gave birth to twelve of us kids, we put her up on a pedestal. It was mostly to keep Daddy away from her."
2. Dolly's family were so poor that the doctor who delivered her was paid with a sack of cornmeal. The children wore clothes made out of feed sacks, the cabin had no electricity or indoor plumbing and the family often ate animals caught by her tobacco-farmer dad.
3. Dolly got her big break when country music legend Porter Wagoner signed her to his TV show in 1967. They were a well-known double-act until 1974, when he sued her for striking out on her own following the success of 'Jolene'. She penned 'I Will Always Love You' about their split.
4. Dolly's been married to publicity-shy Carl Dean, who runs an asphalt-paving business, for 40 years. They met at the Wishy-Washy Laundromat on the day she arrived in Nashville at the age of 18. His opening gambit was: "You're gonna get sunburnt out there, little lady."
5. Dolly's 42-inch boobs (which she refers to as her "show dogs") are believed to be insured for a cool $600,000. Pretty reasonable compared to one or two other celebs we could mention!
6. Dolly was told she'd never have children after undergoing a partial hysterectomy in 1984 at the age of 36. She piled on weight and even considered ending her life, but luckily Sylvester Stallone was on hand to make her see sense. She recalls: "Suddenly I was a middle-aged woman, it hit me all at once. [Sylvester] had a great energy that was really healing." Good old Sly!
7. Dolly describes her famously brassy image as "a blend of mother goose, cinderella, and the local hooker". She also has no qualms about going under the knife to maintain her face and figure, saying: "If I see something sagging, bagging and dragging, I’m going to nip it, tuck it, and suck it!"
8. Dolly has the honour of having the world's first cloned mammal named after her. Dolly the sheep came by her moniker because she was cloned from part of a mammary gland.
9. Dolly once lost a Dolly Parton lookalike contest in LA. She showed up at a Halloween competition intending to win and declare her identity, but ended up losing out to another woman. Never mind, Dolly, you're in good company - the same thing happened to Elvis.
10. Dolly didn't lose any sleep about becoming a pensioner in 2006. She said at the time: "I'm not sixty, I'm sexty! I think I'll look the same when I'm 70 or 80. I can see it now, people will be rolling me around in a wheelchair and I'll still have my big hair, nails, my high heels and my boobs stuck out!"
> Click here for a pictorial journey through Dolly's life
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