Dolly Parton’s sparkling personality is part of her appeal as a celebrity. Fans love her humor, wit, and authenticity. Parton said she didn’t always get such a warm reception, though. When she was growing up in Tennessee, she felt that people didn’t get her. Parton thought people found her off-putting.
Dolly Parton said she never felt like her personality fit her hometown
Parton grew up in the Smoky Mountains and felt eager to leave by the time she graduated high school. She admitted she never felt she fit in in her hometown.
“Well, I tell you, it was kinda rough for me because I was the most popular girl in school in the wrong way,” she said, per the book Dolly on Dolly. “Everybody talked about Dolly, but I didn’t have as many friends as I should have had.”
She said her looks and personality made her stand out.
“I had a lotta stories told on me, a lotta lies, just because I looked the way I did,” she said, adding, “I always was big in the boobs, small in the waist and big in the butt. I just grew up that way and I had that foxy personality, too.”
Parton said she tried to befriend people and put them at ease, but she believes this backfired. Even being friendly didn’t work out in her favor.
“I mean, I was real outgoin’, real friendly, I think it was scary to people,” she admitted. “But I never felt I belonged. Never belonged in my whole life, even as a little kid.”
Dolly Parton said her personality was more accepted in Nashville
The day after she graduated from high school, Parton packed up her belongings and moved to Nashville. She felt more at home in the city.
“I was just different, and so I never really found my place till I moved to Nashville and got in the music business,” she said. “That was my real place, so I fit in. I was born restless, I really was.”
Her career blossomed after moving to the city.
She said she settled down a bit with age
Though Parton described herself as restless, she grew to crave more time at home. Still, she couldn’t sit still for too long.
“Now, there is nothin’ I like better than goin’ home to have a few weeks off, do as I please, go in the yard half-naked, without makeup and without havin’ my hair done, or play with the dogs or romp around with the cows,” she said. “But when I am ready to go, there is nothin’ I like better than to pack it up and head it on out.”
She can’t imagine herself ever settling down for too long.
“I just couldn’t stay, and in my later years when I am writing books and poems mostly I think I will travel around and do that: I really wouldn’t want to stay at home all the time; that would be a bore.”