Dolly Parton Turns 80: See 8 of Her Lesser-Known Acting Roles

Dolly Parton, who turns 80 on January 19, couldn’t have been as prolific as she’s been, both in music and on screen, if she were only working 9 to 5. In fact, the Queen of Country’s filmography is so extensive, she has roles that may have escaped your attention. (We beg your Parton, diehard fans.)

Amid her well-known roles in films like The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas and Steel Magnolias, here are eight other acting performances that got lesser play.

Jake Farris in Rhinestone (1984)

In this musical comedy, Parton plays a country-music star who takes on a challenge to turn an abrasive cabbie, played by Sylvester Stallone, into a singer. But the film only made $21 million at the box office. “I guess the public didn’t want to see Sylvester Stallone do comedy. Or maybe they didn’t want to see me do Sylvester Stallone,” Parton wrote in her 1994 memoir, Dolly: My Life and Other Unfinished Business.

Thiola “Big T” Rayfield in Wild Texas Wind (1991)

© Sanddollar Prod. / Courtesy: Everett Collection

Parton played a country singer abused by her manager in this NBC TV movie, with Gary Busey playing the latter character. Parton told the Gannett News Service that Busey was a “fine actor” who “always scared her” during his character’s violent scenes. (“I was thinking: ‘Is he actin’ or not?’”) Despite the movie’s darker moments, however, Parton said Wild Texas Wind’s focus was joy. “The main thing was my love for western swing music,” she explained.

Shirlee Kenyon in Straight Talk (1992)

Parton costarred with James Woods in this rom-com, in which her character trades small-town existence for big-city energy in Chicago and stumbles into a job as the host of a radio show. Like Rhinestone, it only made $21 million, but in her memoir, Parton said Woods was “a thrill to be around” and the film was “an absolute joy” to make. (“I am as proud of it as anything I have ever done,” she added.)

Betsy Baxter in Heavens to Betsy (1994)

Talk about lesser-known: this CBS sitcom never even made it to air. Parton was meant to play a singer with a divine order to make amends on Earth after a near-death experience. Amid other snafus, two of the sitcom’s producers reportedly got into a physical altercation in the writers room, according to Entertainment Weekly, and “creative problems” were the death knell for the project, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The protagonist of Mindin’ My Own Business(1996)

In another TV fail, Parton was meant to play Southern woman who relocates to Los Angeles and starts a party-planning company in this CBS sitcom, per Rolling Stone. “We’re going to have a lot of stars … so it won’t be like I’ll be on the screen so much you’ll want to puke,” Parton told the press at the time.

Ruby Diamond in Unlikely Angel (1996)

Parton did make it to CBS airwaves that same year, though, as the lead star of this TV movie. In a plot that sounds eerily similar to that of Heavens to Betsy, Ruby is a country-music singer denied entrance to heaven until she proves her angelic nature by reuniting a busy father with his children for Christmas. Variety critic Ray Richmond was unimpressed, writing, “As Christmas flicks go, Unlikely Angel is like a recycled present sitting under a plastic tree.”

Leanna Taylor in Blue Valley Songbird (1999)

©Liftime Television/courtesy Everett Collection

Lifetime got its own Dolly Parton production in 1999 when she starred in this TV movie, playing a country singer who finally faces her troubled past at the urging of guitarist Bobby (Billy Dean). “It’s a continuous story, which could also be like what Kenny Rogers did,” Parton told The Observer. “He did The Gambler 1, 2, and 3. I might do a continuation of it — she’s still on the road, still trying to make it; even as an older artists she always tries to make it, and she never does.”

Edith McKlusky in Frank McKlusky, C.I. (2002)

After a long hiatus from the silver screen, Parton played the overprotective mother of the titular claims investigator (portrayed by Dave Sheridan) in this comedy film. Unfortunately, neither critics nor moviegoers warmed to the film’s zany antics. “When your main character spends an extended scene in blackface and the joke isn’t about the social implications of blackface and the film was released in the 21st century, something has gone terribly wrong,” said DVD Talk’s Francis Rizzo III. “And there wasn’t much right to begun with.”