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Dolly Parton and Carl Dean had one of the entertainment industry’s most enduring marriages, but very little is known about the country music legend’s late husband.
Despite being married to the internationally famous singer for almost 60 years, Dean, who died on March 3 at the age of 82, was a very private man who steered clear of the spotlight and was rarely seen in public.
Few of Parton’s friends ever met Dean, and he avoided accompanying his wife to public events, leading to persistent rumors that he didn’t actually exist.
However, in 1977, country music journalist Alanna Nash was “flabbergasted” when she received a rare invitation to join Parton at the Nashville house she shared with Dean for an interview for the May 1977 issue of Country Music magazine.
DOLLY PARTON’S HUSBAND, CARL DEAN, DEAD AT 82
In a new essay for Variety, Nash detailed her two-day visit, offering a glimpse into the couple’s home life and recalling her encounters with the “delightfully unusual” Dean.
Nash wrote that the interview took place in the living room of the Tudor-style home where Parton and Dean were living temporarily. The journalist described the room as decorated with Victorian furnishings, oil paintings of herself and Dean as children and “butterflies everywhere” — many of which she noted were mementos from fans.
Before the interview began, Parton asked Nash if she wanted to listen to the “Jolene” singer’s album “New Harvest… First Gathering,” which had yet to be released at the time. After playing the first side of the record, Parton asked if Nash wanted to hear the second side. After Nash agreed, Parton told her, “Well, before that,” she said, “Carl is here — he’s working outside — and I want him to come in and fix the fire. But he doesn’t want to hear my record, so we’ll have to wait.”
Nash recalled that Dean was initially reluctant to join the two, writing that she overheard him tell Parton “I don’t want to do no interviews.” After being reassured by Parton, Dean entered the living room and Nash caught her first glimpse of the singer’s elusive spouse. Nash described him as appearing “shy and uncomfortable in the presence of a stranger.”
However, she noted that Dean was “friendly and polite” when he was introduced to her. As Dean tended to the fire, Nash observed that he was “ruggedly handsome” and “looked at his wife as if she were the only woman in the world.”
As their interview continued, Parton invited Nash to stay for dinner and try some of her “world-famous spaghetti,” saying she would tell Dean that Nash was a “friend.” Nash noted that the invite was a rarity since the couple “rarely socialized and never entertained.”
In Nash’s essay, she recalled that Dean excused himself from joining them for dinner since he had a cold. However, he continued to return to the living room from time to time to fix the fire as Parton and Nash talked late into the evening.
Nash remembered she was apprehensive that she might be intruding on the couple’s private time, but the feeling began to dissipate as the night progressed.
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“If I felt I were trespassing, the feeling faded as Carl reappeared several times, usually to bring Dolly and me something to drink as we taped late into the evening. ‘Y’all growin’ roots?’” he asked at midnight, Nash wrote.
She continued, “With each successive visit, he was more at ease, more likable and charming. At one point, he asked me if I’d gone to school for journalism. I told him I had, in New York City. He then, in an offhand way, began asking me about New York politicians. I wasn’t sure whether he was just making conversation, testing me, or pulling my leg, which I’d heard he liked to do.”
After Dean’s final visit of the night, Parton began to play the second side of “New Harvest… First Gathering” and explained why she waited until her husband was out of earshot.
“He just doesn’t want to hear the record, because we’re both so emotional,” she told Nash. “He’ll put it on and listen to it sometime when he’s here by himself, and if he likes it, he’ll tell me it’s pretty good. I bought him a video tape recorder, and he tapes me every time I’m on TV, but he won’t watch it unless he hears I done good.”
“You know, he loves me good and all, but I’m really not his favorite singer,” Nash recalled Parton saying with “a little girl’s smile and giggle.”
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“We have a great relationship and he’s a wonderful person, but he’s not my biggest fan,” Parton added. “He likes bluegrass and hard rock music.”
Parton also addressed the speculation that Dean didn’t exist, and she had made him up to ward off admirers.
“I know that’s a big rumor,” she told Nash. “He’s a real mystery person to the public. That’s good, though.”
“I mean, that’s fine with us, fine with him,” Parton clarified. “My career being separate from my marriage is perfectly natural for us. We like it that way. It’s too right and too natural and too comfortable and too secure for it to ever be anything else.”
Parton first met Dean at a laundromat in Nashville when she was 18 and he was 21. Two years later, the couple married in 1966 during a ceremony that was only attended by her mother, Avie Lee, the preacher and the preacher’s wife.
During his lifetime, Dean rarely gave interviews. However, in 2016, he spoke lovingly of Parton while the couple were celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary.
“My first thought was, ‘I’m going to marry that girl,'” Dean told Entertainment Tonight about meeting Parton for the first time. “My second thought was, ‘Lord, she’s good-looking.’ And that was the day my life began. I wouldn’t trade the last 50 years for nothing on this Earth.”
Over the years, Parton provided glimpses into their lives during interviews and has occasionally shared throwback photos of herself with Dean on social media. In 2021, she shared a throwback snap of the two, writing, “Find you a partner who will support you like my Carl Dean does!”
On Valentine’s Day in 2022, the 10-time Grammy Award winner marked the occasion by posting an image of herself with her longtime love. She captioned the photo, “Happy Valentine’s Day y’all! Remember to squeeze your loved ones a little tighter today and tell them you love ‘em!”
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Parton announced Dean’s death in a heartfelt statement that she shared on Instagram on March 3.
“Carl and I spent many wonderful years together,” the “9 to 5” singer wrote. “Words can’t do justice to the love we shared for over 60 years. Thank you for your prayers and sympathy.”
On Thursday, Parton expressed her gratitude for the love and support that she had received following Dean’s passing.
“This is a love note to family, friends, and fans,” Parton shared on Instagram. “Thank you for all the messages, cards, and flowers that you’ve sent to pay your respects for the loss of my beloved husband Carl.”
“I can’t reach out personally to each of you but just know it has meant the world to me,” she added. “He is in God’s arms now and I am okay with that. I will always love you.”
