While she was not a photographer, she was so much more. Getty has a large collection of images of this wonderful woman. Country music changed; she did not. Show business changed; she did not. Politics and divisiveness changed America; she did not. Her kindness, giddy laugh only she could pull off sincerely, the wigs and “act” she pulled off on the exterior of a buxom blondie with all its stereotypes were just clever misdirection for her charm and business smarts that had everyone wrapped around her finger, and yet she only used her superpowers for good and helping others at every turn.
Her movies like Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982), Rhinestone (1984), and every Christmas and Kenny Rogers special always got playtime when I could find those VHS tapes in my teen years. She was not the best actor; she did not get lost in a role, but that did not matter. She brought spunk and charm, and changed the narrative of women being just a side piece in movies to movies like 9 to 5 being a woman leads the cast (like Charlie’s Angels) that was not very common on screen.
I will most remember her for her business sense and setting up a legacy, not of tabloids and mansions, but investing in her little part of the world when no one else would have, with Dollywood in her hometown of Pigeon Forge, TN. She figured out the music world pretty quick and to not get an Elvis-style contract. She built a marketing powerhouse brand name for herself that is amazing. Moving to LA in the 60s and getting her own talk show decades before Oprah, Karry Lake, Ellen, and that wave of daytime shows led by women in the 90s was trailblazing.
I love all her music, the bluegrass and mountain country I and most of the world would not have been exposed to otherwise. I think the Trio albums are some of my favorites with Linda and EmmyLou, very underrated and such a rarity of three megastars actually being genuinely friends and complementing vocally to make music magic. She inspired generations of other little girls to be singer-songwriters; none of them come close to the OG. Swift’s Cardigan will never be Coat of Many Colors, but keep trying.
I Will Always Love You from the Jolene (1974) album, and later covered by Whitney Houston in The Bodyguard (1992), was the soundtrack of all my spurned crushes in my teens and 20s, as corny as it sounds (I was), the verses breaking down so articulately and logically. Then, of course, Whitney’s damn vocals as a sendoff of sonic mastery took the country song through the stratosphere, all possible because a country girl took the risk to leave a massive TV show after 7 years and go solo and had the emotional intelligence to pen her feelings for her mentor and cohost into a song; the rest is history.
Her love of books and coming from parents that could not read in the Tennessee hills inspired her non-profit to give books to kids. Books and self-learning are a magical tool and something I know from my life as well and can relate to and advocate for as well.
Back to photography, though. She pictured well and was very photogenic, both in her “look” PR images and in behind-the-scenes candid shots on film sets and on her land, and the rare pictures with Dean. I am not a portrait photographer and am terrified of giving direction on sets; being responsible for controlling a human’s emotions, and trying to bottle them up responsibly for others to interpret is something I rarely do. I would have loved the chance to have taken her picture, though. I would most likely study her candid moments. I would have loved to be second camera or set photographer and observe her in cathedra/ ex cathedra personalities the most. That is why I selected this candid image of her for this tribute; it almost looks like a blooper shot most stars would have thrown away, but it made it onto a cassette cover showing her funny, playful side. Getty seems to own most of her images and no longer shows photographer credits on the site. I know she was photographed by many celebrity photographers; maybe I will research and make a video after finding or acquiring some photographs, books, or magazines in the future.
I did find a screenshot of her with a camera from a movie she wrote and starred in with Gary Busey called Wild Texas Wind (1991) that was about musicians’ road life, country music, and domestic abuse, issues and causes near to her heart. A made for TV movie, but she co-wrote it and had things to say, and there are some of her typical country movie songs in it that are always fun that she also co-wrote for the movie.
A true icon and legend, Dolly, we will ALWAYS love you!