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Oct 18, 2023 · Robert Lee and Avie Lee Parton were the parents of country music legend Dolly Parton and 11 other children. They lived in poverty in the Smoky Mountains, but supported Dolly's musical dreams and inspired some of her songs.
- Julie Tremaine
Apr 24, 2021 · Dolly Parton has always talked about her father, Robert Lee Parton, and how he provided for their family. Learn more about the incredible man here.
- Male
- January 25, 1986
- Senior Country Music Journalist
- Her Father Worked Different Jobs to Provide For His Family
- Her Parents Paid For Her Birth with A Sack of Oatmeal
- Dolly Credits Her Musical Abilities to Her Mother
- Her Father Never Learned to Read and Write
- Her Father Inspired Her to Launch The Imagination Library
- Her Father Would Clean The Statue of Her Which Had Been Put Up in Her Hometown
- Her Mother Left Her The Best Advice
- Her Mother Have Made Her A Coat Made Out of Leftover Pieces of Material
- Her Parents Have Since Passed Away
Born in 1921 – Dolly’s father, Robert Lee Parton Sr., or better known as Lee – came from a long line of farmers. He would toil as a sharecropper during his early adulthood, which was a distinctive and entirely non-lucrative arrangement wherein a harvest’s portion was used to pay to the landowners as rent. However, when Dolly turned five in 1951, Le...
Because money has always been an issue for the family, her parents don’t have any cash to pay the doctor who delivered her, so they had to settle for her birth with breakfast favorite, oatmeal.
Dolly said she got her musical talent from her mother’s side, whom she described as “dreamers.” Born in 1923, Dolly’s mother, Avie Lee, was of Welsh descent. Though she often suffered from poor health – in addition to being a mother of twelve by the time she was 35 – she managed to keep house and entertain her kids with ancient ballads and Smoky Mo...
The “Coat of Many Colors”singer said her father was “always kind of ashamed” because he never learned to read and write. Lee grew up with thirteen siblings back in the mountains, where there’s nothing but a one-room schoolhouse that was often located miles away. And because of the weather and conditions, kids were forced to miss school and go to wo...
Not only did her father spark a number of hits, but he also encouraged her to launch Imagination Library. This is a nonprofit organization that sends free books to children from birth until they start attending school in participating areas. The country legend believes that telling her father’s story of not being able to read and write could help o...
To honor Dolly, her hometown of Sevier County, Tennessee, put up a bronze statue that can be found near the courthouse. It is there to remind residents, as well as to inform visitors, of the young cowgirl with big dreams from their city and developed into everything she desired to be. Explaining her love and admiration for her father at Jimmy Kimme...
Admitting that she was very much like her mother – outgoing and very verbal – Dolly said that her mother instilled in her the old saying, “To thine own self be true.” Avie Lee would always remind her to never try becoming what somebody else wants her to be. “Listen to your heart and to what God tells you to do. And listen to me as much as you will....
To make sure she stays warm even at school, Dolly’s mother would make her a coat made from scrap pieces of material. However, when she got to school, her classmates would make fun of the coat her mother made her. So, in order to make her proud of that little coat, her mother would tell her about Joseph’s story from the Bible along with his coat of ...
After suffering from complications of one or more strokes, the patriarch of the Parton family died at Baptist Hospital of East Tennessee in Knoxville in 2000 at age 79. His death was followed by another loss when the 80-year-old Avie Lee died three years later. Dolly Parton’s parents married in 1939. Dolly said she would never trade her humble upbr...
- Male
- January 25, 1986
- Writer
Sep 13, 2021 · Dolly Parton has long credited her dad for her incredible work ethic — but who is Dolly’s father, exactly? The legend herself, Dolly Parton, was born in 1946 to Robert Lee Parton and Avie Lee Caroline.
Mar 13, 2021 · Dolly Parton describes her father, Robert Lee Parton, as hardworking and “so precious.” He died in 2000 at the age of 79.
- Kelsey Goeres
- Senior Writer
Dec 7, 2020 · Speaking to RuPaul, she revealed her father, Lee Parton, inspired one of her most well-known charity efforts: the Imagination Library, which gifts free books to children around the world in order...
People also ask
What happened to Robert Lee Parton?
Who was Robert Lee Parton?
Who are Robert Lee Parton & Avie Lee Owens Parton?
Did Robert Lee Parton and Avie Lee Caroline get married?
But everyone’s story begins with the people they call parents, so just whose are Dolly’s, Robert and Avie Lee Parton? Robert and Avie died in 2000 and 2003, respectively, but their impact on Parton remains resounding as ever, especially when it comes to inspiring her philanthropic efforts.
