Though Dolly Parton has been one of pop culture’s most recognizable figures for decades, her private life with husband Carl Dean remained largely a mystery.
Dean, who passed away on March 3 at age 82 after nearly 60 years of marriage to the country music icon, fiercely valued his privacy and avoided the spotlight. His aversion to publicity made it all the more surprising when Parton welcomed journalist Alanna Nash into their Nashville home for an interview in 1977.
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In an essay for Variety, Nash reflected on her time with the couple, recalling her encounters with the “delightfully unusual” Dean, who occasionally appeared as she interviewed Parton for Country Music magazine.
The journalist spent two days speaking with the “Jolene” singer in her English Tudor-style home, which was adorned with butterflies and featured an oil painting of Dean. As the interview stretched late into the night, Dean finally made his presence known with a dry but humorous remark.
“Y’all growin’ roots?” he quipped as midnight approached, Nash recalled.
Initially hesitant about Nash’s presence, Dean had told Parton, “I don’t want to do no interviews.” However, as he entered the living room to tend to the fire, Nash observed that while he seemed shy and slightly uneasy around a stranger, he was also “friendly and polite” and “ruggedly handsome.”
“With each successive visit, he was more at ease, more likable and charming,” Nash wrote. She recounted how Dean casually asked if she had studied journalism, then unexpectedly steered the conversation toward New York politicians. Unsure if he was genuinely curious or simply testing her, Nash noted that Dean had a reputation for pulling pranks.
His best friend, Ronnie Shacklett—husband of singer Brenda Lee—later confirmed Dean’s mischievous nature.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen Carl serious. He just puts you on all the time,” Shacklett told Nash. “Seems to me he may be playing a part or acting out a role of some sort.”
Parton herself acknowledged that her husband remained a “real mystery person to the public” but said that was exactly how they preferred it.
“My career bein’ separate from my marriage is perfectly natural for us. We like it that way,” she told Nash. “It’s too right and too natural and too comfortable and too secure for it to ever be anything else.”
On March 3, Parton announced Dean’s passing in a heartfelt statement on Instagram, sharing that he had died earlier that day at age 82. He is survived by his siblings, Sandra and Donnie, and was laid to rest in a private family ceremony.
“Carl and I spent many wonderful years together. Words can’t do justice to the love we shared for over 60 years,” Parton wrote. “Thank you for your prayers and sympathy.”
