Dolly Parton was able to make a successful crossover from country music to pop, but could she make the transition from the singing stage to the silver screen?
Actor Burt Reynolds never had any doubt.
“Dumb question,” Reynolds said, according to People. “Dolly Parton was made to be a movie star.”
Parton, 80, who died on Tuesday, did not disappoint. She had a winning combination of a bubbly personality, folksy charm and great comic timing, Rolling Stone reported.
Here are five memorable movie roles Parton played during her acting career.
9 to 5 (1980)
Parton played Doralee Rhodes, a secretary. With co-stars Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin, the three secretaries turn the tables on Franklin Hart Jr., their obnoxious boss, played by Dabney Coleman.
Parton has a memorable scene when, tired of Coleman’s antics, she threatens to fetch a gun from her purse and “change you from a rooster to a hen in one shot.”
Steel Magnolias (1989)
Parton received second billing to Sally Field, playing the role of beautician Truvy Jones. Her chair in the beauty parlor is where the gossip in a small Louisiana town begins and women reveal their darkest secrets, Rolling Stone reported. Parton fits in well with big names such as Field, Julia Roberts, Shirley MacLaine and Darryl Hannah.
“Honey, time marches on,” Parton observes in her role as Truvy Jones. “Eventually you realize it is marchin’ across your face.”
The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982)
Parton and Reynolds were the romantic leads in the adaptation of the 1978 Broadway musical. Parton, as Mona Stangley, owns and is the madam of the Chicken Ranch, a notorious house of ill repute. Reynolds played Sheriff Ed Earl Dodd.
The film featured her composition, “I Will Always Love You,” which became a bigger hit for Whitney Houston in the 1992 film, “The Bodyguard.” For her performancs as Stangley, Parton was nominated for a Golden Globe Award in the category of Best Actress in a Motion Picture, according to People.
Joyful Noise (2012)
Parton stars as G.G. Sparrow, the wife of beloved choir leader Bernard Sparrow (Kris Kristofferson), in a small Georgia town. When Bernard dies unexpectedly, Parton must allow choir members Vi Rose (Queen Latifah) and her daughter (Keke Palmer), lead the group at an annual contest.
A memorable scene pits Parton against Latifah as they have a biscuit fight while trading insults, Rolling Stone reported.
Straight Talk (1992)
Parton plays Shirlee Kenyon, a loquacious, old-fashioned country girl who is starting anew in Chicago. She takes a job as a receptionist at a talk radio station, but she accidentally put on the air by producers, who believe she is a self-help doctor, Rolling Stone reported.
She becomes a local hit, doling out her homespun wisdom and life experiences. “We Dollyized it as much as we possibly could,” Parton once said, according to People. “I drug up every old country saying I’d ever heard.”
James Woods also stars in this comedy.
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