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“I Don’t Know About Her Husband, He’s Weird” – Dolly Parton Once Said Carl Dean Used To Pretend To Be Their Gardner
Charming as always, that Dolly.
Dolly Parton’s husband of almost 60 years, Carl Thomas Dean, sadly passed away on Monday in Nashville at the age of 82. The sad news about Carl’s passing was released via Dolly’s social media. They were married for almost 60 years, and met on the first day Dolly had moved to Nashville in 1964.
She was doing laundry at the Wishy Washy laundromat, because she had left home so quickly that she needed to wash her clothes, and while she waited, she walked around outside taking in Music City. Carl just so happened to drive by, and stopped to talk to her. In a vintage interview with Johnny Carson from 1977, she joked that it’s been “wishy washy” ever since.
It’s one of my favorite videos of her, because effortless charm and vibrant charisma comes through so effortlessly. It’s hard to imagine anyone didn’t fall in love with her upon the first conversation:
“No, no well, he’s from Tennessee, but I’m met my husband first day that I moved to Nashville in 1964… well, I just took up with a strange man, that’s all. My daddy didn’t want me to leave home for that very reason, he knew I’d do that. No, I’m only kidding. But anyway, I did, it’s the truth that I met my husband the first day. I took dirty clothes from home because I was in such a hurry to go, so I had gone to the laundromat, which was the first time that I had ever been to the laundromat.
And I put my clothes in the washing machine, and I got a cold drink and I was just walking along the sidewalks, just kinda looking around Nashville. So this good looking guy went by in the Chevrolet, and me being straight from the country, you speak to everybody. And if you don’t, you’re stuck up, you know, you’re just an old stick in the mud if you don’t speak. So he said, ‘Hello there, you’re gonna get sunburned.’ I said, ‘Oh, I don’t think so, how are you doing?’
So he made a circle and came back around and I thought, ‘Oh, uh oh, I’ve done it this time.’ We did start talking, and he did go back in the laundromat with me and I was hoping he wouldn’t see me getting my clothes out of the dryer and all. But anyway, we met it the Wishy Washy and in all honesty it’s been wishy washy ever since. And two years later, we married.”
Smooth, Carl. Really smooth…
Dolly also told a story that perfectly captures Carl’s sense of humor, and it didn’t disappoint. He might’ve been illusive, but he sounds pretty dang smart:
“He never goes to the shows, he’s just really a great person. Now, he really stays behind the scenes. But anyway, I want to tell you a funny thing that he did. Well, there’s couple of funny things, but I’ll tell you one for sure. There’s the tour bus in Nashville that goes around to all the stars homes, and we live way out in the country.
I guess I never thought I was that much of a star, but they do come there anyway. So he works out in the yard all the time, you know, he works with the tractor and does a lot of grade work and construction, and so he just love to be outside. So people come up, and he just looks like a gardener, just somebody working there, and that’s what he wants him to think. So they started to take pictures, he said ‘No, no, no, you got the wrong one. I just work here.’
And so then they started asking questions about me, and about what she’s like. He said, ‘She’s really nice, I just love her. But her husband, I don’t know about him. He’s kinda weird. So anyway, he’s just always putting them on like that. and once they tore down the fence backing the bus out, they have to turn around in the driveway, and they said ‘Well just don’t mention that it was the tour bus when they come home.’ He said, ‘I won’t mention it, because I wouldn’t mention it to him. Now y’all be careful, you here.’
That’s what he does, he won’t let him take pictures just in case, you know. So now I’ve done spilled the whole thing, so next time they’ll all be taking pictures.”
The fact that he was able to remain so private considering he’s married to one of the most famous people in the world is impressive, to say the least, and it’s sad to think their decades-long marriage is now over. They seemed to have a beautiful, very grounded, relationship, and a ton of mutual respect that stood the test of time.
While, like any marriage, I’m sure it wasn’t perfect, but they made it work and I can only imagine what Dolly is going through now, having lost the love of her life.
This part of the interview is going viral on TikTok, and it’s just wonderful:
@consequence Dolly Parton recounts the story of meeting her late husband Carl Dean.#dollyparton #carldean #johnnycarson #70s ♬ original sound – consequence
The full interview is well worth your time, too:
The post “I Don’t Know About Her Husband, He’s Weird” – Dolly Parton Once Said Carl Dean Used To Pretend To Be Their Gardner first appeared on Whiskey Riff.
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