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| Dolly Parton in Steel Magnolias |
No matter how talented they are, few stars really stand out as one of a kind, so it's a sad day when we have to say goodbye to Dolly Parton. The musical legend, television actor and tremendously successful entrepreneur, Tennessee's favourite daughter died today at the age of 80.
The recipient of an honourary Oscar for her humanitarian work, Parton won six Golden Globes for her work as a composer. She also found time to appear in a few films, including Steel Magnolias, Straight Talk, The Beverly Hillbillies and Gnomeo & Juliet; and she was celebrated in documentaries like Hollywood To Dollywood.
Growing up in a one room cabin with 11 siblings, Parton began composing and singing as a young child and continued touring until the age of 75, at which time, rather than retiring, she settled into a residency in Las Vegas. She released her final single in March last year, before stepping back due to poor health. No cause of death has been revealed.
Parton was a lifelong campaigner for LGBTQ+ rights and children's literacy, along with numerous other good causes. Her $1M donation was crucial to the development of the Moderna Covid vaccine and she supported several other major medical initiaves, playing a vital role during the early days of the AIDS pandemic and supporting the Red Cross. Amongst other things, she is credited with bringing the American bald eagle back from the brink of extinction and providing a book a month to over 850,000 children worldwide. She thrice turned down the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
