Dolly Parton on the Old Rumor That Her Younger Sister Rachel Is Actually Her Daughter
Dolly Parton was used to hearing rumors about herself in high school. Her peers resented her for being locally famous. The girls, especially, didn’t like her due to the way she dressed and carried herself. So when the “Coat of Many Colors” singer heard the rumor that her younger sister Rachel was actually her own daughter, she wasn’t surprised.
The rumor that Dolly Parton’s sister Rachel is actually her daughter
Dolly started performing on The Cas Walker Show when she was 10 years old. She worked for grocery store mogul Cas Walker into her high school years. When she was 14, a “real good-looking guy” named Curly Dan Bailey worked with her on the show.
“Even though I was only fourteen at the time, the rumor spread that I had gotten pregnant by Curly Dan and that Rachel was actually my illegitimate child by him,” Dolly wrote in her 1994 memoir, Dolly: My Life and Other Unfinished Business.
Dolly had to admit, Rachel’s curly hair did bear a striking resemblance to Curly Dan’s. But, then again, her sister’s locks resembled their father’s hair as well.
How Dolly felt about the rumor
By the time this rumor popped up, Dolly had heard her fair share of stories about herself. Previously, there’d been a horrible rumor spread about her that involved her being sexually assaulted. That rumor was so bad, the “Jolene” singer considered dropping out of school. But she ultimately decided to stick her education out after a talk with her mother, Avie Lee.
This lie, that Rachel was Dolly’s daughter and not her sister, made Avie Lee madder than anyone else.
“Rachel had to be taken by cesarean and was the last child she would be able to have,” Dolly wrote of her mom. “There are those who still think Rachel is my child—sometimes, I think, even Rachel.”
After Dolly resolved to stay in school after the previous rumor spread about her, the lies she heard about herself didn’t bother her as much. In fact, she often tried to make light of them.
“Of course it’s not above me to have a little fun with that,” she wrote of the fact that so many people thought Rachel was her daughter for so long. “Even today when Rachel’s hair fuzzes up from the rain or humidity I will sometimes call her ‘Curly Dan.’ The fact that I was able to laugh off stories like that felt good to me. I had really learned Mama’s lesson about self-respect.”
More about Rachel Dennison
Rachel (Dennison now) is the youngest Parton. She was born in 1959, 13 years after Dolly. Rachel has dabbled in the entertainment industry, touring with her sister and starring in ABC’s television sitcom rendition of 9 to 5, where she played Doralee Rhodes, the role Dolly brought to life in the original film. Though the series that co-starred Rita Moreno and Valerie Curtin initially did well in the ratings, it was canceled after 33 episodes. Since then, Rachel has appeared in several other Parton projects, like Dolly the variety series and TV movie Dolly Parton’s Mountain Magic Christmas.
Dolly and Rachel currently have a cookbook in the works.
“We’re putting a cookbook out together on recipes from the past and things I’ve gathered traveling all around the world,” Dolly told Yahoo!Life in Feb. “She’s a great cook, so we’re going to come out with a cookbook in the near future called Good Lookin’ Cookin’ because she knows how to make it pretty and make it taste good.”
