Dolly Parton Revealed a Time an Audience Turned on Her: ‘People Were Angry’
Dolly Parton has loved getting in front of an audience since childhood. She knew she wanted to be a performer from a young age, and she did everything in her power to show off her talent. Generally, her audiences have loved her. She recalled one early instance when people turned on her, though. She shared why people grew angry with her.
Dolly Parton said her audience turned on her during a childhood competition
While Parton’s career didn’t take off until adulthood, she began making television appearances on The Cas Walker Show. Walker was a local celebrity, but he still relied on stunts and contests to bring people to watch the show.
“He used to have what was called a ‘greasy pole,’” Parton wrote in her book Dolly: My Life and Other Unfinished Business. “It was like a telephone pole that had been sanded down real smooth and then greased up with lard. It was as slick as a two-dollar lawyer and almost impossible to climb. At the top of the greasy pole was a cash prize for anybody who could reach it. I decided to give the greasy pole a try.”
Parton doused herself in water before rolling in the dirt in order to give herself better traction. The audience cheered her on as she made headway up the pole and eventually reached the prize at the top. Quickly, though, things changed.
“The cheers of the crowd soon turned into disgruntled muttering,” she recalled. “Somebody had recognized me as one of the performers on the show, and this created quite an outrage. People were angry that I had won the money. Not only had I used what they considered to be an unfair advantage, but in their minds, I shouldn’t have been eligible. They began to cry that the whole thing had been fixed.”
Luckily, Walker stood up for her and gave her the $250 prize. She noted that while the crowd wasn’t happy, they accepted her victory.
She shared how she spent the money
For Parton and her family, $250 was a staggering amount of money. She decided to use it to benefit all of them.
“Mama and Daddy couldn’t believe my good fortune,” she wrote. “I thought about what to do with the money and finally hit upon what seemed to be the perfect use for it. I would buy the family a television. This was the perfect answer. It would benefit all of us.”
Parton also liked that this would finally allow her family to watch her perform on Walker’s show.
Dolly Parton has loved performing for an audience since childhood
While Parton considered herself a shy child, she said she craved attention. After she performed for an audience for the first time, she knew she’d be seeking the thrill for the rest of her life.
“At that very moment I fell in love with the public,” she wrote. “This was what I had always wanted — no, needed. It was the attention I had longed for. I knew what they were giving me. Now I had confidence in what I had to give them.”
She noted that those who watched her first performance probably cheered for her because she was a child, not because they considered her a prolific talent. Still, it was enough to fuel her ambition for years to come.
