Jane Fonda Revealed the Crossed-Eyed Photo That Made Dolly Parton ‘Very Upset’
Jane Fonda and Dolly Parton grew close after starring in 9 to 5 together. After Parton’s death, Fonda has spoken glowingly about her longtime friend. Fonda recalled a time that Parton became upset after taking a picture. Her reasoning, Fonda said, had to do with her kind heart.
Jane Fonda said one photo made Dolly Parton feel upset
Parton died on Aug. 25. When asked what she meant to her, Fonda gave a heartfelt answer.
“She meant — she meant love,” Fonda told Democracy Now, adding, “She really did. She loved everyone.”
Fonda recalled a time when they took a cross-eyed picture with fellow 9 to 5 star Lily Tomlin. When Parton saw it, she said they had to get rid of it. She worried it might unintentionally hurt one of her family members.
“One day, we were on a photo session, me, Dolly and Lily,” Fonda said. “And for fun, we crossed our eyes, and they took a picture of us with our eyes crossed. And she got very upset. She said, “We never can show this to anybody.” She said, ‘It looks like we’re making fun. I have a relative who’s cross-eyed. I don’t ever want to see this picture.’”
Jane Fonda said Dolly Parton consistently made her laugh
Fonda said Parton was also intelligent and keenly perceptive. She also did all that she could to make people laugh.
“Dolly, if she had gotten to the end of the day without her and her friends laughing so hard they had to cross their legs, then she would create a cause for laughter,” Fonda said. “She laughed all the time and made sure that everybody around her guffawed all the time.”
She said she became intimately aware of Parton’s sense of humor while traveling on a tour bus with her as she prepared for a role.
The actor sang with her while preparing for a role
During Fonda and Parton’s road trip, the former had the unique opportunity to sing backup for the country star.
“One of the ways that she helped me with a character of a — the hillbilly that I played in The Dollmaker, she invited me to Nashville, and then we spent 10 days driving through Appalachia and meeting people,” she said. “But the first night I was in Nashville, she announced to me that I was coming with her to the Grand Ole Opry, and I was going to sing backup.”
Parton didn’t announce this. She simply brought Fonda up on stage with her.
“I sang backup for Dolly at the Grand Ole Opry,” she said. “Nobody knew who I was. This was 1977, I think, ’78. And yeah, I sang backup with Dolly.”
