Dolly Parton’s Husband Of Five Decades, Carl Dean, Seen In Public For The First Time In 40 Years

[quote]They both apparently lead separate, independent lives, according to reports. “Carl lives in a different building on the couple’s property in Brentwood, Tennessee,” a source says

That’s probably why their marriage has lasted so long. Plenty of space.

Interesting pictures!

He looks like Brian Wilson.

This is GOLD OP. Thank you! I didn't think he existed to be honest. Dolly isn't doing much with that man. His wig game is on point though.

The only way this marriage makes sense to me is they are just good friends.

You are welcome, R3. I thought he existed but they just were friends.

He's still alive!?!?! God, he was hot when he was young.

The first real beard.

He's wearing a wedding ring in one of the photos.

I think they are really married, but it is a marriage of people who are only friends. I do not blame Dolly. I have seen shows where the lesbian rumor is brought up and the people cheer when she said she is not.

Dolly is a faultless angel. She's very very very special and brilliant. But she better not have voted for Trump.

She let him out of the dungeon?

I thought he was dead.

When was the last time anyone saw me alive?

Don't I remember that Dolly and Burt Reynolds got involved making Best Little Whorehouse in Texas?

He was a good lookin' feller when he was young.

R14 Ha! In Burt's dreams...

Dolly has said in the past that Carl has never wanted anything to do with the show business side of their union. He leaves that up to her, and he does his thing which is running their empire with a large staff of employees to assist. They probably have one of the healthiest marriages in existence.

I think they are married and love each other but sometimes people in long marriages are happier in their own little areas. My mother and step-father each have their own spaces and do their own thing. She'll watch her Midsommer Murders and chick flicks on her little tv room and my step-father watches his bass fishing shows in another area. My mom has often said she wished he had his own little tiny house on their property to disappear to.

I can see how a wealthy woman like Dolly has her husband in his own little house on their property. It doesn't mean they don't care for each other or don't see each other.

40 years without being seen in public and/or no photos? damn, he's even got GRETA GARBO beat in this regard!

good looking man in his long thick mane of hair in the 70s/80s..

sure he's 77 now but he could still look a hell of alot better and younger then he does now!

He doesn't look good. I bet he's sick.

Cirrhosis belly

If this is a real marriage, where are the pictures of the renewal vows they supposedly took a few years ago? Dolly said she would sell them for charity. They would be worth some money.

She is holding him captive like Richard Simmons.

R18 I would LOVE a relationship like your mom and step-dad.

I bet your mother and step father still see each other a lot more than Dolly and Carl do, R18. We are talking having separate lives, not disappearing for a while.

How many years can the average person stand seeing the same person day after day after day without beginning to hate him/her, or at least resent him/her. Remember, absence makes the heart grow fonder.

Absence does make the heart grow fonder, but one would think they would want to see each other more than they do if they were in a romantic relationship.

I am friends with an older couple that you wouldn't even know were a couple unless you asked about their marriage.

It was years before I saw the two of them in the same room and they acted just like best friends.

However, they've been married about 40 years and they live almost completely different lives. They have kids who are adults they vacation with. Otherwise they see each other once a week and spend the rest of their time working. They have a home and a guest house but the husband sleeps in the guest house.

I've kind of learned that what works for certain people may not work for others but I have never judged.

They just seem to like their space as someone else here said and I think if I've been with someone that long I wouldn't mind it.

Good for them, R28, but that is not the only reason why I think the rumors about Dolly are true.

Oh my gawd! Fifty fuckin' years with the same person! Imagine how dull the conversations are! He has to sit there and listen to yammering away about how when she scrapes her fake nails together it sounds like a typewriter! And yammering away about How it ain't easy looking this cheap! And yammering away about how she shit in a bucket her whole life until she appeared on the Grand Ole Opery and backstage discovered indoor plumbing when she got caught sitting on a mop bucket, and some kind soul dragged her ass to the bathroom and at that moment the country mouse became a city mouse!

Hey! Carl Dean, here's a gun for Christmas! You're welcome!

i think the most "odd" aspect is simply him never being seen or photographed for decades!?.....

who is THIS private and/or secretive? because????

[quote] but one would think they would want to see each other more than they do if they were in a romantic relationship.

How do you know how often they see each other?

My parents have been married, since my mom was 17, and ny dad my dad 21. They're 87 & 91, as of October/November. Still wait for each other to go to bed, reminds the other to take meds and watch soap opera together. I personally couldn't do it, but I'm a much better person for having had it in my life.

[quote]who is THIS private and/or secretive? because????

According to A&E's Biography and other sources: he doesn't want to be photographed, he doesn't like to fly, he doesn't like to attend events, he has only seen her live once. If someone spots him on their property he apparently has told people that he's "the gardener." He also rarely leaves their home and doesn't want people to know what he looks like.

She has also said that she has to make him do things like go to the doctor and buy new clothes.

I'm no doctor and I hate speculating on this but is it possible there's something wrong with him, like avoidant personality disorder?

I like Dolly and she's certainly iconoclastic in many ways. But I don't buy the story of her relationship with her husband. They have nothing at all in common and her life has taken her everywhere and she has done nothing but expand and grow her mind, her talents and her empire. Her husband knows nothing of her business or career and THAT has been HER life. Somewhere along the line, this arrangement benefits the both of them. Parton spends very little of the last 50 years at home. Dolly employs her whole family and town, so no one has ever said much about it. I don't believe they are married OR best friends in any usual sense. He's kept her secrets and has been able to do as he pleases. Of course Dolly is very rich, like Celine, Madonna and Barbra rich. I'm sure that Carl never wanted anything, including companionship, that he hasn't got. Dolly has admitted to affairs and flirtations, but she's an expert at deflection. It's pretty cool that they've kept their secrets. Maybe they are in love, but I don't think so. What does she have to say to the guy from the Laundromat who hasn't been a part of her life for the last 40 years?

"he doesn't want to be photographed, he doesn't like to fly, he doesn't like to attend events"

I don't know if their marriage is purely a sham, but if I were as rich as he must be, I wouldn't want to be photographed much. For one thing, with as much money as the family has, kidnapping would be a real possibility. Plus, if he wanted to sleep around discreetly with other people, it's easier to do that if few people know what he looks like.

They probably have an open marriage if not a full on bearding arrangement, but if it became common knowledge, most country music fans would not approve of it.

I can't believe they never had kids to inherit all that wealth, plus they were both so good looking, their spawn would have been gorgeous!

R37 I wouldn't worry about heirs - where they are from in Tennessee, they probably have dozens of cousins /cousins' children who are almost as genetically close to them as biological children would have been

He didn't even go to the grand opening of Dollywood?!?

She's either asexual or a lesbian. Why wouldn't the man live and travel with his wife? She's just lied so long she can't change the story now.

Now a reality show on that house I would like to see.

He looks pretty grim, now.

I wouldn't ride that dick either!

*Hey, I just came up with a new country western song, ya'all!!!!

It's hard to tell, but I can't say he gives off a gay vibe in any of those pictures, new or old.

This is the DL equivalent of seeing Bigfoot in the wild.

Dolly has recently told another half truth. She was forced to admit that she is covered in tattoos. Roseanne revealed this years ago - that Dolly's arms are fully tattooed. Dolly says they're just pretty little butterflies to cover up some scars. But the woman has worn long sleeves forever. She's a full on fascinating freak.

I remember reading that she has said that sometimes when she has extended down time, she will put the Dolly Parton facade in a box and they will just go out for extended day trips in his truck and "act naturally."

Aside from her famous quote that it takes a lot of money for her to look so cheap, I loved her saying: "When I wrote "I Will Always Love You" I was grateful all the way to the bank. After Whitney got done with it, I bought that bank!"

She also had the balls to say no to Elvis manager Col. Parker who said that Elvis wanted to record "IWALY" but expected to have Elvis listed in the publishing credits. As much as she loved the idea of EP singing her song, her business instinct kicked in and she told the Col thanks but no thanks.

There was no mention of Judy at all in the podcast.

Way back in the '80s, my mom said she read or saw an interview with Dolly in which she basically confirmed that they have an open marriage. Dolly sleeps with whoever she wants while out on the road and the same goes for Carl. But they loved each other and had no intention of ever divorcing. I can't really vouch for this info as I heard it third hand and don't know the source, but there it is for what it's worth.

Believe it or not there really are people who have absolutely no interest in being in the limelight. They treasure their privacy and anonymity. Carl has probably seen what being in the limelight does to many people since the early days of his marriage and wants nothing to do with it. Can't say I blame him one iota.

Interesting, R47.

We will not forget you, Judy!

Dolly did not even mention him when she was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, R39. I would have thought he would have been considering what a huge deal that is for performers. Dolly's constant companion (or she used to be) Judy was, though. A lady that one of our insiders said was very clearly a lesbian.

The article mentions Carl shopping with his personal assistant. I immediately thought the assistant is probably close to his age and male.

A lavender marriage makes sense.

[quote]Don't I remember that Dolly and Burt Reynolds got involved making Best Little Whorehouse in Texas?

That, and James Woods blabbed for weeks about having a fling with her on Straight Talk. It was tacky as hell.

Carl Dean has been out of the spotlight since the very beginning, so why would he change after decades of not wanting to be involved? "He didn't go to the opening of Dollyworld, they must be in a lavender marriage" is very odd thinking.

She could very well be lesbian given her lengthy relationship with Judy and other such rumors, but "Carl doesn't want to be photographed" isn't much evidence.

I read in a recent interview that Dolly said they are in an open marriage, but not sexually.

She has never said they are in an open marriage. She's made a few quips here and there, but any article about her alleged open marriage is always "a source tells us Dolly goes around telling people how she and Carl have an open marriage."

I assume they have some kind of understanding, but it's an assumption, not fact.

Reminds me. I haven't bought a pair of Wallabees in decades.

If you’ve ever worked in the entertainment industry, you know there is a dark element of batshit fans. People that need to be locked up and institutionalized. Any given tour, there’s the same faces - in the hotel parking lot, standing around the lobby, calling up every hotel room. At casual glance you’d think its just groupies. No. They’re batshit, creeping around in dark areas where they shouldn't be, and protesting that there's nothing wrong with their behaviour when the police are called. In every city after a point. Even after theyre banned from attending future performances.

So I dont blame this alleged Carl Dean at all for staying home. Hes not missing anything.

R59, I have. Clark's. Love those shoes.

I used to love them as well, r62. I think the reason I stopped buying them was because they were too expensive.

^ they last a good long time; it's the reason I love them. Also, they are great for knee and back shock absorption, because of the thick soles.

I demand to speak to him.

Dolly isn't gay. WTF

Funny how this is being fed into the media just after Lily Tomlin let slip that Dolly is at least partly a carpet muncher.

R67, what did Lily Tomlin say exactly? Do you have a source?

I think it is funny how some of you apparently need to see video of Dolly going down on another woman before you believe she might be into women. The idea she is with Judy has been around for years.

R69 Just because there has "the idea" around for years doesn't make it true. There's that kind of "idea" about almost every celeb on DataLounge

My point is this is not the idea of some crazy fan on dl. It has been in the press for years. If you all do not believe it, fine, but I do based on everything I have read. I am also not one who thinks my favorite actress or musician is gay. There have been those I have wondered about who I ended up believing are straight.

I think Dolly actually goes both ways. She wasn't a virgin when she met Carl and it's known that she slept with Porter Wagner, Sylvester Stallone, Burt Reynolds, and James Woods. I also suspect she had a fling with Jane Fonda.

I waver between thinking Dolly is lesbian or bi but I do not believe she is straight.

"Dolly has also admitted to numerous flings over the years and she doesn't just have the hots for women. She's carried on a 19-year affair with songwriter Blaise Tosti, the son of her hairdresser, that began when she was 26 - and he was only 13, he claims. . . Now 50, Tosti claims Dolly began hitting on him when he was 11."

I think Dolly is into women, not children.

Maybe not the right thread but someone did ask so here are Oprah and Steadman on New Year's Day.

I think she's into men.

Do you think that, under Dolly’s wig, she has a rat tail mullet that matches Judy’s?

You will not catch me looking like a bulldyke!

For those who do not know, Dolly actually said something similar (she did say that word) in public. She is either a homophobe or a lady who has struggled with the closet. Since I prefer to think of her in a positive light, my choice is to add this to list of reasons why I think she is a lesbian/bisexual.

R80 something similar? What did she or didn't say?

It has been awhile since I have seen the video but the idea is she did not want to look like a bulldyke. She did use that word. I was surprised to hear her say it. The video in in that l chat thread.

That's not homophobic, that word is used on DataLounge and LChat constantly.

It is homophobic when used by straight people.

The video has been removed but you can see the reaction from those who did watch it.

R84 Nah. It's just a lady that looks like a bull, like she drives a tractor and could beat your ass. Manly broad.

I still think Carl is imaginary.

R87 Like a ghost?

This is the Lily quote.

So a political lesbian?

Dolly is not political so my guess is a lesbian/bisexual woman who is very active. That definitely describes Dolly. She always has so many projects going on.

Dolly's a collection of paradoxes. She's open, yet there's a shroud of mystery around her. She's authentic and genuine, but celebrates the superficial. She seems traditional, but alludes to some level of openness in her marriage. Her song "Dumb Blonde" is about the paradox of her appearance versus her intelligence.

Dolly has created magic from these contradictions and is generally loved by the public.

She's a genius, truly. She knows what she wants, how to get it, and she displays a consistently positive attitude in the process. All honey, no vinegar, ever, even with asshole director Herbert Ross on Steel Magnolias.

She's married to her career and found in Carl a polar opposite who is somehow her perfect match. It could be the bearding of the century, but 50 years is a good run even for friends. People like Carl may seem boring, but they are very stable and don't like change. Maybe Carl's the anchor that allows Dolly to be Dolly. Or maybe he really is just her gardener. You'll never know.

Judy is the anchor, imho.

Wonderfully stated Judy, aka R92.

Actually, I think we will find out in time as those in the know let it slip just like in Lily's case.

I listened to a recent recording of hers and her voice now has that elderly lady quaver. Time to hang it up, Dolly.

What song was it, R96?

Loved everything you said R92

[quote]People like Carl may seem boring, but they are very stable and don't like change. Maybe Carl's the anchor that allows Dolly to be Dolly. Or maybe he really is just her gardener. You'll never know.

I'd add that she also made it clear that Carl wanted nothing to do with her business or career even beyond letting her have the spotlight by wanting to stay out of it.

I feel like that must have been a boon to a woman in the 60s: finding a guy pretty much stayed out of his wife's business and didn't try and control her.

Carl Dean: who's his bf?

R95 Who's Lily?

R57: in what ways can people have an open marriage other than sexual? Isn't the very definition of "open marriage" sex-related?

I'm like a Carl Dean so I get it. I've always hated being photographed despite always being asked even by strangers on the street. My boyfriend is always sneaking shots of me and it causes fights. He's known in the town where we live so all his friends, especially the girls, all want or wanted to meet me and I have no interest in that. I don't leave the house unless I absolutely want to or have to. It causes fights because there is always some family event on his side or some party or wedding. My boyfriend loves to travel to different countries and states and I've gone but I despise flying and just the act of traveling in general. I love my boyfriend but we have two separate bedrooms and much different taste in entertainment except for Theater. And I'm not even a celebrity or married to one so I totally get it. I always support him and always will but I prefer to be alone most of the time and that keeps me happy. Hanging out with the same person at every hour of the day everyday is not healthy in my opinion.

Dolly should run for president. She's the one person everybody likes.

[quote]It has been awhile since I have seen the video but the idea is she did not want to look like a bulldyke. She did use that word. I was surprised to hear her say it. The video in in that l chat thread.

Here's the transcript, it was in March 2000 so 20 years ago now. It just sounds like a bunch of standard jokes to me, the kind of stuff that was considered edgy back then, and a big part of Dolly's image has always been to contrast her country hick side with her edgy and modern side.

What she said was absolutely acceptable for the time. I'd say it was probably 2010 or 2012 before attitudes really noticeably changed. Her joke about looking like a bull dyke and her comment about Barney Frank sound like the stuff you'd hear on late night monologues and sitcoms.

That is what I thought, R101.

Lily Tomlin, R95. Dolly is supposed to be out in her private life.

From article:

[quote] The two actually first met outside a laundromat in 1964

I’m trying to picture this. Did he offer to carry her basket, or something? Did his fabric softener go everywhere?

"I met him the first day I got to Nashville, in 1964. I graduated on a Friday night, went to Nashville on a Saturday morning with dirty clothes and I went to a Laundromat looking for anything but love. I had just left two boyfriends back home," she told Interview in 1984. As for Dean, it was love at first sight. He revealed: "My first thought was 'I'm gonna marry that girl. My second thought was, 'Lord she's good lookin.'

I wonder how many times Dolly has used homophobic slurs in private. Maybe it was wrong of me to try to give her a pass.

Maybe I wrong when I thought there is no way she could have voted for Trump since what she said is no different than what a Trumpster would say.

The trollish desperation of r110 is visible from space.

It’s all very old-fashioned. A mystery. I like it.