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Legendary country singer Dolly Parton has never been one to deny that she wants to appear a certain way and she’s going to do whatever she has to do to maintain that appearance, including having plastic surgery. Here’s what you need to know about what the singer has had done over the years and why.
Dolly Doesn’t Think She’s Naturally Pretty
Plastic surgery aside (because that came later), Dolly always has a certain look — a fully made-up face, countless wigs, dressed to the nines. In a 2019 interview with CBS Sunday Morning, she said it’s because she’s not naturally pretty.
“My look is really based on a country girl’s idea of glam. I wasn’t naturally pretty, so I make the most of anything I’ve got,” said Parton, adding, “I’m telling you, I’m not. You should have seen me this morning before I got ready to see you. I’m serious, though. I’m not a natural beauty, but I can enhance it. Whatever it takes, I do. I try to make the most of everything.”
Seeing pictures of her from when she was first starting out in the music business might make one wonder what Parton’s definition of “naturally pretty” is, but either way, she is never seen without what her friend Jane Fonda calls “full regalia.”
“I never saw her without her regalia. She’s an utter professional,” says Fonda in Biography: Dolly Parton, adding, “I used to think being self-conscious is pejorative. But Dolly is a good example of someone who is very conscious of self and has created a mythic, iconic character that’s partly, well, that’s entirely real but enhanced.”
Their 9 to 5 co-star Lily Tomlin adds, “I’ve never seen Dolly without a wig. To this day, I’ve never seen Dolly without her hair … She’s an entity that exists and she’s kept it alive for how many decades? So I think [her persona is] partly her now. I mean, if it wasn’t her before, which I think it partly was, I think it’s certainly instilled itself in her so much that she is who she is, even though she isn’t.”
Parton Has Had Her Eyes, Lips, and Breasts Done
In a 2003 story for People about what plastic surgery different celebrities have had done, Parton revealed she’s had her eyes, lips, and breasts enhanced. She joked that Dr. John Grossman “does all [her] fender work,” and he told People, “She has a generous bosom, which I augmented some years ago. She’s had her face rejuvenated on a number of occasions, [but] not a full face-lift.”
He also said she is “genetically gifted” and that “her skin is beautiful.”
In 2011, Parton also told The Guardian that she will certainly keep having plastic surgery.
“If something is bagging, sagging or dragging, I’ll tuck it, suck it or pluck it,” she told the newspaper, adding, “It’s like what I always say: I may look fake but I’m real where it counts. Ha ha ha!”
The Dolly Parton A&E biography airs Sunday, April 12 from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m., followed by Willie Nelson: American Outlander, a special concert that pays tribute to Nelson’s seven-decades-long career.
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