<p id=”par-1_17″>Carl Thomas Dean, <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/tag/dolly-parton/?swcfpc=1″>Dolly Parton</a>’s husband of nearly 60 years, died on March 3. He was 82. </p>
<p id=”par-2_39″>“Carl and I spent many wonderful years together. Words can’t do justice to the love we shared for over 60 years. Thank you for your prayers and sympathy,” Parton said in a statement shared on <a href=”https://www.instagram.com/p/DGwdXPoPvoj/?hl=en”>Instagram</a> on Monday. </p>
<p id=”par-3_22″>In addition to Parton, Dean is survived by two siblings, Sandra and Donnie. A private ceremony for immediate family will be held. </p>
<p id=”par-4_31″><a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/dolly-partons-husband-1-rare-individuals-married.html/”>Parton and Dean</a> met outside a Nashville laundromat when she was 18. They wed in 1966. His interactions with a flirtatious bank teller were the inspiration for Parton’s hit song “Jolene.”</p>
<figure class=”wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio” id=”emb-1″><div class=”wp-block-embed__wrapper”>
<iframe title=”Dolly Parton – Jolene (Audio)” width=”925″ height=”520″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/Ixrje2rXLMA?feature=oembed” frameborder=”0″ allow=”accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share” referrerpolicy=”strict-origin-when-cross-origin” allowfullscreen></iframe>
</div></figure>
<p id=”par-5_38″>Despite his decades-long marriage to Parton, <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/dolly-partons-husband-told-not-invite-awards-show-1967.html/”>Dean remained mostly out of the spotlight</a>. He was rarely photographed and almost never spoke to the media. His reticence led some fans to speculate that he might not exist at all.</p>
<p id=”par-6_65″>“A lot of people have thought that through the years, because he does not want to be in the spotlight at all,” Parton said in a 2020 interview with <a href=”https://www.etonline.com/dolly-parton-opens-up-about-her-husband-carl-dean-and-how-some-people-dont-think-he-exists” target=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>Entertainment Tonight</a>. “It’s just not who he is. He’s like, a quiet, reserved person and he figured if he ever got out there in that, he’d never get a minute’s peace and he’s right about that.”</p>
<p id=”par-7_56″>“I’ve always respected and appreciated that in him and I’ve always tried to keep him out of the limelight as much as I can,” she added. “He said, ‘I didn’t choose this world, I chose you, and you chose that world. But we can keep our lives separate and together.’ And we do and we have.”</p>
<p id=”par-8_16″><em>For more on the entertainment world and exclusive interviews, subscribe to </em><a href=”https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWmTM34h0-P7FcCwuA6h6sw/videos” target=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener”><em>Showbiz Cheat Sheet’s YouTube channel</em></a><em>. </em></p>