Jane Fonda says Dolly Parton ‘meant love’ as she remembers late icon on funeral day
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Jane Fonda got emotional as she talked about Dolly Parton on the day of her funeral. Parton was 80 when she died on August 25.
On August 28, she was laid to rest in Nashville, Tennessee, in a private funeral attended only by her family.
Jane Fonda says Dolly Parton 'meant love'
After issuing a lengthy tribute post, Fonda has now said that the late global icon “meant love. She loved everyone.”
“I was in the deep hollows of Tennessee and Arkansas, where people lived in tarp paper shacks with no electricity or running water, and she would come in in her full regalia — I never saw her without full regalia. And they loved her so much that they accepted my presence, and it was so clear that she absolutely respected them,” the 88-year-old actress said of her '9 to 5' co-star.
Fonda also added, “That was why there was so much love. She never played down. She was always who she was, out of respect for her fans. She taught me the importance of acknowledging and respecting fans.”
The ‘Jolene’ hitmaker died after a brief battle with cancer. At the time of her death, she was reportedly surrounded by her loved ones. Later, her manager said in a statement that Parton worked “up until the day she died to build a project roadmap that will guide us for decades to come.”
Jane Fonda remembers Dolly Parton as a playful Southern icon
As the news of Parton's death came out, celebrities from across the entertainment industry began paying their tributes.
Fonda in her tribute wrote that she was “devastated” as she continued to call the late legend “so present, so powerful, so generous and playful that she is woven into all our lives and hearts forever.”
The 'Barbarella' star also shared that she “never knew anyone like her,” before noting, “She was simultaneously a naughty, playful southern gal from the hollows of Tennessee and a deep, soulful thinker who could see through people right down to their true selves.”
Calling Parton “the voluptuous embodiment of empathy,” Fonda added that “she loved all her fans and they are legion. And you know she doesn’t want y’all to mourn now. Dress up and celebrate her spirit. But first, watch the final episode of 'Grace and Frankie' where she’s an Angel, the head honcho working class angel in Heaven.”
