Country music legend Dolly Parton’s love story with her husband Carl Dean stood the test of time, lasting more than 60 years until his death at age 82 on March 3, 2025. So, perhaps it’s no surprise that so many entertainers who’ve brought Hallmark Channel’s love stories to life — including Parton’s 2019 movie “Christmas at Dollywood” — have rallied around the 79-year-old singer-songwriter as she grieves.
In a statement posted to Parton’s social media accounts on the evening of March 3, the music icon said, “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.”
Hallmark Channel Stars & Alums Send Love to Dolly Parton
In less than four hours of Parton’s post going live on social media, nearly 800,000 fans had already “liked” Parton’s Instagram post, including many Hallmark Channel stars and alums. Among them were Andrea Brooks and Martin Cummins of “When Calls The Heart,” Angela Kinsey of “The Office” and 2024’s “Confessions of a Christmas Letter,” and Chelsea Hobbs, who’s appeared in many Hallmark movies including 2024’s “Deck the Halls on Cherry Lane.”
Others have offered words of sympathy to Parton, including Hallmark fan favorite Nikki DeLoach, who wrote, “I am so sorry Dolly. Wrapping you up in my love and prayers. ❤️🩹”
Holly Robinson Peete, who has starred in over a dozen Hallmark movies, left three brokenhearted emoji for Parton (“💔💔💔”) in the comment section and Sharon Lawrence of “The Christmas House” movies wrote, “Bless your family 🤍.”
Country star Lauren Alaina, who co-starred in 2021’s “Roadhouse Romance” with Tyler Hynes, wrote to Parton, “I love you. Sending prayers for comfort and peace your way. ❤️”
Hallmark Channel alum Danica McKeller, who starred in Parton’s “Christmas at Dollywood” alongside Niall Matter, commented, “Sending so much love to your heart!! ❤️🙏🕊️”
Dolly Parton Opened Up About Her Private Husband in May 2024
Parton met Dean in 1964 on her first day in Nashville, per People, after she moved there following her graduation from high school in her hometown of Sevierville, Tennessee. He called out to her as she was walking to the Wishy Washy Laundromat, she once told The New York Times.
They married two years later, but Dean was extremely private throughout their marriage, letting Parton shine out on the road. Months before Dean’s death, Parton opened up to E! News about their relationship.
“It is important to have someone there in your corner and you know they’ll love you for just who you are,” she told the outlet in May 2024. “There’s a great comfort in knowing that someone loves you exactly for who you are—because he fell in love with me before I became a star.”
“To him, I’m his star,” she continued, adding that their different personalities “worked for us because we both do different things and it’s exciting when we are together.”
“We just enjoy each other,” Parton told E! News. “One of the things that we like to do—not necessarily a date night, we have a lot of date days—we have our little RV and we like to travel around. Going down and get some food, or I’ll make a picnic and we go down to the river.”
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Hallmark Channel Stars Rally Around Dolly Parton: ‘Prayers for Comfort & Peace’