Who is Carl Thomas Dean? Dolly Parton dresses up as Playboy bunny to wish husband on birthday
Veteran singer Dolly Parton left her fans bewildered as she appeared in a video in a Playboy Bunny costume. The 75-year-old singer recreated her Playboy cover photo from 1978 while wishing a special happy birthday to husband Carl Thomas Dean. Parton has been married to her husband Dean for around 54 years and the couple is still going strong.
All decked up in a black bustier, long, black gloves, and a pink bowtie, Parton completed her look with a pair of bunny ears hairband on her hair. She shot a video in the outfit which she later shared on social media. In the video, Parton says, "You're probably wondering why I'm dressed like this. Well, it's for my husband's birthday. Remember some time back I said I was gonna pose on Playboy magazine when I'm 75? Well, I'm 75 and they don't have a magazine anymore, but my husband always loved the original cover of Playboy." She further continued, "He still thinks I'm a hot chick after 57 years and I'm not gonna try to talk him out of that."
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The video also shows the 10-time Grammy winner surprising her husband with the 1978 Playboy cover and the latest photoshoot framed side by side. She joked that she was "kind of a little butterball" at the time of the previous Playboy shoot at the age of 32 years. "Well, I'm string cheese now. But he'll probably be thinking I'm cream cheese, I hope," the singer said winking at Dean.
It’s always #HotGirlSummer for my husband, Carl 💝 Happy birthday my love! pic.twitter.com/utz7Atpk3F
— Dolly Parton (@DollyParton) July 20, 2021
Who is Carl Thomas Dean?
Though rarely spotted together by the shutterbugs, Parton and her husband are true soulmates who have spent over five decades together in happiness and bliss.
Born on July 20, 1942, in Nashville, Tennessee, Carl Thomas Dean is the son of Edgar Henry Dean and Virginia Ginny Bates. Growing up in Nashville, Dean managed an asphalt-laying company there in the 1970s. He had also briefly worked as an actor, notably starring in the 2003 film 'Vigorish'. Dean has also been featured on TV documentaries about his legendary wife, including Dateline NBC. However, the Tennessee businessman prefers to maintain a low profile away from the limelight.
Dean and Parton met at a time when the singer had had multiple affairs with celebrities and influential men. She first met Dean on her very first day in Nashville, Tennessee. As a fresh-faced 18-year-old straight out of high school at the time, Dolly revealed that she had met Dean outside a local laundromat called the Wishy Washy Washateria. He had charmingly gone out of his way to tell her she was going to get sunburned, and they just gelled immediately and kept chatting away. Dean worked as an asphalt contractor back then and revealed his initial impressions on their first meeting 50 years later: “My first thought was, ‘I’m gonna marry that girl.’ My second thought was, ‘Lord she’s good lookin’. And that was the day my life began. I wouldn’t trade the last 50 years for nothing on this earth."
Parton and Dean decided to get married in secret once Dean left the army two years after they met, in 1966. Although her record label would oppose it, preferring to market her as a single gal, Dolly knew she had to follow her heart regardless.
Knowing Dean's love for her 1978 Playboy photoshoot, Parton always wanted to pose for the magazine again. She shared her wish during a March 2020 interview with '60 Minutes Australia'. "See I did Playboy magazine years ago and I thought it'd be such a hoot if they'll go for it — I don't know if they will — if I could be on the cover again when I'm 75," she had shared. It now appears that the star had fulfilled both her and her husband's dream with the latest stunning photoshoot.