From one female country icon to another…
With the release of her newest song, and it being her 77th trip around the sun, Dolly Parton is having quite a day. And of course, with all her earned acclaim and prestige, many people have reached out to send her birthday wishes.
But the most humorous birthday wish of all came from friend and fellow-singer Barbara Mandrell when she posted an old video of herself dressed as Dolly from head-to-toe on an old episode of The Barbara Mandrell Show.
Nobody loves a good prank or impersonation like Dolly, and she’s one of the best in the business for making people laugh. But Barbara was no rookie to the comedic stage either, having one of the most popular variety shows with her sisters in the 1980s.
In this sketch, Barbara donning a shimmering gold dress typical of Dolly Parton fashion, and a short, blonde, curly wig gives her opening speech from the perspective of Dolly, even nailing the southern accent, and might I add that the two do look very much alike:
“I just can’t tell ya how proud I am that Barbara asked me to be on this show! I mean to me, Barbara Mandrell is one of the giant talents of our business.
She’s electric and exciting, and of course SO beautiful. And I tell you the tender way she can deliver a ballad, well it just brings tears to my eyes.
She’s someone I’ve always looked up to. I mean everything I know about music, I learned from Barbara Mandrell!”
About this time, Dolly graces the stage behind Barbara (wearing the same outfit nonetheless) and catches her red-handed in the middle of her Dolly portrayal:
Dolly:
“Oh do tell…”
Barbara:
“Oh, hi Dolly!”
Dolly follows this up by mimicking Barbara’s sickly sweet version of her own voice, before asking her if she is hiding her sisters inside her bra, which she has of course augmented to look like Dolly’s famous bosom!
“What do you got in there, your sisters?!”
The crowd was absolutely smitten with the two and their little sketch, laughing along with the ladies.
Barbara closed out the sketch telling the crowd they’d be right back with more, but Dolly, always the lady with the last line said:
“You’ll be back with less!”
Barbara Mandrell and Dolly Parton have had a longstanding friendship throughout the years, and are also both receivers of multiple awards including Pioneer Awards in the country music industry.
Barbara shared this snippet of the two of them from the ‘80s that embodied their friendship very well, wishing Dolly a happy birthday.
