For nearly five decades, Dolly Parton talked with Associated Press reporters about far more than the songs that made her famous. She talked about movie stardom, kissing a president and her charity work, among other things.Those interviews captured a Parton who could be funny and self-deprecating but also clear-eyed about who she was and what she wanted.Here is Parton, who died Tuesday at age 80, in her own words, as compiled by AP Music Writer Maria Sherman:Parton knew she would be famous before Hollywood came calling“I never thought of myself as a movie star. I knew I’d be a star, but as a singer or as a writer of songs or books or poetry. I wanted to be a famous performer and wear flashy clothes, but singing in movies was not one of my ambitions. My family lived in the mountains and we didn’t see movies.”“I can’t act a part, but if they allow me to be myself, then I can handle it. If they find me a story that allows me to be me, then I’m interested; if they don’t, I’m not.” (July 1979)
On kissing President Jimmy Carter at the White House“My husband wants a picture of this, too.” (October 1979)Critical in her self-review of her performance in “9 to 5”“In places I was real good. In places I was real average and in others I was … (sticking out her tongue). All in all, for the first time out, I was proud of it. (December 1980)
