Jane Fonda grows tearful remembering Dolly Parton

The 80-year-old country singer passed away last Tuesday (25.08.26) at the age of 80, and her friend and 9 to 5 co-star has credited the Jolene hitmaker with teaching her the importance of "acknowledging and respecting" fans.

Jane grew tearful as she told Democracy Now: "She meant... she meant love. She loved everyone.

"We had a photo session and for fun we crossed our eyes, and she said, 'Never show this to anyone, it looks like we're making fun, never show anyone this picture'.

"I was in 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. 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.”

Jane recalled how she and 9 to 5 co-star Lily Tomlin got "the biggest goosebumps" when Dolly sang them the theme song from the film for the first time.

She said: "Three or four weeks into shooting, she called me and Lily over during the lunch break and she had nails like this, she got us in the corner and said, 'I've written the song.'

"And she starts singing 9 to 5, using her nails as percussion instruments.

"Lily and I looked at each other, we both had the biggest goosebumps we'd ever had and it was like, 'Oh my God. This is it. At least the song is going to be a hit. This is great, the anthem of the secretaries movement.'

"If she had gotten to the end of the day without her and her friends laughing so hard they had to cross their legs, she would create a cause for laughter. She laughed all the time and made sure everyone around her guffawed all the time.

"I know this because I spent 10 days with her on her tour bus because I was about to play a hillbilly and Dolly was the only hillbilly I knew so she helped me find the hillbilly I could base my character on."

The 88-year-old actress insisted Dolly was "absolutely" a feminist because she was so in control of her own life.

Asked if Dolly was a feminist, she said: "Absolutely. She knew from the get-go who she was, she knew that people would make fun of who she was because of how she looked and so she did it first and she did it smart, she was always in charge of her life, of her talent and her business and her career. So yes, she was in charge of her life, she was a feminist."

She wrote last week: “I never knew anyone like her. 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.