Dolly Parton’s death on Tuesday has touched off a national emotional tidal wave across America and around the world. Unlike anything in recent decades, prayers and tearful tributes are continuing online, on TV and radio, and throughout social media…crossing political party lines and regional differences.
Dolly’s passing brought back one of the highlights of my tenure as President/General Manager of WLS-AM/FM radio in Chicago in the 1990s. One morning in 1991, I received a phone call from Suzy Kellert, who was Director of the Illinois Film Commission. In those days, Chicago was “the” city for filming TV series and major motion pictures, so I assumed she was calling with a routine request for publicity for a commission project.
Nope. She was requesting a meeting in my office, at which she would bring three movie stars, including Dolly Parton, with “a big ask”: could my program director Drew Hayes and I coach the actors on how a real talk radio station operates as "field research" for a movie Hollywood Pictures was about to start filming called "STRAIGHT TALK" centered on a talk radio station in Chicago.
Right on time the next morning she arrived in our offices with actor Griffin Dunne (who would be cast as Program Director of the fictitious radio station), the great Philip Bosco (playing the gruff General Manager — not modeled after me!) and Dolly Parton herself, whose role in the movie was a small town girl escaping an abusive husband who was applying for a job as receptionist at the radio station. Comedy ensues when an on-air advice counselor walks out, and the Program Director shoves Parton’s character “Shirlee” into the studio and she becomes an overnight hit giving down-home relationship advice to Chicagoans, a la Dr. Laura Schessinger.
Griffin Dunne disappeared rather quickly so he and Drew could “workshop” what a Program Director does…and Philip Bosco, I recall, had another meeting across town. But Dolly — truly one of the nicest people you’d ever meet — hung around for hours. She spent time in the WLS studios watching how the talk programs unfolded, chatted with the call screeners to find out how they’d decide who made it onto the air, asked really incisive questions, and appeared to gravitate toward talk radio like a fish to water.
After the sessions, I sat down with Dolly and the Illinois Film Commission folks and (always angling for free publicity) surprised them by suggesting two radical things: would Hollywood Pictures like to actually film her scenes in our studios? And would Dolly like to return the next day and “guest host” an actual show AS her “Dr. Shirlee” character to get the feel of real talk radio? She worried wouldn’t callers say, “You sound just like Dolly Parton?” I told her she could laugh that off and say, "Everybody tells me that…now how can I help you?" She left us and seemed on the verge of actually coming back to host…as I had visions of TV, newspapers, Entertainment Tonight, and CNN beating a path to our doors at WLS to cover her.
The Hollywood Pictures team loved the idea, but observed that their big camera cranes and other equipment could not fit inside our studios, so would we allow them to remove a large window during production and then pay to replace it? I immediately said yes…but our New York City bosses at Capital Cities/ABC said absolutely not. So a prop “radio studio” was built across town in Chicago, and we lost a golden opportunity.
The next morning, Dolly phoned with her regrets that she was declining my offer to guest host an actual talk show as “Dr. Shirlee.” Crestfallen, I listened to her explanation that — in re-reading the "STRAIGHT TALK" movie script — she discovered that her character gave advice to a female caller that if she was unhappy in her marriage she should leave her husband; the woman did, with disastrous consequences. “I just couldn’t hurt one of your WLS listeners by giving relationship advice that could go sideways,” she stated.
Poof went my dream of being — even from afar — Dolly Parton’s “radio boss” and basking in $1 million-worth of free publicity. But it illustrated one thing I’ve never forgotten: after all her fame in music and films and her incredible charity work in America and abroad…Dolly Parton should be remembered as a truly kind human being who — even for "field research" — passed up a major market talk radio job on a 50,000-watt station in Chicago because of the remotest possibility that she might inadvertently hurt a listener whom she would never actually meet. That’s class.
That one incident was but a tiny representation of the kindness, thoughtfulness, and humility Dolly Parton exhibited throughout her life and career. She took great care to honor others and to avoid controversial topics lest she offend someone. Dolly’s generosity and philanthropy were unmatched. I had a moment with Dolly I will never forget. The world had a lifetime of her goodness we should always remember.
Tom Tradup is V.P./News & Talk Programming at Dallas-based Salem Radio Network. He can be reached at ttradup@srnradio.com.
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