Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
Arts & Entertainment
Video: Visit Dolly Parton's 5th Avenue Penthouse In The 1980s
By
Jen Carlson
Published Aug 1, 2013
Modified Aug 1, 2013
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
Jen Carlson
Published Aug 1, 2013
Modified Aug 1, 2013
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
In 1980 Dolly Parton was on the cover of Rolling Stone, preparing for her first movie role (9 To 5), and splitting her time between the country and the city. This CBS segment for "Country People" with Huell Howser (RIP) aired on CBS in 1980, and was shot while she was preparing for her big screen debut. In it, Parton reads from the script, plays a tune, gives a tour of her 5th Avenue penthouse apartment, and talks New York City:
"I love it up here. I don't get here all that often, but it's a good place for me to work, I write a lot of songs up here. Looking out over Central Park there's just that little bit of simplicity, it almost looks like a country scene, and then to kind of look out and see all the buildings and the high rises. It's like the country and the city, just this little part here, and I get inspired."
Not bad, but she still preferred the country...
Maybe because you can make more noise there—in 1979 she told one paper, "We play music too loud and we'll probably get thrown out that window. We got neighbors and I respect 'em but sometimes I forget, like when I'm playin' on my new album and thinkin', we need horn in that piece or we need to put string on this, and I turn it up so loud I can hear all I'm supposed to and then all of a sudden the neighbors don't particularly want horns." To her credit, she did try to help by putting "sound absorbing fabric" on all of the walls.
Tagged
dolly parton
flashback
huell howser
Jen Carlson
Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE arts-entertainment
Will Barnes and Noble in the East Village spell doom for smaller shops? It's complicated.
Independent booksellers are grappling with whether the big-box chain is a threat or an ally in the fight against Amazon.
By
Sonia Rao
Published Oct 16, 2026 at 12:55 p.m. ET
Can eligible NYC singles find love with 30 minutes and some really spicy food?
We went to the Spiciest Supper Club singles night to take the temperature of New York City's dating scene.
By
Elizabeth Shwe
and
James Ramsay
Arts & Entertainment
Can eligible NYC singles find love with 30 minutes and some really spicy food?
We went to the Spiciest Supper Club singles night to take the temperature of New York City's dating scene.
By
Elizabeth Shwe
and
James Ramsay
How the NYC Marathon has changed in the last 50 years
By
Hannah Frishberg
A visit to Art of Play, the Brooklyn store in an animatronic bird beef with Kelly Clarkson
By
Sonia Rao
The hottest way to show you're an authentic New Yorker is… riding a Citi Bike?
By
Lindsay Lee Wallace
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .