Editor’s Note: The Playboy Interview with Dolly Parton originally ran in the October 1978 issue. In honor of her 80th birthday on January 19, 2026, enjoy the wide ranging talk that spans everything from sex to religion to her love of Elvis Presley.

Two days before the Palomino club in Los Angeles sponsored its first Dolly Parton Look-Alike Contest, Dolly Parton was wondering whether or not she should attend. She’d been to some others in different parts of the country and she’d been mostly disappointed. In Los Angeles, however, it might be different. But she knew if she attended, she would also enter. And she was wondering if there was any chance she might lose. “Wouldn’t that be hysterical?” she said. “But I doubt if I would. I mean, I look too much like her.”