Early Life
Born in Sevierville, Tennessee, Parton is the sixth of twelve children born to father, Robert Lee Parton Sr. and mother, Avie Lee Caroline Owens. Her siblings are Willadeene Parton (a poet, b. 1940), David Wilburn Parton (b. 1942), Coy Denver Parton (b. 1943), Dolly Rebecca Parton (singer-songwriter and actress, b. 1946), Robert Lee Parton Jr (b. 1948), Cassie Nan Parton (singer, b. 1951), Randel Huston "Randy" Parton (a singer and businessman, b. 1953), Larry Gerald Parton (b. 1955, d. 1955), twins Floyd Parton (a singer-songwriter, b. 1957), Freida Estelle Parton (a singer, b. 1957), and Rachel Ann (née Parton) Dennison (an actress, b. 1959). Her sister Dolly Parton has stated in interviews that to her knowledge her father had strayed at least once or twice and fathered two other illegitimate children.
At seven, she and sister Dolly appeared on a local Knoxville, Tennessee television program and two years later, she made her debut on radio. During this time, Stella and her two other sisters, Willadeene and Cassie, formed a group that sang Gospel and commercial jingles around the eastern Tennessee area. During her high school years, Parton began writing songs. She subsequently married Marvin Carroll Rauhuff just prior to her high school graduation in 1966 and the union produced a son, Timothy C. Rauhoff, an attorney, born on November 25, 1968.
Read more about this topic: Stella Parton
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