Dolly Parton Reacts to Death of Friend and ‘9 to 5’ Co-Star Dabney Coleman

Dolly Parton is remembering her late 9 to 5 co-star, Dabney Coleman. The Emmy-winning comedy actor, who starred in the hit 1980 film as Franklin Hart Jr., the boss of Parton’s Doralee Rhodes, passed away on May 16 at the age of 92, with the “Jolene” songstress joining the round of celebrities paying tribute to Coleman on social media.

“Dabney was a great actor and became a dear friend,” Parton wrote in a message shared to Instagram Monday. “He taught me so much when I was doing my first movie, 9 to 5. He was funny, deep and smart. We remained friends through the years and I will miss him greatly as many people will.”

Coleman’s daughter, Quincy Coleman, confirmed in a statement on May 17 that her father “took his last earthly breath peacefully and exquisitely in his home on Thursday, May 16, 2024, at 1:50 p.m.” she said her father “crafted his time here on earth with a curious mind, a generous heart, and a soul on fire with passion, desire, and humor that tickled the funny bone of humanity. As he lived, he moved through this final act of his life with elegance, excellence, and mastery.”

Along with roles in shows and films like Taylor Sheridan’s Yellowstone, NCIS, The Beverly Hillbillies, The Muppets Take Manhattan, You’ve Got Mail and more, Coleman was well-known for starring as “sexist, egotistical, lying, hypocritical bigot” boss Franklin Hart Jr. on 9 to 5. Released in 1980, the film followed “three female secretaries who decide to get revenge on their tyrannical, sexist boss by abducting him and running the business themselves,” per a synopsis. Along with Parton, 9 to 5 also starred Jane Fonda as Judy Bernly and Lily Tomlin as Violet Newstead. The film was later adapted into a musical, which opened on Broadway in 2009.

In a tribute of her own shared Friday, Tomlin, who worked with Coleman a second time in the 1993 film The Beverly Hillbillies, shared a throwback photo of herself and Coleman from 9 to 5, writing, “We just loved him.”

Throughout his decades-long career, Coleman earned six Emmy nominations, one Emmy Award and one Golden Globe throughout his career. He most recently appeared in NCIS, Ray Donovan and Yellowstone, where he appeared in the Season 2 episode “Sins of the Father” as John Dutton’s (Kevin Costner) father in a flashback.