Dolly Parton Shares Rare Photo With Husband Carl Dean in Honor of Thanksgiving

Dolly Parton is celebrating Thanksgiving by sharing a rare photo of her and her husband, Carl Dean. In the throwback photo, Parton wore a black dress with a white ruffle down the front. Dean, for his part, wore a suit, purple shirt and purple and black striped tie. The two smiled for the camera while sitting on a velvet couch together.

“Happy Thanksgiving from me and mine to you and yours,” Parton, 75, captioned the image. She rarely shares photos with Dean, who has meticulously maintained his privacy throughout the duration of Parton’s long career, so fans were excited to see the vintage photo. “Carl Dean was hot!” one fan wrote in the comments section. “I love how wholesome and true you have stayed all these years. So happy that your marriage has outlasted so many,” another fan wrote. “Obsessed with all the Carl Dean publicity lately.”

The throwback photo is the second time this month that Parton has given fans a glimpse into her personal life with Dean, 79. Earlier this month, Parton gushed over Dean while promoting her new apparel launch. “Find you a partner who will support you like my Carl Dean does!” she captioned an edited photo of the two of them. In the photo, Parton smiled while holding hands with Dean, who was edited to look like he was wearing one of the t-shirts from her new vintage merchandise collection.

Parton and Dean married in May 1966, which means they celebrated 55 years of marriage this year. On his birthday this year, Parton honored her love for him by recreating her Playboy magazine cover after more than 40 years. In a video shared on Twitter, she wrote a black bodysuit, bunny ears and a bowtie. “Today is July 20. It’s my husband Carl’s birthday and you’re probably wondering why I’m dressed like this,” Parton explained. “Remember some time back I said I was going to pose for Playboy magazine when I was 75? Well, I’m 75 and they don’t have a magazine anymore.”

“I was trying to think of something to do to make [Dean] happy. He still thinks I’m a hot chick after 57 years — and I’m not going to try to talk him out of that,” she said.