Why Dolly Parton is getting an honorary Oscar alongside Tom Cruise
It's been 44 years since Parton was nominated for her first Academy Award. She didn't win that year, but come November, Parton will have an Oscar to put in her trophy case.
Parton, Tom Cruise, Debbie Allen and designer Wynn Thomas will receive honorary career awards at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' Governors Awards on Nov. 16, USA TODAY reported.
"This year's Governors Awards will celebrate four legendary individuals whose extraordinary careers and commitment to our filmmaking community continue to leave a lasting impact," Academy President Janet Yang said in a statement.
Parton's Oscar will be extra special because it's not for her acting or songwriting, or even for her work in the movie industry. It's for how she has impacted the movie industry through philanthropy.
Parton is the 2025 recipient of the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award 'for her unwavering dedication to charitable efforts," Yang said.
The special award is 'given to an individual in the motion picture industry whose humanitarian efforts have brought credit to the industry by promoting human welfare and contributing to rectifying inequities,' according to the official Oscars website.
Parton created the Dollywood Foundation in 1988 to decrease the high school dropout rate in Sevier County. The foundation launched the Imagination Library program in 1995 to provide free books to children monthly; that program has expanded globally and has gifted over 284 million books.
She also has donated millions for natural disaster relief and medical research, including $1 million after devastating floods in East Tennessee caused by Hurricane Helene last year and $1 million for the research that helped to create the Moderna vaccine for COVID-19 during the 2020 global pandemic.
'I try to do as much good as I can in the area that I've been confined to, and if I'm a light, I hope so, because I ask God to let me shine. Let me do and say things that would be uplifting,' Parton told Knox News in 2023.
Parton has earned two competitive Oscar nominations during her career, both in the best original song category. The first was for '9 to 5' in 1981 from the movie of the same name, and the most recent was for 'Travelin' Thru" in 2006 from "Transamerica."
Devarrick Turner is a trending news reporter. Email devarrick.turner@knoxnews.com. On X, formerly known as Twitter @dturner1208.
Support strong local journalism by subscribing at knoxnews.com/subscribe.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Dolly Parton is getting an honorary Oscar for her philanthropy
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Yahoo
'Gwyneth: The Biography' author Amy Odell unpacks the cultural power—and cringe—of a woman who shaped what it means to be a modern celebrity, whether we like it or not.
Gwyneth Paltrow is an Oscar-winning actress, a best-selling cookbook author, and the founder of a $250 million lifestyle brand. She is also, according to at least one magazine, The Most Hated Celebrity in the World. Author Amy Odell, who spoke with more than 220 sources over three years for the recently released Gwyneth: The Biography, thinks the reason why the Goop founder is 'so triggering' to so many people is because she 'has never had an average life.' Odell sat down with The Daily Beast Podcast to provide some insight into Paltrow's regularly scrutinized wellness claims and accidental class war commentary—as well as her surprisingly savvy business instincts.
USA Today
9 hours ago
- USA Today
'Happy Gilmore 2' shoots up the charts, earns Netflix's biggest opening weekend numbers
Adam Sandler's big swing at Netflix has paid off. "Happy Gilmore 2" snagged 91.9 million minutes watched in its first weekend, per Netflix's internal data. This amounts to 46.7 million views between July 25 and 27, according to the streamer's calculations. This viewership gives Sandler's star-studded sequel bragging rights for having the biggest U.S. opening weekend of all time for a Netflix movie, a spokesperson for the streamer confirmed to USA TODAY on July 30. "Happy Gilmore 2" is currently in the No. 1 position for movies streamed worldwide. Variety was first to report the news. In the sequel, co-written by Sandler, Happy has left golf behind after a tragic accident years ago. When he needs to raise $300,000 to send his daughter, Vienna (Sunny Sandler), to a prestigious ballet school in Paris, Happy hits the links again and runs into old pal Shooter McGavin. Happy also teams up with the who's who of the PGA Tour – including Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy and Collin Morikawa – to save traditional golf when an energy drink mogul (Benny Safdie) tries to popularize a more extreme version of the sport. The number of cameos from stars like Bad Bunny (who was billed as Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio and had decent screen time to flex his acting chops), Eminem, Kid Cudi and Travis Kelce even shocked Julie Bowen, who plays Happy's wife, Virginia. "The call sheet was coded. It did not have anybody's names on it and there were 135 different cast members," she told USA TODAY. "I would see Polaroids in the hair and makeup trailer and I saw a person that no one's mentioned yet. And I'm like, 'When was he here?!' (They'd say) 'He's Newscaster No. 4.' And I'm like, 'Are you kidding me?'" Christopher McDonald, who plays Happy's one-time nemesis Shooter, also found himself starstruck. "I have known a few of these golf legends and legends-in-training. But seeing them one-on-one, it's like: 'Oh, my God, that's Rory McIlroy. That's Bryson DeChambeau. That's Scottie Scheffler.' It was mind-blowing for me," he told USA TODAY. "And I came in on my days off just to hang out with them." Contributing: Brian Truitt, USA TODAY
USA Today
9 hours ago
- USA Today
Hola, Paloma Mami: Get to know the rising star with a Drake-inspired stage name
The Chilean American singer's sophomore effort, "Códigos de Muñeka," is a bold and playful follow-up to her acclaimed debut album "Sueños de Dalí." Paloma Mami is getting all dolled up for her musical return, but not in the ways you might imagine. The Chilean American songstress, born Paloma Castillo Astorga, first bewitched the Latin urban scene with her 2021 debut album "Sueños de Dalí," a haunting record that seamlessly blended R&B, reggaeton and trap influences with Paloma's combination of ethereal vocals and razor-sharp rapping. The singer, the first artist of Chilean descent to sign with Sony Music Latin, made her mark by nabbing a pair of platinum singles and a Latin Grammy nomination for best new artist. But instead of caving into self-imposed expectations of "what I want to have people hear from me," Paloma says she vowed to loosen up and take a "natural" approach for her much-anticipated follow-up. "Every artist learns from creative processes and work experiences what not to do and what to do better next time," Paloma Mami, 25, tells USA TODAY. "With this album, I realized I was going to be a lot more free just to play around." Playtime is up, and the result is Paloma's bold sophomore effort, "Códigos de Muñeka" ("Doll Codes", out now), a chameleonic album in which the singer-songwriter uses her ever-shifting identities, personified as "dolls," to get candid on the trials and tribulations of romance. "During one day, I have a bunch of different personalities. I just change thoughts and like an hour later, I'm a whole other person," Paloma says. "I was very heavy on the thought of not overthinking the lyrics and not putting so much 'Oh, I have to represent for this type of people.' I was more just on what I feel and how I would want to hear something." Here are five things to know about Paloma and her latest musical chapter. Rap superstar Drake influenced Paloma Mami's stage name Paloma Mami owes a piece of her artistic origin story to the Champagne Papi himself. The singer's stage name was inspired, in part, by rap icon Drake and his Instagram username, @champagnepapi. "I always loved the way he writes and his musical production in all his albums," Paloma says. "My favorite album of his is 'Views,' and I feel like when I was younger, that album definitely inspired me a lot to want to make music." 'Some Sexy Songs 4 U' takeaways: Drake minimizes 'rap beef' in new album, his first amid Kendrick Lamar feud The Canadian emcee's Grammy-nominated fourth album features the now-iconic R&B jam "Hotline Bling," as well as the dancehall-inflected "One Dance." While Drizzy has sonically evolved with his latest releases, the dance-influenced "Honestly, Nevermind" and the hip-hop heavy "For All the Dogs" Paloma doesn't rule out a musical link-up someday. "Listen, if he brough back (the) 'Views' era, it would be a dream collaboration," Paloma says. "Now, he's older, he talks about different things. He sounds different, obviously, because you can't always sound the same." 'Let life surprise me': J Balvin talks 'Mixteip' album, fatherhood and taking it easy Why Paloma Mami's Rauw Alejandro collaboration 'La Freak' was written in the stars Of all the collaborations on Paloma Mami's new album, one was truly the work of el universo. The singer teamed up with fellow reggaeton star Rauw Alejandro on "La Freak," a steamy hook-up anthem that sees the pair trade raunchy flirtations with blush-worthy rizz. Paloma says she had the "intuition" that Alejandro, known for his Casanova persona and NSFW lyrics, would be the perfect collaborator, and a chance conversation proved her right. "He had literally reached out to me and was just asking me about where I was and everything," Paloma reflects. "I was going to where he was, like, a week later. So, I was like, 'Oh my God, I was just thinking about you, and I have this song. I would love for you to be on it.'" Rauw Alejandro and Rosalía interview: How music's power couple balances love, work Paloma's creative manifestation fully came to life when she and Alejandro met up in New York to work together in the studio. "He was super quick," Paloma says. "He was really cool to watch create. I loved the process. I always love to see how artists make their music, and it was really dope." Paloma Mami shares the inspiration behind emotional 'Astros' video Paloma Mami's newest music video is a coming-of-age of sorts. The visuals for "Astros," a bruising breakup track about an ill-fated love, see Paloma navigate an arctic environment — including getting trapped inside a block of ice — as she grieves the loneliness of her heartbreak. The video is also peppered with references to her 2019 hit "Fingías," an Easter egg that Paloma says was meant to "pay homage to my younger self and close a cycle." "In this environment that I'm in, I kind of froze myself because I was trying to get to somebody else," Paloma explains. "I basically was where I was because I was trying to reach somebody that wasn't reachable, things that happen when you put others before yourself." Will Paloma Mami go on tour for 'Códigos de Muñeka'? Paloma Mami may be coming to a city near you. The singer, who treated fans to a headliner set at Coke Studio at L.A. LIVE on July 25, teases that a concert tour is likely to get on the books for 2026. "I definitely want to be able to plan everything super well for this tour just because I have so much care for the aesthetic of the album," says Paloma, whose album campaign is coated in the classic doll color, pink and the hyper-femininity of magical girl anime. "It's just so detailed, I feel like we have to come up with a really great visual aesthetic to it, so that everybody can kind of feel like they're immersed in the world," Paloma adds. "So, we're just going to work on how to do that for now." Karol G interview: Singer talks 'dream' album 'Tropicoqueta,' boyfriend Feid and Netflix documentary Paloma Mami looks back on Major Lazer hit 'QueLoQue' Paloma Mami was courted by music royalty early on in her career, and the experience was "fire," she says. 2025 marks the five-year anniversary of Paloma's song "QueLoQue," a collaboration with EDM heavyweight Major Lazer that the singer landed before her debut album even dropped. The mambo-infused, hip-hop banger earned the rising star a Top 20 hit on Billboard's Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart and helped her meet Major Lazer frontman and Grammy-winning producer Diplo. "Major Lazer and Diplo had been reaching out to me when I first started everything, too, which was really cool that they were able to recognize sounds just for sounding good," Paloma says. "They're really dope in that area of finding artists who are underground … I really loved collaborating with them."
