Dolly Parton Opens Up About Her Baby Brother’s Death – “It Crushed Me”

Dolly Parton’s Younger Brother, Larry, Died Four Days After Birth

Dolly Parton was just nine years old when her family experienced a major loss…the death of her baby brother, Larry.

Robert and Avie Lee Parton, Dolly’s parents, had a total of 12 children. Dolly, who was born in 1946, was their fourth child. She was nine years old when her parents welcomed their ninth child, a boy they named Larry.

Dolly was especially excited for Larry’s birth. Since the Parton family had so many kids, the older children chipped in to help take care of their younger siblings. Before Larry was born, Avie Lee told Dolly he would be “her baby.”

“That just meant that you got to take extra care of it,” Dolly told Fox News in 2015.

Sadly, Larry died just four days after he was born in July 1955. Dolly’s autobiographical TV movie, Coat of Many Colors, shows how his death had a profound impact on everyone in her family.

Dolly Parton Shares How The Loss Of Her Sibling Left Her Feeling “Crushed”

Almost 70 years later, Dolly is still heartbroken over the loss of her baby brother. She recently opened up to Bunnie Xo on her Dumb Blonde podcast about Larry’s death and how it affected her.

“It just crushed me,” Dolly said about Larry’s death. “…That was a real hit for me at that age…”

Dolly said because Larry was supposed to be “her baby,” she felt like she did something wrong. She said she “had a guilt thing” after he passed away.

It took Dolly a long time to overcome her grief. “We all grieved over him, not just me,” she said. “But I, more than the others, because he was supposed to be mine…”

“It did take me a while, I was so depressed as a little kid over that,” Dolly said about losing Larry. “It took me a little while to kind of overcome that.“

Even after all these years, you can still hear the hurt in Dolly’s voice when she speaks about the loss of her little brother.

Watch the trailer below for Dolly’s movie, Coat of Many Colors, to get an idea of how Larry’s death affected her family…and how the tragedy brought them closer together.