Dolly Parton and Best Friend Judy Ogle Bonded Over Being Shy Misfits in School

Dolly Parton did not have an easy time at school. She wasn’t well-liked by her peers. But she did make one good friend in the third grade: Judy Ogle. The two have been best friends ever since. Here’s how they got through school together. 

How Dolly Parton and Judy Ogle became friends 

When Parton was in third grade, her family had just moved from Locust Ridge to Caton’s Chapel. At her new school, the “Coat of Many Colors” singer was nervous to make new friends. But Ogle seemed even shyer than her.   

“She was an absolutely withdrawn little girl with ragged clothes, chapped lips, and skinned knees, with a piece of a rubber band taken from an old pair of underwear, what we used to call ‘bloomer rubber,’ in her hair,” Parton wrote of her friend in her 1994 memoir, Dolly: My Life and Other Unfinished Business. “I suppose most people wouldn’t have noticed her, but I was drawn to her because of her big green cat-curious eyes. I was also fascinated by her hair, the color of a new copper penny.” 

Together, Parton says she and Ogle were “fish out of water” at their school. Looking back, the “Jolene” singer is thankful she was just outgoing enough to introduce herself to Ogle and strike up a friendship. It made all the difference for her experience at school. 

Opposites attract

As artsy and creative as Parton is, Ogle was of a sportier variety. 

“Judy had to work the fields like a man as she was growing up,” wrote Parton. “Her father had even hired his kids out to work for other people in addition to working on his own place. She was as tough as nails, in body and in spirit, and mostly kept to herself until it came time to play at sports.”

Ogle’s nickname was “Booten” because she had the raw power to send any kind of ball flying.  

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“When it came to softball, kickball, or just about any kind of ball, I would always yell, ‘I want to be on Booten’s team,’” wrote Parton. “That was partly because I liked Booten and partly because I liked winning. Whichever team had Judy on it was pretty much assured of doing that.”

Booten always picked Parton to be on her team, too, which made her feel good “because most of the other girls wouldn’t.” 

Ogle was supportive of Parton’s interests, too.  

“I wanted to think, dream, create, sing, write,” wrote Parton. “Judy was fascinated by that part of me. I did the thinking and planning, and she played it out. We made a great pair.” 

Parton and Ogle were in band together

Parton and Ogle were in their high school band (Parton played the snare drum). Though they didn’t participate fully. The band director knew that the “Two Doors Down” singer had aspirations of becoming a professional singer and songwriter, so he gave her and Ogle after-hours access to the band room. 

“I would ‘hunt and plunk’ my way through a song [on the piano] and make up words to it as I went along,” she wrote. “Judy would write it down. Even today many of my songs get written that way. More often than not, the first person to put pen to paper to write down one of my songs has been Judy Ogle. She is my best friend, and the two of us have been as close as any two sisters could ever hope to be.”