Dolly Parton ‘Almost Fell Over’ in Shock When She Posed With a Near-Naked Arnold Schwarzenegger
Dolly Parton and Arnold Schwarzenegger posed together for an interview she gave with Rolling Stone. The pictures caused a bit of a stir, as Schwarzenegger was practically naked in them. Parton could hardly talk about the photo shoot without dissolving into laughter. She shared what it was like to take the photos.
Dolly Parton posed with Arnold Schwarzenegger for Rolling Stone
In 1977, Annie Leibovitz photographed Parton and Schwarzenegger for Rolling Stone magazine. Parton said she hadn’t known what to expect when she walked into the shoot.
“I just thought I was just gonna take regular pictures,” she told interviewer Huell Howser, per the book Dolly by Alanna Nash. “But when I got there, this girl, it’s a real popular photographer, Annie Leibovitz, she’s really, really sharp, and she comes up with some real good ideas. But when I walked in, here was this naked man.”
Schwarzenegger wore a red Speedo, but Parton covered it in some of the photos, giving the impression that he was fully naked. She could hardly talk about it without laughing.
“Almost naked — had on these little skin-tight, uh, shorts, and all this . . . body, and it was just … I just almost fell over. [Laughter],” she said. “And I said [she gets a mischievous glint in her eye], ‘What are me and him gonna do together?’ [She squeals on the last syllable, and then begins giggling so hard she almost can’t tell the story. Howser can hardly contain himself.] And the idea she had was the male and female body. And it turned out really neat.”
She said she enjoyed working with Schwarzenegger that day.
“It’s got a lot of … attention, yeah, and they made some posters up of ‘em,” she said. “And he was such a nice guy to know. We had a fun day takin’ the pictures, but, like I say, it was new to me.”
Arnold Schwarzenegger shared what it was like to pose with Dolly Parton
Schwarzenegger said he also enjoyed shooting with Parton. In an interview with Time Magazine, he said she was the perfect weight in his arms.
“[She was] the nicest weight I have lifted in a long time,” he said. “I did a one-arm curl with her. She was about 110 pounds, good resistance. My biceps felt very good after that. So did I.”
Some people were unhappy with the story that ran with the pictures
In the interview itself, Parton spoke to journalist Chet Flippo. She talked openly about her body, sex, and the “hot and heavy” stories she wrote as a “horny” teenager. Parton’s former designer, Lucy Adams, believed this reflected a changed version of the singer. Because of this, she didn’t think that the story could all be true.
“I think it’s their own writing lots of times,” Adams said, adding, “I can’t see Dolly changing that much, ’cause I don’t think Dolly would change basically from what she has always been. I told her when we were doing the show, ‘Dolly, don’t ever change.’ She said, ‘I can’t. I have to just be me.’”
She worried that changing in this way would do nothing good for Parton’s career.
“I hope she never does, and I don’t think she has to,” Adams said. “I don’t think she could better herself by changing in any way.”
Still, Parton said she was happy with the way the interview turned out.
