How Dolly Parton used her authentic country wit to beat Hollywood critics to the punchline

Long before Dolly Parton became a global superstar, she mastered the art of beating others to the punch line, making her humor nearly as recognizable as her country music.

Following the country icons death at age 80, directors, country legends and media experts recalled how Parton built a down-home comedic persona that helped her break stereotypes and find success in Hollywood without abandoning her roots.

As fans mourn the loss of a cultural icon, those who worked with Parton remember a professional known for her self-deprecating wit. Parton, best known for her legendary country music career, also appeared in several comedy films, including "9 to 5" and the romantic comedy "Straight Talk." She also hosted the country-variety show "Dolly," which debuted in Sept. 1976 and aired for one season. Another series bearing her name followed in the 1980s.

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By then, Parton was no newcomer to comedy and variety television. She appeared on "The Porter Wagoner Show" from 1967 to 1974, where she spent years refining her comedic persona and quick wit. As a young performer from Sevierville, Tennessee, Parton entered a Nashville country music scene where larger-than-life comedy was already a tradition.

Country Music Hall of Famer Ray Stevens, the two-time Grammy winner behind novelty hits including "The Streak," worked with Parton on some of her early recordings in Nashville. He told Fox News Digital that the young Parton he met was far different from the international icon she later became.

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"The young 19 or 20-year-old Dolly Parton I met in 1965, when she first came to Nashville and I produced her first recordings, was not the internationally known Dolly Parton we just lost," Stevens told Fox News Digital. "Young Dolly from Sevierville, TN, had not yet created and perfected the persona we all loved."

Stevens worked with Parton on early recordings, including "Busy Signal" and "Ive Known You All My Life." He also appeared with Parton in comedy sketches on "Dolly," and said she understood the larger-than-life tradition of country comedy.

"All country comedians have always been outrageous characters, like Speck Rhodes and his wild suits, or Minnie Pearl in her hat with the price tag still hanging down and her loud Howdy," Stevens said.

"Dolly also liked to laugh and make other people laugh, and she knew her audience because she grew up making the people around her laugh. She knew what they found funny because she found it funny too, so her comedy was authentic," he added.

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Stevens said Parton also found humor in her own larger-than-life image. "Dolly's secret is that she thought the Dolly with the big hair, big personality, and other big assets was f