Sally Field reflected on Dolly Parton’s legacy during a moving tribute to the late country music legend at the 2026 Emmy Awards in Los Angeles, Calif.
“If there are truly angels on earth, then we just lost one, Dolly Parton,” Field confessed of her “Steel Magnolias” co-star.
Parton died on Aug. 25 following a “brief battle with cancer,” according to her representatives. She was 80.
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“It was my great, good fortune to have worked with Dolly in a film called ‘Steel Magnolias,’ and over the years I never stopped loving her though we lived very far apart,” Field told the audience at the Peacock Theater. “I adored her from day one, how could you not?”
“She was genuine, and humble, supportive and blisteringly funny with a bawdy sense of humor that would send any rude guy looking for a place to hide.”
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Field, 79, admitted that she “couldn’t see then what a real giant Dolly was.”
“Not just as an artist, but as a human … She was a humanitarian who’s contributions had made a profound difference in the lives of so many in her home state of Tennessee, and across our country,” Field said.
“God bless you, Dolly Parton my friend. I am not the only one on earth that will love you forever and ever.”
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Dressed in a sparkling white gown, Reba McEntire then took the stage to perform a rendition of Parton’s classic 1983 song, “Appalachian Memories.”
Parton was surrounded by loved ones at the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center when she died peacefully in Nashville, Tenn., last month.
With Noah Kahan leading a rendition of “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” Jamie Lee Curtis commemorated the life of director Rob Reiner, who died in December alongside his wife, Michele Singer Reiner.
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Their 32-year-old son, Nick Reiner, was indicted last month on two counts of first-degree murder with special circumstances which make him eligible for the death penalty.
“Last year we lost another cherished legend, our beloved ‘Meathead,’ Rob Reiner,” Curtis said. “He was generous and kind and funny as hell and a friend to all.”
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During last week’s Creative Arts Emmys, Reiner received a posthumous Emmy for his guest role in “The Bear.”
“He now holds the record of 48 years for the longest gap between acting Emmys, which was previously held by his father Carl Reiner at 37 years,” Curtis told the crowd through tears.
Macaulay Culkin, Annie Murphy and Dan Levy paid tribute to the late Catherine O’Hara during the 78th Emmy Awards. The “Home Alone” actress died in January following a brief illness. She was 71.
“There are all kinds of words I could use to describe Catherine,” Culkin said. “She was encouraging, she was warm, she was funny. But the word that I think of is mama.”
He added, “By the way, call your mother tonight. For real.”