I think it’s telling that my first thought when I’d heard Dolly Parton had died at 80 was, “I wonder how Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin are feeling?” The trio just had the one movie together in the 1980s, though we know for a fact they had a fondness for their time together. We know this because they reunited in 2022 for the final season of Grace & Frankie in which Tomlin and Fonda had starred, and Parton had cameoed. At that point they’d been in each others’ lives for more than 40 years. Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin famously met in the late seventies when the former showed up at the latter’s one woman comedy show. A couple of years later, Fonda reportedly recruited Dolly Parton for a glorious movie she'd envisioned for the big screen. That film was the female-fronted 9 to 5, a movie she’d dreamt up, but was later written and directed by Colin Higgins. I wasn’t around in 1980 when the hijinks got off the ground, so I came to this comedy quite late. But all of the bonkers scenes surrounding the ladies’ boss Hart, the garage door restraint BDSM restraints, him getting knocked out as part of a potential murder plot, and especially the mix-up at the hospital stand out as top-notch comedy moments for me. The movie is so unexpected and so funny, and so of course when news of Dolly Parton’s passing broke, and Parton tributes started coming in waves, I wanted to hear what Tomlin and Fonda would say about it. How The 9 To 5 Ladies Paid Tribute Jane Fonda’s post was particularly lengthy, and I like that she touched on 9 to 5 and Dolly’s career before sharing one fun story that really embodied the “9 to 5” singer. She had a survivor’s instinct and seemed to always know just what to do, just what to say, to make things right...and then she’s stick her butt out the car window and moon Kenny Roger’s home. She was the voluptuous embodiment of empathy. That’s something of hers she’d want us all to take with us.Fonda also specifically made a point to reach out to the LGBTQ+ community, who specifically were a large fanbase for the singer in her post. To her gay and trans fans, I want you to know that she loved you. You know that without me telling you. She loved all her fans and they are legion. And you know she doesn’t want y’all to mourn now. Dress up and celebrate her spirit. But first, watch the final episode of Grace and Frankie where she’s an Angel, the head honcho working class angel in Heaven. RIP, beautiful woman. We love you. ❤️Meanwhile, Lily Tomlin shared a picture of herself and Dolly, with the caption “no words,” and in the hours since, she’s reshared many moments with the singer over the years. Fans put up pictures from 9 to 5, which she reposted, and the actress also reshared Jamie Lee Curtis’ post, which simply read, “Thank you, Dolly, for all of it.” Dolly Parton was courageous enough to be exactly the person she was at a time when being bold and brazen was neither encouraged nor treated with great empathy. She also wrote songs; she became a philanthropist; she even created her own dang theme park, and eventually landed a spot in the theme park hall of fame. It's easy to remember the singer for all of these things, but she also had a hand in so many other surprising pop culture moments, like getting the Hannah Montana special to happen. Jeff Bezos once gave her $100 million dollars to help in her philanthropy efforts with kids and literacy. She even secretly helped out the Buffy The Vampire Slayer team acting as a producer so the show could get off the ground. Just a cool lady, and one who touched the lives of many -- not just during the hours of 9 to 5.