Local memory of a global star: Dolly Parton and a Hartlepool nickname
A former Hartlepool broadcaster has shared vivid memories of meeting country music icon Dolly Parton in Nashville in 1974, saying the singer used the town’s celebrated nickname after being told the story of Hartlepool’s wartime monkey legend.
The broadcaster, Stan Laundon, who hosted the long-running BBC Radio Teesside show Country Time, described meeting Parton three times in one week while he was on assignment in the United States. He told how, during an interview period, a public relations manager relayed that he was from Hartlepool and related the tale of townspeople allegedly hanging a monkey believed to be a French spy during the Napoleonic Wars.
“She waved over to me when I was interviewing somebody else and put her hands on her neck and laughed. I went over and said ‘What’s that all about?’ and she said ‘You’re a Monkey Hanger!’”
Stan, now 83, said the exchange felt warm and playful. He added that Parton later sent two signed photographs to his home in Hartlepool — one for him and one for his late wife, Karen. He sold his own signed picture to raise funds for charity but kept the one intended for his wife.
Hits, hospitality and hometown lore
Parton, who died this year aged 80, was a global figure whose music crossed cultural boundaries. For towns such as Hartlepool, encounters like this are a reminder of the unexpected ways local identity can surface on a world stage.
Stan’s recollections underline two persistent themes in Hartlepool life: the staying power of local stories, and the town’s habit of making itself known wherever its people might travel. The nickname Monkey Hanger has been part of Hartlepool identity for generations, often used affectionately by residents and supporters of Hartlepool United, even while its origins are debated by historians.
- 1974: Stan met Dolly three times in one week in Nashville while working for BBC Radio Teesside.
- Signed photographs: Dolly sent two signed pictures to Stan’s Hartlepool home; one was sold for charity.
- 1977: Stan later received an invitation to meet Parton at a London record company cocktail party but was unable to attend.
Small keepsakes, lasting impressions
For Stan the meetings were more than brief celebrity encounters. He described Parton as “a wonderful person” and “such a bundle of fun.” Those impressions, he said, have remained with him for decades. The signed photographs and the memory of the singer calling him a “Monkey Hanger” are family and community artefacts as much as celebrity mementos.
Such recollections matter locally because they stitch Hartlepool into a wider cultural fabric. Residents will recognise the mixture of pride and wry amusement that often accompanies the town’s nickname. Encounters like Stan’s make that relationship tangible: a moment where a global star acknowledged the small town name with good humour.
| Year | Place | Note |
|---|---|---|
| 1974 | Nashville | Stan met Dolly three times in one week while working for BBC Radio Teesside. |
| 1977 | London (invitation) | Invited to a cocktail party by a record company but Stan could not attend. |
Hartlepool readers may take comfort in the familiarity of the story: a resident abroad, a bite-sized piece of local lore, and a generous response from a famous artist. It is the sort of local memory that keeps community identity alive — a reminder that even small towns can appear in the anecdotes of global figures.
As tributes to Parton continue across the world, accounts like Stan’s offer a local vantage on a long public life. They show how a single meeting can resonate through decades, not because of fame alone but because it connects the extraordinary to the everyday — a kind word, a signed photograph, and a shared laugh about a town on the North East coast.
