This was Dolly Parton's theatrical film debut. In preparation for her role as Doralee Rhodes, she not only committed to memory her own part, but the parts of every other role in the film. Apparently, the two experienced starring actresses, Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda, burst out laughing when Parton let on that she believed that pictures were filmed in the chronological order of a film's script.
Dolly Parton accepted the role with the condition that she would write and sing the theme song, which was nominated for an Academy Award® and won two Grammys. Parton made the same deal for almost every other movie, in which she has starred. The exception was Steel Magnolias (1989), which declined to use the Parton-penned song "Eagle When She Flies."
The first female-dominated film to gross $100 million dollars.
Producer Bruce Gilbert recalls the first time Dolly Parton arrived with the title song "and played it on her fingernails." She sang it 'a cappella' and played the beat on her nails. "You gotta have falsies to do this," adds Parton, "and the nails have to be artificial as well."
Apparently, Dolly Parton was cast because Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin felt that she would "bring them the West." Parton was both a lead actress (along with the other two) and sang the title song, "9 to 5," which was Oscar®-nominated and won two Grammys. In an interview with Isaac Mizrahi, Parton states that when she wrote and performed the theme song to Tomlin and Fonda, she used her long acrylic nails to create the beat of a typewriter for the song.