Dolly Parton’s husband – who she married in a secret ceremony aged just 20 – has died.

The country music star’s website said Carl Dean died on Monday in Nashville.

Parton said in a statement: “Carl and I spent many wonderful years together. Words can’t do justice to the love we shared for over 60 years. Thank you for your prayers and sympathy.”

Dean was the inspiration behind Jolene, one of her biggest hits.

She said she wrote the song after a flirty bank clerk seemed to take an interest in him.

“She got this terrible crush on my husband,” Parton told NPR in 2008.

“And he just loved going to the bank because she paid him so much attention.

“It was kinda like a running joke between us… So it’s really an innocent song all around, but sounds like a dreadful one.”

The pair met outside the Wishy Washy launderette, where Parton was doing her washing, the day she moved to Nashville at age 18.

“I was surprised and delighted that while he talked to me, he looked at my face (a rare thing for me),” Parton said in 2016.

“He seemed to be genuinely interested in finding out who I was and what I was about.”

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Parton said her record company had asked her to wait to get married but the couple tied the knot two years later, in May 1966.

Only her mother, the preacher and his wife were in attendance at the ceremony – held out of state so local papers wouldn’t report it.

Dean owned a paving business and famously shunned the limelight, so was very rarely seen in public with the star.

“A lot of people say there’s no Carl Dean, that he’s just somebody I made up to keep other people off me,” Parton joked in a 1984 interview with AP.

The couple never had any children, but he is survived by his brother and sister.

Anora has dominated the Academy Awards, winning five gongs including best picture.

The film’s star, Mikey Madison, who plays a sex worker who marries the son of a Russian oligarch, took home the best actress award – a win that was not a total upset, but many had expected Demi Moore to scoop the prize for her performance in The Substance.

Anora filmmaker Sean Baker was named best director, and used his acceptance speech to make a plea for audiences to support cinemas, which he said were “a vital part of our culture” and at risk of being lost.

Both also thanked sex workers who consulted on the film, saying they could never have made it without them.

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Anora also won the Oscars for best original screenplay and best editing. Winning all four awards he was up for, Baker tied with Walt Disney’s record for the most Oscar wins by a single person in a single night – although Disney won his awards for multiple works, rather than a single film as Baker has done.

Adrien Brody won the best actor Oscar for playing Hungarian architect Lazlo Toth in architectural epic The Brutalist.

It was his second Academy Award win in the category some 22 years after his first, for The Pianist back in 2003.

Accepting his award in a lengthy speech, he paid tribute to his partner Georgina Chapman, who he said had “re-invigorated” his “self-worth” and “sense of value”.

Best cinematography also went to The Brutalist directror Brady Corbet’s three-and-a-half-hour epic, which also took home the prize for best original score.

Papal thriller Conclave, starring Ralph Fiennes, took just one award, for best adapted screenplay.

Kieran Culkin took the first award of the night, best supporting actor, for his role in comedy drama A Real Pain, while the best supporting actress prize was won by Emilia Perez star Zoe Saldana, her first Oscar win and nomination.

One of the highest-grossing actresses ever, she cried out “Mommy, mommy”, on stage, explaining her entire family was there with her. She became tearful at the end of her speech as she spoke of being “a proud child of immigrant parents”.

Announced by Mick Jagger, best song went to Emilia Perez’s El Mal (which translates as “Evil”), while the prize for costume design went to Wicked’s Paul Tazewell – who became the first black man to receive the award. The Wizard Of Oz prequel also won best production design.

Brazilian director Walter Salles won best international feature for Portuguese-language film I’m Still Here, set in the 1970s in the midst of the Brazil’s brutal military dictatorship.

A word-of-mouth hit, the film’s Brazilian star Fernanda Torres has gone from a relative unknown to a much-talked-about actress in the US in the last few months.

Make-up and hairstyling was awarded to body horror The Substance, a film which showcased extreme prosthetics, make-up and gore throughout. It was the film’s only win of the night.

The documentary categories went to The Only Girl In The Orchestra and No Other Land – made by a Palestinian-Israeli collective – for short film and feature film respectively.

Accepting the prize, it’s makers Basel Dra and Yuval Abraham made a political plea to the US: “The foreign policy in this country is helping to block [the path of peace]. Why? Can’t you see that we are intertwined? There is another way. It’s not too late for life, for the living.”

Best sound and best visual effects went to Dune: Part Two, directed by Canadian filmmaker Denis Villeneuve.

A night where independent and unusual filmmaking was rewarded, best animated feature went to Latvian computer-generated film Flow, while best animated short film was won by Iranian entry The Shadow Of The Cypress. Both international productions are dialogue-free.

Live action short film went to I’m Not A Robot, a study in an AI-fueled identity crisis.

During the ceremony’s in memoriam section, Morgan Freeman paid tribute to two-time Oscar-winning actor Gene Hackman, who was found dead in his home along with his wife and dog earlier this week.

A video montage honoured Academy members who have passed away over the last year, including British stars Dame Maggie Smith and Dame Joan Plowwright and Donald Sutherland, and US performers James Earl Jones, Kris Kristofferson and David Lynch.

There was also a moving segment honouring late music producer Quincy Jones, led by Oprah Winfrey and Whoopi Goldberg and featuring rapper Queen Latifah.

Sky News is livestreaming the Vanity Fair and Sir Elton John after-party red carpets following the ceremony. Catching the Oscar-winners as they party the night away, join us there from 6am.

A surprise Bond tribute, a win that means one actor could become a father again (twice), and an urgent chewing gum disposal – the 2025 Oscars had plenty of talking points aside from the wins.

Anora was the night’s big winner, taking home five prizes including the night’s big award, best film, as well as best actress for newcomer Mikey Madison – meaning favourite Demi Moore missed out for her performance in The Substance.

Adrien Brody was named best actor, with his film The Brutalist taking home three awards in total, while Emilia Perez, Wicked and Dune: Part Two each picked up two.

But we don’t tune in to the Oscars just for the wins. We tune in for the fashion! And the mad moments on stage.

So here’s everything else that went on during the ceremony.

Way to make an entrance

As openers go, it was quite the arrival. In a send-up of body horror The Substance, host Conan O’Brien emerged from Demi Moore’s spine to make it to the ceremony.

“Conan, everyone’s waiting,” a nervous runner shouted as he knocked on the comedian’s dressing room door – but O’Brien had to dive back in to Moore’s back as he was missing a shoe.

The “four-time Oscar viewer”, as O’Brien was introduced, then launched into an opening monologue which included the usual roasts of some of the nominees in the audience.

The biggest collective “ooh” came when he referenced the swearing in Anora – comparing it to that of Emilia Perez star Karla Sofia Gascon’s publicist in recent weeks, after old tweets posted by the actress emerged in the wake of her Oscar nomination.

Gascon, who has been absent from red carpets following the controversy, was then shown in the audience. “If you’re going to tweet,” O’Brien asked her, “remember my name is Jimmy Kimmel”.

Adrien Brody needed to get rid of his chewing gum

After being named best actor for his performance in The Brutalist, Adrien Brody gave a poignant speech, acknowledging how acting “looks very glamorous and at certain moments it is”, but can also be a “fragile profession” and that he has learned the importance of perspective.

However, just seconds after his name was announced, as he was walking to the stage, Brody seemed to realise he was chewing gum. Which probably isn’t a good look for an Oscar winner giving a poignant speech.

So what do you do? No doubt in a bit of a panic, Brody chose to turn round, take it out – and throw it at his partner, Georgina Chapman. Which was all caught on camera before he turned round again and walked on stage.

He then gave a long speech, which led to producers attempting to play him out – but Brody told them to turn it off. Now, playing the music is a little rude, but his response? “I’ve been here before… It’s not my first rodeo.” Not great.

He went on to speak about wanting to fight against “systematic oppression, and antisemitism and racism”, adding that people should “not let hate go unchecked”.

Best speech goes to…

Hailing Kieran Culkin‘s award acceptance speeches is almost getting boring now, but you’ve got to give it to him. He’s been a highlight of the awards season.

The actor, who picked up the best supporting actor gong for his performance in A Real Pain, started off by paying tribute to his fellow nominee and former Succession co-star Jeremy Strong, who was up for his performance in The Apprentice, as well as his A Real Pain co-star and director Jesse Eisenberg.

“Thank you for this movie, you are a genius,” he said to Eisenberg. “I will never say this again, so soak it up.”

So far, so fine. But Culkin went on to tell a story about how his wife, Jazz Charton, with whom he has two children, saying she had promised him a third after his previous Emmy win for Succession. And then a fourth if he ever won an Oscar.

“Love of my life, ye of little faith,” he told her, on stage. “I held my hand and you shook it… no pressure, I love you, I am really sorry I did this again, let’s get cracking on those kids.”

Firefighters get their moment

Ahead of O’Brien’s opening monologue, a video showing clips of films about California and Los Angeles, such as La La Land and Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, were shown in a tribute following the wildfires that tore through the county of LA in January.

During his opener, the host also managed a deft change of tone from his jokes to reference the tragedy.

“The people of Los Angeles have clearly been through a devastating ordeal,” he said. While awards shows can seem indulgent, he added, “the Oscars also shines the light on people you never see, technicians craftspeople, costume people.”

Later on, members of the fire service who tackled the blazes were introduced on stage and received a standing ovation from the stars in the audience.

O’Brien called them “heroes”, before inviting them to make jokes about comic book musical Joker 2, which was badly reviewed by critics, and Bob Dylan’s singing voice.

Bond tribute – but still no news

First, the Oscars announced they would not be featuring original song performances during the ceremony this year, a break from tradition saying they wanted to focus more on songwriters.

Then, earlier this week, they announced Wicked stars Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo would be performing, actually, with stars including Doja Cat, British singer-songwriter Raye and Lisa of Blackpink on the bill, too.

Grande and Erivo naturally took things to the Emerald City at the start of the ceremony, but later on we found out what was planned for the others – a tribute to James Bond.

Introduced by former Bond star Halle Berry following a montage of 007 clips, Lisa belted out Live And Let Die by Wings, rapper Doja Cat sang Dame Shirley Bassey’s Diamonds Are Forever, while Raye performed Adele’s Skyfall – with the number also including a dance performance starring The Substance actress Margaret Qualley.

After the major news of the Amazon creative control takeover in February, were producers about to make the announcement Bond fans have been waiting for since Daniel Craig’s farewell in 2021 – the next 007 reveal? With such a long section dedicated to the nation’s favourite spy, especially given he hasn’t appeared on screen for five years, it certainly appeared that way.

But no. This was a tribute for Barbara Broccoli and Michael G Wilson, who have ran the franchise since the mid-1990s after taking over from their father Albert “Cubby” Broccoli. The pair were announced as the recipients of the Irving G Thalberg Memorial Award, an honorary Academy Award, at the Governors Awards last year.

So stand down, everyone. Looks like we’ve got longer to wait yet to find out what’s next for Bond.

Records broken

If you wanna be a record breaker… dedication’s what you need. And with Anora’s five wins, including four personally for filmmaker Sean Baker, the director has equalled or broken a record held by none other than Walt Disney, depending on which way you look at it.

He equals Disney’s record for four wins for one person in one night, set in 1952 – but as Disney’s wins were for separate projects, Baker takes the record for most wins for one person for the same film.

Elsewhere, Wicked’s costume designer Paul Tazewell received a standing ovation as he became the first black man to win the award, and Latvia also picked up its first-ever Oscar, best animated feature film, for Flow.

Morgan Freeman pays tribute to Gene Hackman

Following the news of Hollywood legend and Oscar winner Gene Hackman’s death earlier this week, a tribute to the star led the ceremony’s annual In Memoriam segment.

In an emotional speech, Morgan Freeman paid tribute to his friend, whom he worked with on Unforgiven and Under Suspicion.

Hackman was a “generous performer”, he said, who “won the hearts of film lovers around the world”.

He had always wanted to do “good work” in film, Freeman told the audience. “You’ll be remembered for that, and so much more”.

The section then continued with on-screen tributes to stars including Dame Maggie Smith, Kris Kristofferson, Donald Sutherland, Joan Plowright, David Lynch and James Earl Jones, who all died in 2024.

Later on, there was also a separate tribute to legendary music producer Quincy Jones, who also died last year, led by Oprah Winfrey and Whoopi Goldberg.