Dolly starred in "Unlikely Angel," a made-for-television film, as Ruby Diamond, a selfish country singer who is granted a second chance at salvation by St. Peter (Roddy McDowall) after she dies in a car accident. If Ruby is able to help reunite and heal a suburban family suffering after the passage of their mother (by midnight on Christmas Eve) she will be given her wings. If she fails to reunite the family, Ruby would head for far smokier shores.
Dolly was also an executive producer for the project and provided some original songs ("Wat'cha Tryin'na Do" and "Unlikely Angel"). "Unlikely Angel" premiered on CBS on Dec. 17, 1996.
Dolly helped create a television sitcom called 'Mindin' My Own Business' for CBS. The show’s plot, which never made it into production, featured Dolly as a caterer to the stars. In addition to cooking, Dolly’s character found herself in a variety of crazy situations. The pilot episode never aired.
Dolly appeared as herself in the made-for-television mini-series "Naomi & Wynonna: Love can Build a Bridge," the true life story of Naomi and Wynonna Judd. The mini-series which originally aired May 14-15, 1995, on NBC, tells the story of the Judds as single mother Naomi turned to music as a way to deal with her increasingly rebellious teen daughter Wynonna and follows them as they make the leap from singing at home through Nashville to national celebrity.
The series is narrated by Naomi’s second daughter Ashley Judd and features a short cameo appearance by Dolly. Variety’s review found Naomi and Wynonna to be, "above average for the genre."
The made-for-television movie about the late singer was nominated for two primetime Emmy Awards (cinematography and hairstyling). The movie which originally aired on CBS on, Jan. 22, 1995, depicts West’s childhood, the start of her career, her highest successes (in particular her duets with Kenny Rogers) and her fatal 1991 car crash.
Dolly topped the country charts twice with "I Will Always Love You," in 1974 and 1982. When it was picked as a last-minute replacement for "The Bodyguard" soundtrack it became one of the best love songs ever recorded. David Foster produced Whitney’s signature version and called it, "The love song of the century."
Houston’s version of "I Will Always Love" went on to be one of the most successful singles in music history. It spent 14 weeks at No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 charts; it reached No. 9 on the New Musical Express list of the Greatest Number One Hits in History and No. 49 on Billboard’s Greatest Songs of All Time.
