Dolly got her big break thanks to a gay man.

A friend of mine was largely behind the pop and movie star Dolly became.

He's the one who flew her out to L.A. to meet powerhouse manager Sandy Gallin and told me this story:

Sandy was gay. He'd buy mansions in Beverly or Holmby Hills, renovating them to flip and throw a huge party when they were done.

Dolly pleaded with him to manage her (she'd just left Porter Waggoner as her beehive country partner). Sandy kept saying, "I don't know anything about country music ... wouldn't have a clue how to manage you. Dolly insisted and insisted.

Feeling bad, Sandy told Dolly, "look, since you're in town to meet me anyway, why don't you come to my party tonight?" and she did with my friend, who was a former head of CBS records Nashville, his boss in NY, Clive Davis

That night, the mansion packed with dozens of Sandy's friends, Dolly appeared at the top of the grand staircase, The kind you'd see in a 1940's movie, wearing a gown over which she'd sewn buttons on every square inch.

My friend told me some gasped as she walked down the grand staircase. The partygoers flocked around her, oohing and ahhing. Sandy saw something in her and his wheels started to turn.

Long story short, Dolly ended up living in L.A. with Sandy for nearly two years, remaking both her physical image and modeling a new career as a pop artist.

The rest is history. Her career is all due to a gay men and his gay friends at the party that night.