‘Ready or Not’ Star Sarah Michelle Gellar Honors a Side of Dolly Parton Most ‘Buffy’ Fans Never Knew About
Tributes to Dolly Parton have poured in from across the entertainment industry since news broke of her death on August 25 at age 80, with musicians, actors, and public figures all sharing their own personal connections to the country icon. Few of those tributes, though, have highlighted a quieter, lesser-known part of her legacy quite like the one shared by Sarah Michelle Gellar.
Gellar, who starred as the title character across seven seasons of ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer,’ took to social media following Parton’s death to spotlight a piece of the show’s history that even longtime fans may not have known about. In her tribute, Gellar shared a clip of Parton discussing the series during a 2021 appearance on Andy Cohen’s ‘Watch What Happens Live,’ writing in her caption that “being a small part of the great history of [Parton] is everything to me.”
That connection traces back to Parton’s production company, Sandollar Productions, which she co-founded with former manager Sandy Gallin in 1986. Sandollar backed the original 1992 ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ film before later producing the television series itself, meaning Parton had a genuine, if largely invisible, hand in bringing Buffy Summers to the small screen for its full seven-season run from 1997 to 2003.
Gellar has spoken about this connection before, revealing during a 2023 appearance on ‘The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon’ that Parton’s involvement remained something of a mystery even to the people making the show. “Yes, little known fact, the legend Dolly Parton was a producer,” Gellar said at the time. “We never saw her, but we’d get Christmas gifts in the beginning that would have our name, and I would think, ‘She doesn’t even know who I am.'”
That perception changed once Gellar learned Parton had actually been paying attention all along. “One day, someone asked her about it, and she complimented the show and my performance,” Gellar recalled. “I was like, ‘Oh, I can die now. Dolly Parton knows who I am and thinks I’m good.'” During the same 2021 WWHL appearance Gellar referenced in her tribute, Parton herself said simply, “I thought Buffy the Vampire Slayer was a wonderful little show.”
Parton’s support for the ‘Buffy’ team reportedly extended beyond kind words. Sandollar executive Gail Berman previously told The New York Times in 2016 that Parton personally gave her an extra paycheck after learning Berman was being paid less in royalties than her male counterparts working on the show, a gesture that fit Parton’s broader reputation for quietly advocating for the women around her rather than seeking public credit for it.
That reputation for generosity without fanfare has become a recurring theme in tributes following her death, alongside her far more publicly known philanthropic work through the Imagination Library and her decades-long music career. Gellar’s post specifically highlighting Sandollar’s role behind ‘Buffy’ added a new layer to that legacy for fans who associate Parton almost exclusively with music rather than television production.
With tributes continuing to surface from across the industry, Gellar’s contribution offers a small but meaningful reminder of just how far-reaching Parton’s influence stretched, touching projects and people well outside the world of country music that made her a household name.
Did you know Dolly Parton helped produce Buffy the Vampire Slayer?
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