Many years ago, I was in a Broadway show and I had to wear a fox fur around my shoulders. One day my hand touched one of the fox's legs. It seemed to be in two pieces. Then it dawned on me.... her leg had probally been snapped in two by the steel trap that had caught it.

I was raised in the theater and, as it turned out, a TV show was like performing a new one-act play. So, it was really no different.

In sitcoms, the women are so beautiful, understanding and well-bred. They have humor, but sort of display it with a twinkle of the eye and not a guffaw. But there's no juice in that for me.

I come from a small town in Maryland. I came to California in 1972 to begin Maude.

At least I'm not playing other people for a change. It's a very odd place to be... I feel I'm an actress who sings a bit.

I wish there was something more that performers could do other than get out there and sing at benefit performances. I wish I felt that if I had an empty room I'd like to bring in someone and make it a hospice, but I'm not Mother Teresa. I can't do that.

All this time I've just wanted to be blonde, beautiful and 5 feet 2 inches tall.