What I love about the theater is the work ethic. I grew up with it.

We've been taught to believe that actions speak louder than words. But I think words speak pretty loud all of our lives; we carry these words in our head.

My mother was a strong-willed and opinionated woman - a Sicilian! - and if she didn't like something, she'd let you know about it. So her undying support of her kids went a long way in proving to us that we were on the right path.

[On husband Phil Donahue:] The man does not know the meaning of the word tidy. He asked me one day, 'Where are my shoes?' So I asked him, 'Where are my shoes?' I don't know what it is about men. They think that women have radar attached to our uteruses.

What the results are telling them is that the most money is spent in volume by young people. They also see young people as the consumers of tomorrow and are trying to capture their attention from their competitors.

Women have to make a living. We don't live in a wealthy world where we even have a choice. We're losing our choice of whether or not we need to work. If we want to work, we obviously should work and have that choice, but a lot of women can't even get to the word "want." They need to work. And it's great to see women who needed to work and found a way to become a firefighter or a steel worker. That, to me, is very exciting.

I was an educated girl. I'd done very well in school. I had a good point average and graduated from USC as an English teacher. My dad didn't even finish high school.