I did Lassie for six years and I never had anybody come up to me and say, 'It made me want to be a farmer.'

I guess the producers saw me and knew I was literate and I always tried to be alert and it's funny because you have to have a sharpness to do those shows, especially some of the ones I did in later years.

It was a show where you were given a quote out of current events and you had to identify who said it. I was reading eight newspapers a day and had compiled a file of about 300 quotes. I really had to do my research. The White House press didn't have to bone up on any of it.

Anybody could say anything they want about me, and it literally never penetrates my skin.

I've had soccer moms come up and tell me they can relate when I say that I want to throw my baby in the trash.

When I was 15, I begged my grandfather to give me this guitar he'd always had in the back of his closet. I promised him I'd learn to play it, but I never did. Then my grandfather died, and I felt so guilty. So I started playing.