It's a terrifying thing to be perhaps 16 or 17 and feel like you are a failure and a has-been.

I think the years on 'The Donna Reed Show,' the years from 14 to 19, were so incredibly important. Donna Reed was simply an extraordinary woman, a woman of great strength, kindness, integrity and compassion. I am not trying to make her sound like a saint, but she had the most profound influence on me. I carry her with me today.

Sometimes I feel like a has-been who never was.

We need to appreciate how precious life is.

I was dying but suddenly had a second chance at living.

I had to have a complete liver transplant. I waited with a beeper for a year and 10 months to get that gift.