So much of life is luck. One day you make a right turn and get hit by a car. Turn left and you meet the love of your life. I think I made the correct turn.

My first thought in life was wanting to be an actor. I was in ballet slippers and on pointe as soon as I could walk. I always wanted to be an actress, not a mother or housewife.

When I left the house to become an actress, my mother literally flung her body across the door and said, 'You're killing me!' It was a very strict household. That can be okay, but there was also no nourishment, either.

It wasn't so much that I was all alone on stage, but it was the realization of how much you need the response ... you need the audience to tell you where to go.

M*A*S*H offered real characters and everybody identified with them because they had such soul. The humor was intelligent and it always assumed that you had an intellect.

The very first month I played it [Shirley Valentine] I felt like I was flying without a net. But once I realized that the audience was my partner I was flying a jet, because the people would allow me to develop the character on stage . . .