I have worked enough and I am happy to be touring the country speaking about living with MS to give people inspiration and motivation to help themselves.
How come women are treated differently from men all the time? Not only handicapped people, but women - and handicapped women, forget it!
My father died when I was 11. He was a vaudeville comedian. He worked in one movie, 'Ladies of the Chorus,' as Marilyn Monroe's father.
I went to North Hollywood High. I'm the original Val girl.
I always say don't be scared. It's not that bad - there's always something worse - and there is definitely life after multiple sclerosis.
My agents have me in the Actors' Protection Program. It seems to be working very well. Nobody can find me.
My next book's title is going to be, 'I Have One Foot in the Grave and Another on a Banana Peel.'
I don't consider that I have to judge any of the movies I make all the time, but people are always asking me, 'What's your favorite movie?' And I never know what to say.
I refused David Letterman's proposal of marriage for obvious reasons, but thanks for asking.
I go to Yosemite a lot. To get there, you fly from L.A. to Fresno and rent a car. So I know about Fresno. It looks like the entire city was built in 1946 in three months - all these low California ranch style homes. The whole city looks like that.
I think there are a lot of myths about MS, and it may have affected my career.
Speaking out about multiple sclerosis to others who may be dealing with this disease is actually helpful to me as well as, I hope, to others. It builds community, helps bring awareness to MS, and strengthens the MS movement that will ultimately lead to the end of this disease.
There are things that you can do today that, years ago, there was nothing. The community today needs to know that with MRI and the current medications the view is good.
When I was a dancer, I would see that dancers were treated like garbage. I mean like, like extras.
I thought, 'If I can't be prom queen, I can dance 'Les Sylphide.'
Someday, I'll make the right connection with the house I'm meant to be in.
There's people doing whatever the hell they want and getting away with it.
There were symptoms that I saw, and though I went to many doctors and had many tests, no one diagnosed MS.
MS doesn't define who I am.
Everyone I tell that I had an aneurysm always says, 'Oh, my cousin died from that.' Well, I didn't, so I'm amazed. I was in a wheelchair, and I had to go to rehab. And now I'm walking!
I didn't tell people because I didn't want pity, and I was afraid I wouldn't get work. But others with MS need to know they are not alone. We don't have to be victims.
This new movie, 'Full Moon in Blue Water,' I loved the idea of working with Gene Hackman, who is a great actor, but when I read the script, I threw it right into the trash can, because I didn't like this woman. She was just a doormat.
I think it's critical, a sense of humor. It did help me - it does help me, continuously.
You have to lift your head up out of the mud and just do it.
I've always had this American-pie face that would get work in commercials... I'd say things like, 'Hi, Marge, how's your laundry?' and 'Hi, I'm a real nice Georgia peach.' Sometimes this work is one step above being a cocktail waitress.
Seventy-five percent of MS sufferers are women.
I'm always like this with a new movie role. I always get super-defensive and make noises like a rooster, Maybe that's because I spent so much time as a chorus girl.
I don't want to sound hoity-toity, but people told me I should watch 'Cheers' because it's very funny. So I watched it, and I just went, 'This is the great show of the universe?' To me, acting is making characters believable, not just doing jokes.
I do Pilates a lot. I don't do a lot of cardiovascular stuff.
Joan Collins was the best. She really could sort of pull it off, be really outrageous and never even flinch.
People aren't so interested in seeing movies about women's problems.
The Academy not only knew I existed, they thought I was good!
I did a string of about six or seven Elvis movies, all in a row. He made all of those movies in two years' time. All of them bad. Don't quote me.
I danced in a company of 'West Side Story' when I was very young. It was most of the original cast - Larry Kert, Chita Rivera - and Jerry Robbins directed. It was tough, a wonderful initiation for me.
I had been nominated for an Academy Award for my performance as Sandy Lester, Dustin Hoffman's neurotic, struggling actress girlfriend, in 'Tootsie.' Under Sydney Pollack's direction, 'Tootsie' had been a runaway hit starring Dustin as an unemployed actor who pretends to be a woman in order to land a role in a soap opera.
God is in all - I believe in God, yes. And I believe God is in us.
Directors would tell me, 'We want you to play a character a little less complex than you are.' Yeah, sure. What they mean is, 'You're playing a dummy.'
I want to write about my experiences since 'Speedbumps.'
Oddly enough, MS has made my life so much better than it was before. I now appreciate what I have and I am not running around like a rat in a maze.
The whole MS stuff put the kibosh on my career. And I sort of let it go. I even have a friend who went to CBS and said, 'I want Teri Garr to be in this series,' and the head of the network said, 'Oh no, she's got MS.'
I have an enormous fondness for delicious food. It's very comforting.
I understand how hard it is to talk to people about MS. You don't want pity or random advice.
I had to learn to walk again, talk again, think again.
Being a successful Hollywood actress may be challenging, but little did I know that the very body that had always been my calling card would betray me.
Being sensitive to the problem of women is just another symptom of the quality of movies: I don't think you can do anything that's very sensitive. Everything's sort of broad strokes and big gestures - adventure things that boys, guys want to see.
I was in love with Michael Keaton. He was very funny.
You can keep it to yourself, but you could also call a support team like the team at MS LifeLines. They are there to support the MS community and give good advice.
What's happening to me is I'm still happy and functioning, being able to listen to music, see good movies, read good books. What else is there that I can't, you know, I mean, I'm OK.
It doesn't help to contemplate how sad your life is. You have to move on.
