[on Bob Newhart] I know he used to always stop--in the first year of the show [Newhart (1982)] I was always on the phone, because my character had left home, she was on the phone with her parents, and I would do these phone calls, so they were very funny. And he would always stop and watch, [when I was] doing the phone calls. Bob Newhart is watching me do a comedy phone call--it was unnerving and one day, I looked over him and I said, "Stop watching me!" and he said, "It's a lot harder than it looks, isn't it?". I said, 'Yeah, it is". Show less «

[about "The Little Foxes"] I am finding there are more, better roles in theater for a woman my age than there are on TV and in movies, and this is one of them. I had been a fan from reading the play and seeing the movie. When I heard a couple of months ago they were doing it here, I reread the script and was even more impressed than before with the brilliance of the writing. I could see myself in the part, which doesn't always happen. But I knew it would take some effort to prove I was right for it, because I don't look like other wonderful women who have played her. Show less «

[on why Bob Newhart's comedy career has endured for so long] I'm trying to figure that out, so that I can steal that. I think it's just because his comedy is timeless and he has a flawless ear for what's funny. If he thinks it's funny, it's funny, and he looks for the funny and finds it. He reads the paper every day and then does a routine of what was in the paper. Show less «

[on getting the role of Birdie in "The Little Foxes" by the time she was old enough] I lobbied hard to be seen for the role, and eventually they let me. Show less «

[Who enjoyed working with Bob Newhart]: It was an incredible formative time for me (comedically) to work with Bob, all those years and it wasn't just during rehearsal... he's funny all the time. And I think I learned, 'If you're going to do comedy, you'd better be having fun,' and that sort of lightness that he kept all the time, through rehearsal, really showed on-screen, showed between us, because we were having so much fun, but the joke was king, we were always trying to make the joke, as good as we could, and that feeling has just permeated me. Show less «

[About her character in "The Little Foxes"] Playing a victim doesn't interest me, so I can't think of Birdie like that, even though it would be an easy way to gain sympathy from the audience. Instead, I think of her as a woman who keeps hoping people will behave in a more gracious manner. She brings up the spirit of the way life was before she married into this family. Show less «

One of the main pleasures of doing stage is when you can work on material such as this ["The Little Foxes"], which has stood the test of time. It already works in front of an audience, that's a given-if done well-and that's something you don't know when working on a film or television script. And the collaboration that happens during the rehearsal period and then a long run is just priceless. Show less «

Again because I'm kind of a history nut I find myself fascinated by women like Abigail Adamsm who made their lives mean something to the larger world despite having no path to any way of being heard as a separate person. And I think of Katharine Hepburn, and well, Lillian Hellman, who simply did what they felt was their destiny, with a clear idea of what their worth was, and made it possible for millions who came after to follow their destinies. Show less «

[on her on- and off-screen chemistry with Bob Newhart] I think the main thing he would tell people is that he's a bit whack here and wilder in person than you might think. He has sort of a bad boy sense of humor. Show less «