Cybill Speaks Out
The actress has done modeling, movies, ‘Moonlighting’ and music CDs. Now she's doing talks on Irritable Bowel Syndrome?
URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8435293/site/newsweek/print/1/displaymode/1098
July 5 - At 55, Cybill Shepherd is hardly resting on her laurels. The former model became a superstar in the 1970s with movies like "The Last Picture Show" and "Taxi Driver" and then with the hit TV 1980s show "Moonlighting." More recently, she took to the stage in London last fall to perform her autobiographical one-woman show (based on a book of the same name), "Cybill Disobedience: How I Survived Beauty Pageants, Elvis, Sex, Bruce Willis, Lies, Marriage, Motherhood, Hollywood and the Irrepressible Urge to Say What I Think. With Music!"
She is now planning to publish an updated version of her autobiography and preparing for a reprise of her role as Martha Stewart in a TV movie this fall. Meanwhile, she continues to speak out candidly about women's health issues, from reproductive rights to —most recently—her own struggles with irritable bowel syndrome. As frank as ever (a typical line: "I've told the truth so long about my age, it's too damn late to lie about it"), she talked with NEWSWEEK's Karen Springen about her health, her family, and her acting career. Excerpts:
Newsweek: How does it feel to be 55?
Cybill Shepherd: I have to say that I am more content and happier than I've ever been. A lot of that has to do with finally accepting that being single is really and truly a fabulous position to be in. I have wonderful friends. I love men, don't get me wrong. But I think maybe Gloria Steinem was right when she said a woman needs a man maybe like a fish needs a bicycle. And I passed three years as a cancer survivor. It really does change your attitude toward time, what's really important.
How did you get involved in speaking out on women's health issues?
My continuing advocacy for women's health started in the early 1980s when Congress outlawed funding for birth control and abortion for poor women. I marched on Washington for women's reproductive freedom twice—the second time very proudly with my younger daughter, Ariel. I talked about menopause at a time when it would still kill the conversation at parties. Then I wrote a song, "Menopause Blues." With Oprah, we did an hour on menopause, and women still talk to me about that.
Is the prognosis good with your cancer?
I have an extremely rare form of skin cancer, totally unrelated to the sun. It's not melanoma. The good news is it tends to grow slowly. The bad news is it tends to come back. I'll have to go back [for treatment] every six months for the rest of my life. It was [discovered] during a massage therapy. They took out a tumor the size of a squashed baseball. The only other time I had plastic surgery was when I was seven years old and ran into a fence and had 200 stitches.
Any plans for other plastic surgery?
Never say never. I don't hold it against anybody who does it. I haven't done Botox. I have a very expressive face, which is a good thing to have as an actor.
You won Miss Teenage Memphis in 1966, you were under contract with Revlon, and you still look great. How much effort do you put into looking good?
I try to be very healthy. I love to walk. I love to bicycle, love to dance. I try to eat fresh foods as much as possible, and I take a lot of supplements. And I try to enjoy the bloom of the present moment.
You've said that for years you suffered from constipation, abdominal pain and bloating. You were finally diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome with constipation a year and a half ago. Now you're a spokesperson for Novartis's IBS treatment, Zelnorm. Why?
This is in conjunction with the National Women's Health Resource Center. I'm not out there to sell Zelnorm. I'm out there to encourage women, in spite of their embarrassment, to talk to their doctors and family.
How has the response been?
I was just in Chicago, and a woman said she was going to talk to her friends about this condition, and two of her good friends said they had it. `AmaZing Women' is the name of the campaign. The main thing is to go to your doctor and talk about the symptoms... It usually takes a woman up to three years to have it properly diagnosed. I was told [initially] that it was emotional and psychological.
When did your symptoms start?
During “Moonlighting.” I don't know how I nursed twins. I nursed my first daughter for two years and my twins for 20 months. I like to talk about that. It's one of the great achievements, one of the things I'm most proud of, is that early connection, even though I was working outside the home.
What are your three kids up to these days?
Oh, my gosh. Ariel and Zack are 17. The kids are just working so hard academically. It's unbelievable the amount of pressure and the difficulty to get into the good colleges. They're juniors. They've both narrowed down their choices of where they want to go. I think they'll be going somewhere along the east coast. That's great for me because I want to send more time in Memphis and in New York. Clementine is an actor. She's been doing some parts, she's working, and she goes to college. And I do have two German shepherds and two cats.
You played Martha Stewart in the 2003 NBC TV movie "Martha, Inc." Now you're going to be in a new CBS TV movie about Martha's criminal trial and five-month stay in prison. Are you a Martha fan?
I'm a tremendous admirer of Martha Stewart. People ask me if I had any qualms about playing her again. I didn't at all. It's one of the great stories of all time. It's almost Shakespearean in size. The great Shakespearean tragedy—the king or the queen makes a little mistake that brings them down. It looked like it would be that way, but it turned out not to be. She came out as an advocate for women's rights in prison. The fact that a woman could do what she's done is inspiring. I did meet her seven or eight years ago, when she was selling her show into syndication. We were at a syndication event. She had a kind of glowing naturalness about her, and she has really great stature. We looked each other eye to eye. We're both tall and strong.
To read rest of article, go here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8435293/site/newsweek/print/1/displaymode/1098
The actress has done modeling, movies, ‘Moonlighting’ and music CDs. Now she's doing talks on Irritable Bowel Syndrome?
URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8435293/site/newsweek/print/1/displaymode/1098
July 5 - At 55, Cybill Shepherd is hardly resting on her laurels. The former model became a superstar in the 1970s with movies like "The Last Picture Show" and "Taxi Driver" and then with the hit TV 1980s show "Moonlighting." More recently, she took to the stage in London last fall to perform her autobiographical one-woman show (based on a book of the same name), "Cybill Disobedience: How I Survived Beauty Pageants, Elvis, Sex, Bruce Willis, Lies, Marriage, Motherhood, Hollywood and the Irrepressible Urge to Say What I Think. With Music!"
She is now planning to publish an updated version of her autobiography and preparing for a reprise of her role as Martha Stewart in a TV movie this fall. Meanwhile, she continues to speak out candidly about women's health issues, from reproductive rights to —most recently—her own struggles with irritable bowel syndrome. As frank as ever (a typical line: "I've told the truth so long about my age, it's too damn late to lie about it"), she talked with NEWSWEEK's Karen Springen about her health, her family, and her acting career. Excerpts:
Newsweek: How does it feel to be 55?
Cybill Shepherd: I have to say that I am more content and happier than I've ever been. A lot of that has to do with finally accepting that being single is really and truly a fabulous position to be in. I have wonderful friends. I love men, don't get me wrong. But I think maybe Gloria Steinem was right when she said a woman needs a man maybe like a fish needs a bicycle. And I passed three years as a cancer survivor. It really does change your attitude toward time, what's really important.
How did you get involved in speaking out on women's health issues?
My continuing advocacy for women's health started in the early 1980s when Congress outlawed funding for birth control and abortion for poor women. I marched on Washington for women's reproductive freedom twice—the second time very proudly with my younger daughter, Ariel. I talked about menopause at a time when it would still kill the conversation at parties. Then I wrote a song, "Menopause Blues." With Oprah, we did an hour on menopause, and women still talk to me about that.
Is the prognosis good with your cancer?
I have an extremely rare form of skin cancer, totally unrelated to the sun. It's not melanoma. The good news is it tends to grow slowly. The bad news is it tends to come back. I'll have to go back [for treatment] every six months for the rest of my life. It was [discovered] during a massage therapy. They took out a tumor the size of a squashed baseball. The only other time I had plastic surgery was when I was seven years old and ran into a fence and had 200 stitches.
Any plans for other plastic surgery?
Never say never. I don't hold it against anybody who does it. I haven't done Botox. I have a very expressive face, which is a good thing to have as an actor.
You won Miss Teenage Memphis in 1966, you were under contract with Revlon, and you still look great. How much effort do you put into looking good?
I try to be very healthy. I love to walk. I love to bicycle, love to dance. I try to eat fresh foods as much as possible, and I take a lot of supplements. And I try to enjoy the bloom of the present moment.
You've said that for years you suffered from constipation, abdominal pain and bloating. You were finally diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome with constipation a year and a half ago. Now you're a spokesperson for Novartis's IBS treatment, Zelnorm. Why?
This is in conjunction with the National Women's Health Resource Center. I'm not out there to sell Zelnorm. I'm out there to encourage women, in spite of their embarrassment, to talk to their doctors and family.
How has the response been?
I was just in Chicago, and a woman said she was going to talk to her friends about this condition, and two of her good friends said they had it. `AmaZing Women' is the name of the campaign. The main thing is to go to your doctor and talk about the symptoms... It usually takes a woman up to three years to have it properly diagnosed. I was told [initially] that it was emotional and psychological.
When did your symptoms start?
During “Moonlighting.” I don't know how I nursed twins. I nursed my first daughter for two years and my twins for 20 months. I like to talk about that. It's one of the great achievements, one of the things I'm most proud of, is that early connection, even though I was working outside the home.
What are your three kids up to these days?
Oh, my gosh. Ariel and Zack are 17. The kids are just working so hard academically. It's unbelievable the amount of pressure and the difficulty to get into the good colleges. They're juniors. They've both narrowed down their choices of where they want to go. I think they'll be going somewhere along the east coast. That's great for me because I want to send more time in Memphis and in New York. Clementine is an actor. She's been doing some parts, she's working, and she goes to college. And I do have two German shepherds and two cats.
You played Martha Stewart in the 2003 NBC TV movie "Martha, Inc." Now you're going to be in a new CBS TV movie about Martha's criminal trial and five-month stay in prison. Are you a Martha fan?
I'm a tremendous admirer of Martha Stewart. People ask me if I had any qualms about playing her again. I didn't at all. It's one of the great stories of all time. It's almost Shakespearean in size. The great Shakespearean tragedy—the king or the queen makes a little mistake that brings them down. It looked like it would be that way, but it turned out not to be. She came out as an advocate for women's rights in prison. The fact that a woman could do what she's done is inspiring. I did meet her seven or eight years ago, when she was selling her show into syndication. We were at a syndication event. She had a kind of glowing naturalness about her, and she has really great stature. We looked each other eye to eye. We're both tall and strong.
To read rest of article, go here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8435293/site/newsweek/print/1/displaymode/1098
