Mercedes McCambridge died. I didn't know until I saw the Oscars. She was Rock Hudson's sister in "Giant".

I was in an automobile accident when I was 21 where I hit the windshield. I was riding in a restored Mustang that didn't have seatbelts. At the the corner of Northwest Highway and Preston Road in Dallas, a Lincoln flew through a left turn lane against the light and walloped the Mustang.

The driver, the cutest little SMU political science major from Dayton, Ohio, suffered a punctured lung and Lord knows what else. It was a first date. We didn't keep up. I was on the other side, and had only a broken arm, apart from lacerations and contusions.

I had been taking acting lessons before, mainly because I was a lunchtime waitress in my own little studio apartment and wanted to see what was so interesting. Even the lessons were a lot of work that would yield not much to me. Yoga is better.

Anyway, when my face healed enough, I enrolled at El Centro Junior College in downtown Dallas in the acting department for a few courses, and found my way into some plays.

I was playing the lead, Molly, in "The Mousetrap", when Ms. McCambridge came to visit children or grandchildren in Dallas, and our director enlisted her as a "play doctor", a critical eye who could come in to improve the performances.

She improved mine.