I don't have the fear of my looks changing.
I don't have the fear of my looks changing.
I worked at a nursing home though high school... There's a lost appreciation for a generation that h...
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I worked at a nursing home though high school... There's a lost appreciation for a generation that has so much to tell us when we're so full of self-help books and doctors on TV.
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Would I like to be the lead girl? Who wouldn't?
Would I like to be the lead girl? Who wouldn't?
When the Pixar people call, you jump at the opportunity.
When the Pixar people call, you jump at the opportunity.
If an executive producer has written a certain line, and an actress says it, and it's not very funny...
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If an executive producer has written a certain line, and an actress says it, and it's not very funny, you don't dare go to them and say, 'I don't like this,' because it will make your life miserable.
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I don't have the fear I won't be able to think of something else to write. It's what I do.
I don't have the fear I won't be able to think of something else to write. It's what I do.
All my brothers and sisters are really witty, and I would just sit back and enjoy them.
All my brothers and sisters are really witty, and I would just sit back and enjoy them.
The first time I was on 'Johnny Carson,' I remember being so scared, but the minute he started talki...
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The first time I was on 'Johnny Carson,' I remember being so scared, but the minute he started talking to me, I felt a little more comfortable because I just knew he was going to take care of me. Hopefully, I have learned something from watching him for so many years that I can offer that to a guest.
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When I first landed at Pixar, I felt like I found this creative oasis with John Lasseter... It's wha...
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When I first landed at Pixar, I felt like I found this creative oasis with John Lasseter... It's what you thought Hollywood was going to be.
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I keep saying I won't go back to television, but I do.
I keep saying I won't go back to television, but I do.
I am a storyteller, and I take great pride in the storytelling and a great joy.
I am a storyteller, and I take great pride in the storytelling and a great joy.
Improvisation, if you play it at the top of your intelligence, leads to a kind of truth that people ...
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Improvisation, if you play it at the top of your intelligence, leads to a kind of truth that people find really accessible.
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I love writing.
I love writing.
It's not that I don't take TV seriously. I take it very seriously. But I've got my priorities straig...
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It's not that I don't take TV seriously. I take it very seriously. But I've got my priorities straight. Call it my extra gift. Without it, I would be devastated every day in Hollywood.
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I love talking to people and finding out their opinion.
I love talking to people and finding out their opinion.
I like regular meals and restaurants that will adapt things to your taste. Not a place where they ro...
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I like regular meals and restaurants that will adapt things to your taste. Not a place where they roll their eyes if you want the sauce on the side.
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I won't wear fur-never, ever. I'm an animal lover. I wouldn't even wear faux fur. I prefer to go the...
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I won't wear fur-never, ever. I'm an animal lover. I wouldn't even wear faux fur. I prefer to go the cheap route and not shave my legs.
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Chicago has definitely played a part in my character development. I love the essence of the city, th...
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Chicago has definitely played a part in my character development. I love the essence of the city, the personalities of the people, the hard-working spirit that you need to get through the winters. And every neighborhood has its great restaurants and the local hot-dog stand.
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To have children on the set, you realize that if a 10-year-old can do it, who are you kidding? It hu...
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To have children on the set, you realize that if a 10-year-old can do it, who are you kidding? It humbles you.
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I am on the phone with my sisters every day.
I am on the phone with my sisters every day.
Everyone hopes to get a fall slot, but I'm just happy to get on the air.
Everyone hopes to get a fall slot, but I'm just happy to get on the air.
There's nothing funnier than religion. Try explaining it to a kid. I had it all wrong when I was a k...
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There's nothing funnier than religion. Try explaining it to a kid. I had it all wrong when I was a kid.
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I thought of Second City as just the greatest therapeutic job anybody could ever dream of having.
I thought of Second City as just the greatest therapeutic job anybody could ever dream of having.
In my neighborhood growing up, 8, 10,12 kids were the norm. Those stay-at-home moms would handle so ...
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In my neighborhood growing up, 8, 10,12 kids were the norm. Those stay-at-home moms would handle so much physically and emotionally. Even in my early teens, I could tell those ladies were something.
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If I've learned one thing in life, it's: Stand for something or you'll fall for anything.
If I've learned one thing in life, it's: Stand for something or you'll fall for anything.
I thought of school as a captive audience. It gave me a chance to work on my material.
I thought of school as a captive audience. It gave me a chance to work on my material.
I only have one job, and that's being a storyteller.
I only have one job, and that's being a storyteller.
I don't know if I realized that I was funny, but I realized how healing and important humor was in m...
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I don't know if I realized that I was funny, but I realized how healing and important humor was in my childhood.
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Restaurants in Chicago are seldom disappointing.
Restaurants in Chicago are seldom disappointing.
Not only do people stop me on the street to say, 'We're walking, we're walking', but I have actually...
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Not only do people stop me on the street to say, 'We're walking, we're walking', but I have actually been in restaurants where the hostess was saying it to customers.
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The thing about Pixar, they don't do the 'trend is your friend.' They're really about timeless story...
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The thing about Pixar, they don't do the 'trend is your friend.' They're really about timeless story telling, and that's pretty great.
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If I couldn't be Dick Van Dyke, I wanted to be Art Carney.
If I couldn't be Dick Van Dyke, I wanted to be Art Carney.
Hollywood is what you make it; you have to choose company with care because you become what they are...
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Hollywood is what you make it; you have to choose company with care because you become what they are.
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[on being one of seven children] It's great because when you go home you're the person you were in s...
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[on being one of seven children] It's great because when you go home you're the person you were in sixth grade!
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Everybody knows when you're a struggling family; you don't really know it when you're a kid. But you...
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Everybody knows when you're a struggling family; you don't really know it when you're a kid. But you do know the difference between stress and moments of relief where there's, like, this happiness.
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I don't think of myself as a comedian.
I don't think of myself as a comedian.
My home is in Chicago, but I have an apartment in Los Angeles.
My home is in Chicago, but I have an apartment in Los Angeles.
I don't think this is the end of Oprah, it's only the beginning. I have a feeling that she'll probab...
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I don't think this is the end of Oprah, it's only the beginning. I have a feeling that she'll probably have her own station, and continue to do what she does.
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There were seven kids in our family. My mom had seven kids in 10 years. So you had to learn how to t...
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There were seven kids in our family. My mom had seven kids in 10 years. So you had to learn how to talk and think fast if you wanted to be heard.
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When you fail by your own standards, it's a form of success.
When you fail by your own standards, it's a form of success.
I live in this apartment building, and everybody who lives there thinks of me as a housewife. People...
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I live in this apartment building, and everybody who lives there thinks of me as a housewife. People drop their babies off with me. Or I get notes: 'I'm going to be gone for three days. The keys are under the mat; take care of the cats.' Because they all think I'm home all the time.
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I think what happens is that some writers, who are so great in television or whatever, once they bec...
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I think what happens is that some writers, who are so great in television or whatever, once they become successful, they get out of the loop of real life. It's real hard to draw on something to write.
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But I'm thrilled to be employed, and to work with all my friends and people that I admire. You're ju...
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But I'm thrilled to be employed, and to work with all my friends and people that I admire. You're just lucky to work - that's the bottom line.
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Oprah was not somebody who was telling us what to do, she wasn't really teaching us like so many peo...
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Oprah was not somebody who was telling us what to do, she wasn't really teaching us like so many people we see today. With Oprah, she was learning and we were learning with her. And I think that's really was the seed that was planted for all of us to just hang in there with her.
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I would hope to have some of the same audience that Oprah has earned. And I would love to earn that,...
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I would hope to have some of the same audience that Oprah has earned. And I would love to earn that, as well.
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I remember, when I was 7, my dad found a pregnant dog on the railroad track one day and brought her ...
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I remember, when I was 7, my dad found a pregnant dog on the railroad track one day and brought her home. So my mom explained about how this dog was married but that her husband had passed away - she didn't want me to even think that a dog could have babies without being married.
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I'm from an Irish Catholic family.
I'm from an Irish Catholic family.
I was so angry at God for taking my father from me that I marched up to my mother before the funeral...
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I was so angry at God for taking my father from me that I marched up to my mother before the funeral and told her I was going to quit nursing school. I just wanted to stop living.
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When I was in high school, I hid in the back seat of an old boyfriend's car when he was out with ano...
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When I was in high school, I hid in the back seat of an old boyfriend's car when he was out with another girl. He finally found me, but not until after he had made out with her for an hour.
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I loved when my folks would watch The Dean Martin Show (1965).
I loved when my folks would watch The Dean Martin Show (1965).
Humor is very healing.
Humor is very healing.
I was a good kid.
I was a good kid.
Anything Pixar does, you know, I really just am in awe of them and thrilled to be included in anythi...
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Anything Pixar does, you know, I really just am in awe of them and thrilled to be included in anything they do.
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When a fan holds out Helen's picture for me to autograph, I usually sign it Linda Hunt - just to mak...
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When a fan holds out Helen's picture for me to autograph, I usually sign it Linda Hunt - just to make their heads really crazy.
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I was very down as a teenager, very upset because I had gotten hurt in a car accident. But my dad wa...
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I was very down as a teenager, very upset because I had gotten hurt in a car accident. But my dad was a source of strength. He used to say, 'It's the character with strength that God gives the most challenges to.' I've thought about that so many times in my life when things didn't go right.
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Because I've been so blessed with a background in nursing and spent so much time with patients at a ...
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Because I've been so blessed with a background in nursing and spent so much time with patients at a really intimate, vulnerable time in their lives, the one lesson I've learned is that you never turn down a challenge where you can keep your creative integrity and your heart and soul and your sense of self.
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When you're the mom in a big family comedy, you have to get your personality when you can.
When you're the mom in a big family comedy, you have to get your personality when you can.
Over the years, if you look at the films of people like Billy Wilder, Preston Sturges, Frank Capra, ...
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Over the years, if you look at the films of people like Billy Wilder, Preston Sturges, Frank Capra, their supporting characters, even if it's a doorman with two lines, always seem three-dimensional. To me, that's a sign of good storytelling.
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I'm right on the edge of getting another movie. It's between me and a famous person. The studio said...
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I'm right on the edge of getting another movie. It's between me and a famous person. The studio said they're thinking about going with somebody with a name. I said, 'That's great! Because I have one!'
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When you're an actress, you are a part of the storytelling process. You have to do the same thing wh...
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When you're an actress, you are a part of the storytelling process. You have to do the same thing when you direct.
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I have spent the last 10 years of my life alone. In that time, I have discovered myself. I figured o...
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I have spent the last 10 years of my life alone. In that time, I have discovered myself. I figured out what I want out of my life. If the right person comes along who has all the qualities I seek for in my future husband, I will definitely consider marrying him.
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I have a great affinity for senior citizens.
I have a great affinity for senior citizens.
My only power is my ability to do something with passion and do it well. It's also something someone...
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My only power is my ability to do something with passion and do it well. It's also something someone cannot take way from me, so it's very valuable.
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You gain a certain maturity from being a nurse in a cancer ward.
You gain a certain maturity from being a nurse in a cancer ward.
I lived in an apartment near Wrigley Field.
I lived in an apartment near Wrigley Field.
My mother gets told, 'Oh, you're so lucky that your daughters are doing so well.' She never corrects...
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My mother gets told, 'Oh, you're so lucky that your daughters are doing so well.' She never corrects anybody when they assume Helen ('Helen Hunt') is her daughter.
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I wanted to be a story teller so badly.
I wanted to be a story teller so badly.
I'm trying to be truthful.
I'm trying to be truthful.
My dad was a man of great wisdom in his short time here.
My dad was a man of great wisdom in his short time here.
If you're authentic, people smile because they sense there's a piece of themselves there.
If you're authentic, people smile because they sense there's a piece of themselves there.
I grew up in a working-class neighborhood, so there was always a sense of struggle, but we had hope.
I grew up in a working-class neighborhood, so there was always a sense of struggle, but we had hope.
I think you have to see the high highs and the low lows to get to the core of what makes us tick as ...
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I think you have to see the high highs and the low lows to get to the core of what makes us tick as people.
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I've been so fortunate in my career and my own life just to have all these opportunities, and the ta...
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I've been so fortunate in my career and my own life just to have all these opportunities, and the talk show has always been one of my favorite formats.
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I still have my bad days when I think I'm not getting everything I deserve. But those pass quickly o...
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I still have my bad days when I think I'm not getting everything I deserve. But those pass quickly once my mother gets on the phone and says, 'listen, we used to eat rocks and walk 80 miles a day to school'.
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[when asked if she ever dated David Letterman] We never dated. We slept together, but we never dated...
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[when asked if she ever dated David Letterman] We never dated. We slept together, but we never dated.
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Everywhere I go, people think I'm Helen Hunt.
Everywhere I go, people think I'm Helen Hunt.
Barry Levinson saw me on a tape and put me in Rain Man (1988) as the waitress who dropped the toothp...
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Barry Levinson saw me on a tape and put me in Rain Man (1988) as the waitress who dropped the toothpicks. The scene was talked about a lot. Then, all of a sudden, I started to get more auditions
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Carl Reiner is perfection.
Carl Reiner is perfection.
I don't understand the rewarding of behavior that is less than classy. I don't get it.
I don't understand the rewarding of behavior that is less than classy. I don't get it.
What kind of woman irons her husband's sheets? Even the clothes I wear, I just throw 'em in the drye...
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What kind of woman irons her husband's sheets? Even the clothes I wear, I just throw 'em in the dryer with some golf balls.
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I don't write punch lines.
I don't write punch lines.
I'm a blue-collar Chicago girl raised on wonderful movies my mom took us to, ones that had a lot of ...
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I'm a blue-collar Chicago girl raised on wonderful movies my mom took us to, ones that had a lot of heart.
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