In 1977, at age ten, I was cast on the TV sitcom 'Good Times.' My character was Penny, an abused child in desperate need of love. I really didn't want to do the show. I didn't want to be away from my family.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
Being on 'Good Times' was the first time I was around a group of people that wasn't my family.
I grew up in the world of bad television, on my dad's sets and then as a young schmuck on dating shows and so on.
I had a very special family life. My mother and father made sure when we were home, we were part of the family, not a TV star. And the other thing: my father was fully employed while I was doing the series.
I grew up on the golden age of children's TV.
When I grew up, my family, we sat down, all of us to watch 'Good Times,' 'Sanford and Son,' all those shows that were out at that time.
My mom always worked, and I certainly don't want to look back and think, 'Well, I don't have kids, but I'm glad I did that sitcom.'
I watched a lot of old television growing up - a lot of Nick at Nite. I watched 'Rhoda', 'Mary Tyler Moore', and 'I Love Lucy.' Growing up, I loved 'My So Called Life' and was devastated when that went off the air.
In Australia, there is a very famous show called 'Home and Away.' I was cast on that at 15. The day I started filming, my life changed.
My parents didn't want me to be a regular in a series. I was a working actor from time to time but they thought was a little too much being a star of a series. They wanted me to have a slightly more normal childhood.
My desire for my own sitcom began as a little girl - I spent hours lying on my belly on the shag carpeting getting lost in the world of the '70s sitcom. All I wanted to do was run away to the Brady house, The Partridge Family bus; even the project on 'Good Times' seemed better than Clark, NJ.