My brother Jim and I spent many wonderful summers working on dairy farms in Wisconsin owned by Mom's cousins, and as members of our local Boy Scout troop.
When I was a child, I wanted to be an actor, but I had really bad buckteeth. I didn't want to get braces, but my mom said I couldn't be an actor if I didn't get the braces. So, I got the braces.
One musical that deeply influenced me - and continues to do so - is the 1997 ABC TV movie of Rodgers and Hammerstein's 'Cinderella,' starring Brandy, with Whitney Houston as the Fairy Godmother and Whoopi Goldberg as the prince's mom.
Take motherhood: nobody ever thought of putting it on a moral pedestal until some brash feminists pointed out, about a century ago, that the pay is lousy and the career ladder nonexistent.
My father didn't want to ski alone, so he took me up to the mountains in order to basically bribe my mom to come with him.
The standard Bristol set at being a mother is high for a woman to have to step into. She, as a mom, is crushing it.
Whenever something went wrong when I was young - if I had a pimple or if my hair broke - my mom would say, 'Sister mine, I'm going to make you some soup.' And I really thought the soup would make my pimple go away or my hair stronger.
I grew up in Marcy Projects in Brooklyn, and my mom and pop had an extensive record collection, so Michael Jackson and Stevie Wonder and all of those sounds and souls of Motown filled the house.
My mother was a single mom whose days were spent as a customer service rep at Con Edison in downtown Brooklyn.
I was 16 years old and wanted to help my mom with the rent. There was a restaurant called China Buffet in Tampa that hung a 'Help Wanted' sign outside, so I went in and ended up hosting every Friday and Sunday for $6 or $7 an hour.
I rarely went to the mosque, I never fasted, and I only prayed namaaz on the holy nights because my mom bugged me about it.
I bugged my mom and dad to 'get me inside the television set' when I was about four years old.
My mom was funny and nutty. I suppose she had to be to survive raising 10 kids. To cope and keep a cap on things, she kept us buoyant and harmonious. She wouldn't let us express anger, which later on landed me in therapy but also made it easier for me to play laid-back, measured roles.
My mom works in funerals, and my dad works at Burger King.
I'm not a businessperson. I have no sense of money. My mom does everything for me. She makes all my decisions for me, and even buys my clothes. She's very protective.
When I was a kid and my mom made tomato soup, she would cut buttered toast into squares and float them on top of each bowl.
I used to play Donna Karan. I used my dad's home office, and Kim was my assistant. Then one of our friends would play a buyer, and I would take her to my mom's closet and show her the new collection.
My mom has been calling me Peep my whole life. That's how I got the name.
My mom once lost track of me at the zoo and when she found me I was lecturing a man about the difference between dromedary and Bactrian camels. I was about 3 1/2.
My mom didn't want us to go to the candy house, she didn't want us to go to the ice cream truck, she didn't want us to go to the... There was actually a donut truck, if that makes sense.
