MARG HELGENBERGER AND KAY SNYDER
In Style Magazine
May 2003
By Ellen Lieberman
Marg on Kay: “My mom was a nurse at my high school, so there was no ditching class or feigning illness. I’d go to her office and she’d just say, ‘Oh life down and eat some saltines.’ I got no special treatment whatsoever! The strongest memory I have is 22 years ago, when she was diagnosed with breast cancer and had a double mastectomy. Just two weeks after coming home from surgery, she was mowing the lawn. She claimed that people in our little town were saying she was on her deathbed. She said, ‘I’m going out there and proving them wrong!’ And she did. Not long after that she nursed my father until he passed away from multiple sclerosis. But there has never been a time when she was the least bit bitter. Her strength is an inspiration.”
Kay on Marg: “Marg always worked hard at everything she did. When she first came to L.A., she said, ‘There’s a pretty face under every rock. Perseverance is what it takes.’ When she acts she really inhabits the role – I don’t think it’s Margie anymore. When she won her Emmy, I went backstage, and they took a picture of us. My hand was grasped around the award almost as tightly as hers was. I was so proud.”