Acclaimed actress, Denise Nicholas writes memoir

Allie, here it is. Great, great book, and she's a great, great lady. When I saw her this morning, I said, you owe me an apology because I fell in love with you years ago when you were on the popular show Room 222. This is Denise Nicholas. She's on a book tour right now. Her book is titled Finding Home, a memoir. She talks about her childhood, her time. Touring on stage in the Deep South, her TV shows, her movies that broke barriers. Denise Nicholas, thank you for being here. Thank you for having me. Yeah. You've been battling allergies and all that, but that's why you're here, and I'm glad you're here. This is a beautiful book, Finding Hope. Thanks. I wanted you to get a good look at that. So tell me, what is this book, and why did you write it? My publisher said, you will write a memoir. And there you go. And there you go. Yeah. Because I was working on a novel. Yeah. Bob, what about my novel? And I said, I think you think I'm getting old. No. I'm going to croak, so you want to get this memoir out before. So that's what happened. So what are you saying in here about your career, about your life? I think it's the more moving, the more powerful moments of my life. Not everything. That would be dull as dishwater. So it's the big moments. It's, it's, uh... The moments that really changed you or helped to form you into the person that you are now. Like what? Well, let's see. I always wanted to write, but I didn't have the courage to give it a shot. I didn't know what to do. I didn't know how to get into it. So I started working as an actor. I got onto Room 222. I met a lot of writers. In television, you meet a lot of writers more so than on stage because there's so many. And I started... Trying to do story ideas for Room 222, I couldn't get in the door. Oh, really? So years later, when my first book was published, Freshwater Road, which is about the civil rights movement, Gene Reynolds, who was the producer of Room 222 and MASH. He sent me a letter, he read the reviews and everything, and he said, now I know that you were very serious back then, and I said, well, yes, thank you. Late. Now, what are your, I just have to quickly ask, what are your memories about Room 222, which still comes on TV, I still see it, I still see you. We had a good cast. All casts are not. So able to get along the way we were. We were a good group of people, everybody. I mean, there was no antipathy in the group at all. It was all fun. It was hard work. Yeah. And it was fun. We were respectful of each other. We were respectful of each other's differences. Yeah. So it made it very precious. You've had many experiences in show business and out. Is there one in particular that stands out the most for you? I think in terms of the fun I have doing the work of acting, writing is not so much fun. It's more like, it's hard work. Yeah. But… I think when I worked with Sidney Poitier and Bill Cosby on Let's Do It Again, it was one of the high points. It's not a huge role. It's a small role, but it's a purely comedic role, which is what I really was good at. So that I love. And I hear about it all over the country. People want me to say those lines. Child, you better get that gun out of my face. All that stuff. You did it. And now the book again. Finding home. Now, you're going to be in the Bay Area making some appearances. Yes. And you've got it right. I have it right here. OK, so today, book signing, a book signing, an African-American art and culture complex in San Francisco at three o'clock tomorrow. There's a book talk at Pittsburg, California, theater open at doors open at five. And, let's see, on Saturday... BWAPA, an NAACP discussion in Oakland at City Hall Chambers. Mm-hmm. And... And you're going to be a fireside chat. All right, Denise Nicholas, I could talk to you all day, and I accept your apology... Thank you. ...for not marrying me years ago. You're so kind. I just love it. Thank you for being here. We'll take a break, and we'll be right back.