The former chief executive officer of Paramount Pictures and the first woman to head a major studio, Sherry Lansing left it all for a fight to cure cancer. At age 60, she quit Paramount and founded the Sherry Lansing Foundation to bring awareness to cancer research in memory of her mother, who died at age 64 of ovarian cancer. Lansing has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and received the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award Oscar for her work in cancer research. On Friday at 8 p.m., television history will be made when all three major networks air a cancer research fundraiser, "Stand Up to Cancer," in which Lansing will participate, along with celebrities. For more information, visit www.standuptocancer.org or www.sherrylansingfoundation.org.

Q: I know you started your cancer research foundation to honor your mother, but did you fear sharing her fate?

A: No, I honestly didn't at the time. As my knowledge grew, I probably should have. But the truth of the matter is my mother died of cancer when I was 40 and she was 64. It was something that I didn't think was going to touch my family. When it happened to my mother, and I watched the horror of the disease -- literally how the cancer, because she had ovarian cancer, almost ate her body -- it was so devastating to me, not only because she was my mother but watching someone suffer like that. Because I loved her so much, the way that I wanted to honor her memory was to become a cancer advocate.

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Q: Billions of dollars have gone into cancer research, yet skeptics think it will never be cured.

A: I hear this all the time, not just about cancer but about every problem. [During a visit I took to cancer labs] there was this sign. It said, "They said tuberculosis was hopeless, they said smallpox was hopeless, they said polio was hopeless. Cancer is only a disease." Generations ago you died from smallpox. I remember being told not to go to the beach as a kid because I was going to get polio. We are a country that figures things out, and cancer is a disease just like any other disease, and someday it will be eradicated or will be manageable.

Q: You have said you feel more authentic than you ever have. What do you mean?

A: You know, life is filled with seasons. I loved teaching when I taught. I loved making movies when I made movies. I loved running Paramount when I did, but as I got a little bit older priorities started to shift. I started to care more about giving back. For me, getting up every day and being in control of my days and getting to work on things I care passionately about and having the choice to just be with the people I care passionately about -- I feel very, very authentic. I don't have to do anything I don't want to do. It's a gift, and it's a payoff for all those years of work.

Q: And you could have kept going at Paramount, so what flipped that switch?

A: Oh, absolutely. For me, what flipped that switch is that I was repeating myself. As much as I loved what I was doing, for me, there was nothing new to learn, which sounds arrogant. I don't mean that literally. I said once the highs weren't as high, the lows weren't as low. I wanted to do something new, and I found myself! This is a tricky thing to say. The kind of movies -- I love movies today -- but the kind of movies that I got into the business for were based more on character and were less frequently being made, and also the marketing of a movie became more important or equally important as the movie. Part of life is growth, and it was the old expression, "Been there done that." I am a big believer in the encore career. For all of us retiring. I say this -- I flunked retirement. But don't retire, re-wire.

Q:Your mother had a life that could be written in a script. How did she escape the Nazis?

A: She was in Germany, and they put the yellow stars on her. Her mother and father must have been very wise because they put her on the train, and she must have had papers from my Uncle Max, who lived in Chicago. She took a boat to New York. They sent her alone. She didn't speak a word of English. She was 17 years old. Then they sent her older sister and then they came. They left everything behind. My grandfather sold door to door because they had no money.

Q: Did your mother have any bitterness about her experience?

A: My mother was not a bitter person, but she would never go back to Germany. I think it was extraordinarily painful. She was not bitter, but my mother was loving and open, and sometimes I would sense distress that it could happen again, which was completely natural. She was a very strong woman and an incredible role model.

Q: You have an Oscar for humanitarianism and a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame -- kind of a big deal for someone who is not an actor. How important are the recognitions?

A: I think that you must just do the work and not think about any external awards or any external criticism. Try and just focus on what you believe in. But when the award comes, you would be lying if you didn't say you enjoyed that moment. When I got the star I was ecstatic. Perhaps the best of all of them was the Jean Hersholt award. I cried when they called and told me. That's the truth. Do I think about it now? No. If I walk by the Oscar do I have a nice feeling in my stomach? Yes.

Q: Where is it?

A: It's in my bedroom next to my husband's Oscar for directing "The French Connection." It makes me happy to see it. People always complain it's so hard getting old. It's joyous getting old if you can keep your health because you have a perspective.

Q: And it's fun to see what's coming next.

A: Oh, boy, is it ever. It's quite exciting if you can keep your health. The other fun thing about turning 60 or 70 or whatever is you are more comfortable in your own skin. You're not building a career. You are not competitive anymore. You are just enjoying and being and doing what you want to do, not what you have to do.