Marcia Wallace

Monday, September 29, 2003

By Patricia Sheridan, Post-Gazette Staff Writer

She was the wry receptionist on "The Bob Newhart Show" and won an Emmy for her work as the voice of Bart Simpson's teacher, Mrs. Krabapple, on the television cartoon "The Simpsons." But Marcia Wallace has been spending much of her time speaking about breast cancer prevention. She is a survivor who then had to cope with the death of her husband from cancer. October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and she will be speaking at the Komen Pittsburgh Race for the Cure Breast Cancer Symposium Oct 13th. For more information, call 412-521-2873.

Q. What's it like to be told you have breast cancer?

A. Your first thought is, "Oh my God, I might die." But dying can't be any scarier than the fear of that. I have found the more you can take action and network and ask questions, the less scared you are. There is a whole new language involved, too, and I say, take people with you to the doctor. You need an advocate. You are reeling from it.

Q. Were you alone when you first found out?

A. No. I had just gotten engaged three days before. And the irony of it is that my darling husband then died 8 years later of pancreatic cancer. I've seen both sides, you know, the very positive outcome and the very negative.

Q. You had to be angry.

A. I was really kind of demented, and he was such a classy guy. He never said, why me? He never said it's not fair. Being a caregiver is certainly no day at the beach either. It's almost harder, really, because you do have to deal with your anger and frustration. We just figured somebody has to be that one or two percent that is going to overcome pancreatic cancer. We figured, why shouldn't it be him? We believe that the mind and the body and the spirit work together. But, as he said two weeks before he died, I'm so glad we used our good china. It was a metaphor for our life together. We didn't wait to do things we wanted to do or say things we wanted to say. You don't want to die with a lot of regrets, that's for sure. It just wasn't his journey to be the one guy, but ... well, cancer is here to stay, I'm sorry to say.

Q. Yes, but with so much money and resources being devoted to curing it, don't you think eventually it will be cured?

A. Well, when I was diagnosed, over 60,000 women a year died; now it's about 40,000. We are going in the right direction, but it's not enough. You have to take each one individually. Pancreatic is still so lethal. But a lot of childhood cancers like Hodgkin's have a tremendous remission rate.

Q. Did your priorities change?

A. Oh yes. Well, I've heard people say they were glad they got cancer. Now, I wouldn't go as far as to say that, but every experience teaches you something. And I certainly do think it straightens out your priorities. It becomes very clear what is really important.

Q. Were you cured by the time your husband was diagnosed?

A. Yes, I'm an 18-year survivor. Breast cancer is highly curable with early detection, which is my message. Take responsibility for your breast health and every year use all the tools at your disposal. The mammograms, breast self exams, the doctor's exams and gut instinct. You know, I actually had a feeling something was up, which seems kind of weird, but I've heard dozens of other women say that too.

Q. Was it hard to adjust to life after "The Bob Newhart Show?"

A. It was, because I was going to work every day and it was a hit show. Well, I've been on "The Simpsons" for 14 years, too. Two classic shows -- it's been really wonderful. It's great to get an Emmy! You know, the up side of being on a hit show is it gives you visibility and opens up doors, and you make some money and all that swell stuff. The down side is, you know, people think that's all you can do. You are kind of punished by doing something well.

Q. When did you realize you were going to be a character actor, not a leading lady?

A. Oh well, that's always been OK with me. I couldn't sing. I couldn't dance. And I wasn't a beauty. So I certainly never minded being a character actor. The parts were always good, and I never had any illusions about being a leading lady. I've had to branch out. A couple of years ago I was the spokesperson for the Prune Growers of America. I didn't set out to be the prune gal when I went into show business [laughing].

Breakfast With archives

E-mail this story   Print this story