“Let’s get one thing straight: I don’t want your pity. However, this photo of Charlie McCarthy and me in our matching feety pajamas neatly sums up my childhood. My father was a ventriloquist—on the radio—and the dummy he created was a cocky, charming character who went on to become an icon in 40s and 50s America. While technically an only child, I was always known—as a kid, at least—as ‘Charlie’s sister.’ Now I want your pity. Is it any wonder my early performances in film were referred to as ‘wooden’?

“This picture was one of many photo ops that people in the entertainment business were required to do for fan magazines to maintain ‘awareness.’ It shows the two of us from a Christmas layout taken at our home in Beverly Hills; I was four. The curse of having a wooden brother. That would not be reversed until some 30 years later when, playing Murphy Brown, I realized I was channeling Charlie.”