In the days when I was the big hero, the money wasn't much. Nobody made anything on television in those days.

I remember we would get young, aspiring actors to come on '77 Sunset Strip' - I remember George Kennedy was one of those - and they would do a big guest star part, a lead, and they'd be paid maybe $850.

When I was 18, I drove from New York to California to be a movie star. Not an actor, mind you, but a movie star. Have you ever heard of anything so silly?

It was hard to admit I had a problem when I still had money, property, prestige. How can I have a problem when I'm driving my new Mercedes, and it's paid for, and I have a house at Malibu?

Madeleine Albright introduced herself to me. I talked to Henry Kissinger and Barbara Walters. And I asked Peter Jennings to write a note of encouragement to my son, Logan, a news anchor at the ABC affiliate in Palm Springs.

I don't envy young actors.