oge, an excentric neisei who likes literature. i thought it would be an interesting thing to do. but after a while we did a reading and we realized as good an actor as gregory is, it was pushing his limits for him to play a japanese american character in the late 40's. >> i imagine him as being much older. >> in the course of writing the play and using various actors, he became younger. this chinese actor is more like a character in his mid to late 30's, excentric, a career bachelor who is into russian literature and who fashions himself kind of patterned after the japanese artists of the 30's and 40's. he has round sort of glasses and a braid. but getting back to the question of creating characters, for example african american characters, i'm also caution -- i had written another play called johann that was about an african american gi and a japanese wife that got married in post war japan. i wrote that play 20 years ago. i wouldn't do it for about 8 years or so because i just didn't feel comfortable about being a japanese american writing an african american character. you hav

and they're trying, i think, to get the jury to know this woman in all of her excentricities, her oddnesstory, and say we're going to lock this woman up, but we will not take the step of imposing the death penalty. >> but she's saying self defense. a throat slit so much the head was almost decapitated. >> that's the vehicle, all of this, whether it's battered woman, self defense, it's just a vehicle, if you will, for the defense to get her up there and try to mitigate and save her from the death penalty. >> her lawyers aren't trying to get her off? >> if they get a not guilty, they'll faint in the courtroom. >> this is all about a death penalty defense. frankly, since the judge is allowing it, it's probably her best sense because she is emerging as a personality, as someone with a history, who is complicated, who is obviously a mess of a human being, but not someone, at least, that they hope, that the jury says we have to take the absolute maximum step and kill her. >> that's really what it is. you put her up there for that long, what you hope for is that the jury is going to say exactly

. >>> shirley mclain won an oscar playing an excentric mother. the 1983 film terms of endearment. >> my daughter is in pain. give her the shot! give my daughter the shot! thank you very much. >> what a role. according to her only child, mclain is as much a mother that is stranger than fiction. her book just came out and called lucky me. here they are, mom and daughter. a life magazine shoot. me, my life with and without my mom. parker starts off with mac lean leaving her by herself at 2 years old. frank sinatra according to the book was in trouble with the mob and parker writes word was out pay back was coming. one of the rumors was i was in jeopardy of being kidnapped. i was shipped off for safe keeping. parker joins me now from new york. welcome to you. first just crystal clear, these are your stories. we cannot verify them, but before we get into the stories, a couple of adjectives, describe your childhood. >> my childhood was both very, very adventurous and happy, but also very lonely and painful. i don't think there was a gray area. >> no gr