Swoosie Kurtz, the veteran actress of stage, film and television, known for her roles in Pushing Daisies, Sisters and Fifth of July, credits her parents for her amazing success in her new memoir Part Swan, Part Goose. “I realized after a certain point later in my life that I have been raised by two icons of the greatest generation,” Kurtz told uInterview exclusively. “My mother and me made very different choices in life, but they both worked equally well for both of us and who we were and are.”

Kurtz, born in 1944, is the only child of Frank and Margo Kurtz. Frank was both an Olympic diver and a decorated pilot in World War II. Her mother Margo was a writer and a homemaker. The couple named their daughter for Frank’s plane “The Swoose” — she is, apparently, the only person on the planet with the name.

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Q: What is the origin of your name? - Uinterview

Well, it's actually on the cover of the book. My parents and I - they're holding, four year old me and we are standing in front of the B-17, airplane called the Swoose, which is what I was named after. My dad was the most decorated Air Force pilot of World War II, and he was pretty legendary and so was the plane. So it was one of the few that survived the war.

Q: Why did you reveal your past abortion in this autobiography? - Uinterview

I debated whether I should put it in the book or not and then I didn't debate for very long and then I went, 'No I'm definitely talking about this because at this point in my life why would I hold anything back? It was a devastating experience on all levels, so difficult in 1963. And, you know, difficult and anguishing to make the decision to begin with. To even get to that point and once I made that decision almost impossible to carry out, one thing on my side was that I had a wealthy boyfriend who was able to afford it. You know, we were able to find a doctor who would even be willing to discuss it on the phone, but I think if you talked to a lot of women in my age range, you would find that they have had, if not one, more than one abortion. I've talked to woman and found that out a lot so I would just hate for us to go back to a time where only the wealthy could have a safe procedure.

Q: How did your parent's accomplishments shape your life? - Uinterview

Well, I realized after a certain point later in my life that I have been raised by two icons of the greatest generation. They were just extraordinary. They were [on] newsreels and my mom wrote a book when she was pregnant with me that was published in 1945 called My Rival, The Sky, which is also released the other day along with my book, re-released with an introduction by me and was about her love affair with my dad and his off being at war and her not knowing whether he was dead, alive, or missing, and finally getting pregnant with me. The book ends with my birth, but I actually have excerpts from my mother's book in my book to sort of show how two women, my mother and me, made very different choices in life, but they both worked equally well for both of us and who we were and are.

Q: How did you get your first break in New York? - Uinterview

Well, you know it took me a long time I did a lot of theater outside of New York first, so I circled New York then I got into terrific play that ran off-Broadway for a long time it took me a long time. I'm kind of a late bloomer. It was a real slow build, and then I think I eventually got to Broadway, with 'Ah Wilderness !,' Eugene O'Neil's play and then I did a few more and then eventually got into a real game changer for me which was Lanford Wilson's play Fifth of July, which I did with Christopher Reeve and Jeff Daniels and I won my first Tony Award for that, so that was a big thrill.

Q: What was it like to work with Christopher Reeve? - Uinterview

It was amazing. He had just come off doing Superman, so everyone knew him as Superman, but they didn't realize he really came from the theater and he did many, many plays. He actually did a play with Katherine Hepburn, and so I think you know he was kind of back on the stage to remind people that he was this real stage creature and it was an incredible experience. He played a Vietnam vet who had no legs and the character was gay, and it was just a beautiful, beautiful play. With an amazing cast, and it was a very privileged experience, I felt.

Q: Why do you think Pushing Daisies didn't catch on? - Uinterview

The writers' strike. We were going full steam, you know - nominated for everything, fabulous reviews, good ratings and then the writers strike hit. It lasted for five months, I believe and by the time it ended, it was almost the end of the television season. It was nearing the end, and they said for us to get back up you know remobilize, shoot two or three episodes to show in May that it just wasn't feasible, economically, time-wise, however, so they said what we are going to do is just pick you up for next season and bring you back in the fall, which they did, but by the time September/October came, we had been off the air for 11 months. I think it was 11 months and you know no re-runs over the summer, so it was really trying to start from zero again, and we just tanked in the ratings, but it was a hobbled, barely two seasons of this brilliant work of art.