Back in the day, Cybill Shepherd was a force to be reckoned with.
It was clear early on Shepherd was made for stardom.
One critic said, ‘Cybill Shepherd can’t walk or talk, much less sing.’
(Former ‘Today’ Show) film critic Gene Shalit held up a sign that said, ‘Bomb.’
Another wrote that I had all the charm of a hamster.
That was pretty vicious."
I did too, so did Cybill.
But when we got back to our lives, we just couldn’t stop seeing each other."
In October 1986,Rolling Stonewrote that Shepherd had been “virtually blacklisted” from Hollywood.
I heard my voice rise and soften like a little girl through sniffles and sobs.
Finally my mother spoke, strong and reassuring.
‘Cybill,’ she said, ‘come home.'"
Shepherd did just that, returning to Memphis in 1978 and leaving the glamor and dissatisfaction of Hollywood behind.
Clementine would later grow up to become an actor herself.
You might as well be dead."
But, she wasn’t willing to give up quite that easily.
Shepherd booked a couple of TV spots before landing a recurring role on “The Yellow Rose.”
The actor continued, saying, “The show went by the wayside, but I didn’t.
Shepherd had made an astonishing comeback and suddenly she was receiving astonishing reviews, as well.
These days she’s being hailed as the new Carole Lombard.”
Shepherd was finally able to leave her unsavory introductory years in the industry behind.
“I didn’t want to be married anymore,” she said in her 1985Peopleinterview.
“I drove him crazy,” she added.
They were married in March 1987 and announced around the same time that they would be having twins.
“I had no sense of two people being able to negotiate conflict and come to a reasonable compromise.
Operating under a veil of exhaustion and frustration from work, I gave up on my marriage.”
She had apparently been labeled a diva.
Despite some of her unfortunate experiences filming the show, Shepherd still looks back on this time fondly.
“We broke all the walls.
There wasn’t a wall that we left unbroken.
It was just an extraordinary combination of the right casting and a brilliant creator,” she explained.
Shepherd declined the ride, and shortly after, “Cybill” was scrapped.
She was required to keep up with regular appointments to prevent a recurrence.
Shepherd’s mom Patty Micci told The Star around this time that skin cancer runs in their family.
She explained, “When Cybill was young, she went out in the sun a lot.
Two years later, Shepherd clarified her diagnosis when speaking to theIrish Examiner.
“I had a rare form of skin cancer called dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans,” she said.
However, she revealed that she would be celebrating being three years cancer free come January 2005.
… All the doctors told me that it was in my mind a psychological or emotional thing.”
Shepherd began taking medication for her condition, which she claimed helped with her symptoms.
Shepherd also encouraged the public to see their doctors if they were experiencing symptoms.
Shepherd continued, saying IBS is “one of those unmentionables.
Even to say ‘constipation,’ it’s embarrassing.
But I’ve long worked at being an advocate for women’s health.”
In January 2007, Shepherd toldTV Guide, “Three years ago, I almost died.
It was a 911 situation.
I had to have my colon [resected].
“I felt my soul went up to a star.
And then I said, ‘you might’t go there; you have three children.
Get back down there.
You’ve got to stay alive,'” the actor recalled.
“I had known [Cybill] for 18 years.
She was almost on ‘Nickelodeon.’
And I almost was in ‘At Long Last Love,’ but ‘Barry Lyndon’ ran over.
So when we got together, it was fresh.
I think she’s wonderful,” the actor remarked.
In 2013, his cancer went into remission.
His cause of death was not cancer; it wasreportedto be congestive heart failure.
While surely saddened by the news of O’Neal’s death, Cybill Shepherd did not share her condolences publicly.
