Transforming herself with every role, Cloris Leachman has been dazzling audiences for decades with her unusual gift for both comedy and drama. She recently won her ninth Emmy - the most ever earned by an actor - and also became a great-grandmother. In the past year she made four films including The Women, with Annette Bening, Meg Ryan, and Bette Midler; traveled to New York, Rome, Berlin, Barcelona and Cabo San Lucas; toured her one-woman show; appeared on Dancing with the Stars; Was grand Marshall for the Tournament of Roses Parade, did the coin toss at the Rose Bowl game between USC and Penn State and celebrated her eighty-second birthday.

From her hometown in Des Moines, Iowa (where she first saw Katharine Hepburn perform on stage, never imagining they would one day do Shakespeare together) to the bright lights of Broadway (where she had to work up the nerve to sing for Rogers and Hammerstein to get the lead in South Pacific) to the television studios of L.A. (where she hopped on producer James Brooks' lap to land the role of Phyllis), Cloris' journey has been filled with laughter and tears, marriage and motherhood, tragedy and triumph.

In her newly published autobiography, CLORIS (Kensington Publishing/April 2009/ $24.00,) the Oscar-winning actress writes, "Right here at the beginning, I want to say some things about myself I know to be true. I've lived my life; I haven't trotted alongside it. I've opened the doors of opportunity whenever I've seen them. I've walked into discoveries and dreams, disappointment and death. I bare the scars of not having obeyed the rules made by others, and I wear the deep satisfaction of knowing I never bent to conventions I didn't believe in."

In the book Cloris shares how she prepares (or doesn't) for a role, her approach to the "business" of show business, her days at the Actors Studio studying with Elia Kazan alongside Marlon Brando, Julie Harris, Eli Wallach, and Maureen Stapleton among others. She also provides an inside-look at:

• the ups-and-downs of her marriage to the producer/director/writer George Englund
• and his brother-like relationship with Marlon Brando
• the challenges of raising five children while acting on stage and screen and the heartbreak of the death of her son Bryan
• behind the scenes of the Mary Tyler Moore Show, Facts of Life, Ellen, and Malcolm in the Middle
• working with Mel Brooks and Gene Wilder and other filmmakers
• her appearance on Dancing with Stars
• her many friendships with fellow actors including Meryl Streep, Paul Newman, Steve McQueen, Charlie Chaplin, Paul Lynde, Judy Garland, Valerie Harper, and Eileen Brennan
• her relationship with the Kennedy family and her time spent at the family compound

One of the most acclaimed and unpredictable actresses of our time, Cloris concludes her autobiography with the philosophy on life that has seen her through a remarkable career: "I guess what I feel boils down to a few sentences. I live my life, am with my family, and have a happy face for tomorrow. There could be more Emmys and Oscars ahead – why not? – and if not those, maybe there will be other less gaudy trophies. There are paths I've not walked before, fields I've yet to roam. So I'm going to get to it; every day I will go out the front door and live my life." She's an inspiration to us all.

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