| In the Sixties, I began a very transformational ten
years. In 1960, I was fifteen years old and an extremely solitary bookworm
who was just beginning to flower. In 1969, I was a rising young Hollywood
star, a mother and a wife.In between those years, I attended Northwestern
University, studied with Sanford Meisner, and debuted on Broadway under
Gower Champion's direction. I extended my name to Leigh Taylor-Young and
by 1966 I was starring in the television soap opera, Peyton Place. I then
proceeded to make five major motion pictures in a row, and traveled all
over the world. I married Ryan O'Neal. My first and only son, Patrick
O'Neal was born in 1967. By 1968, I was deeply aware that the culture and
social stability I had always known, was suddenly going up in smoke.
Swirling around my awareness and experiences, were The Beatles, the
love-ins in San Francisco, Vietnam, Kent State, the marijuana revolution,
mini skirts, women marching for greater freedoms, psychedelic art & drugs,
Timothy Leary, Baba Ram Dass, The Maharishi, Ravi Shankar, Bob Dylan,
James Taylor, Carol King, Elton John, and Cat Stevens and so on.
By 1969, as a celebrity now, I was somewhat used to reading lies about
myself in the press on a weekly basis. Also in 1969, I began to explore
the alternative healing world of Homeopathy, herbs and vegetarianism. I
was initiated into Transcendental Meditation and began to question my
satisfaction in my work, my marriage and myself. In fact, by the end of
the decade, questions filled my consciousness. This state of mind, led me
to the changes I would choose to make as I entered the Seventies. |
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