How was the role presented to you?

?It was by audition I was actually screen cast several times before I was entrusted with the role and did not know who my competition was.?

?This house is clean? is probably the most famously spoken-too-soon miscalculations in movie history all these years later is it a privilege or a burdened to be remembered for that rather than for your other work?

?It?s neither a burden or pleasure it?s a fact that it?s work! I?m not a southern lady I?m from PA we speak sort of correctly there. People identify me that way and also easily identify me on the street because of my short stature. I get picked out in many ways and it?s in no way a burden.?

Most movies are made with CGI nowadays. Could you talk about the special effects in your film was there a lot of cutting edge stuff?

?Well the special FX were added after I had finished my role. I only worked 6 days and since it was my first real role I kept my mouth shut and my ears open and let things play out. But first of all I?m not a technology major I could give a rat?s ass about technology. It?s an unnecessary evil that put a lot of good people out of work.?

Could you talk about Tobe Hooper as a director and what he was like?

?I don?t think I can because during the 6 days that I worked, Steven Speilberg primarily took over that realm. Since I only worked 6 days but I don?t what happened after that. It was a year before I saw these people again.?

Could you talk bout working with Steven then?

?He?s magnificent. His image gets on the screen What I found is what he wants to show and say is what gets up there the way he wants it. There?s no deviation from that. I don?t know the man well. I love him dearly. He was very influential in handing me a career and I?d love to work with him again. As far as I?m concerned he?s the best film director I?ve worked with so far.?

Was Tobe around at all?

?Tobe was around all the time. As I saw, and I was not an experienced person at the time, it seemed that Tobe set up every shot and Steven made adjustments to every shot. I was very happy for his input.?

Coming off of the success of Poltergeist can you tell us a little bit about working on a film like Anguish?

?I just loved Anguish! We filmed in Barcelona. Bigas Luna is a magnificent director. We all had a very good time. I?m still very good friends with Michael Lerner who is the male star who lives in LA also. It was just a wonderful experience. It was my first work experience abroad. I had spent many years abroad and worked of course in other things before.?

Would you be willing to go back for another Poltergeist film?

?Oh of course but we don?t have the little girl! We lost Carol Anne in 1989, no in 1988 and that was the end of the era.?

What was the impact after you got this role and then saw this performance I guess a year later how did you react to that and then were you excited when they asked you to do so many sequels?

?For me it was very traumatic when I saw the film at the screening. I practically had to be carried out of there because I realized it would change my life. It did cost me a 14 year relationship I was involved in because neither one of us knew particularly well how to do something like that. Looking back, in hindsight, it was great. It was a fabulous experience. I didn?t know many people because I only worked 6 days on the film so I didn?t socialize with anyone from the film. There was an attempt to connect all the unfortunate things that happened through some mystique.?

Are you talking about the rumors associated with the set and cast of Poltergeist?

?That is what I?m talking about. I don?t believe in any of that. I believe in phenomena that we don?t understand because we have no way of measuring.?

What kind of preparation did you do for the role of Tangina?

?I developed the character under the fichus tree in my living. I did not know how to develop a character but I figured I had to do something because it looked like a really good character. So I sat under there and developed an equilateral triangle in my mind. The base was her knowledge of what she was doing, one side was her life as a boring Texas housewife, and the 3rd side of the equilateral triangle was her dream of becoming a dealer in Las Vegas. I kept her dead center in the middle of those. I don?t know where I got them from but those were my guidelines. That was my mental image. That?s how I developed the character. I was screen tested several times. I don?t know who my competition was. After my last screen test, I didn?t hear for a couple of weeks and was getting ready to perform under a street light somewhere because she had grown so big in me.?

Would you be able to comment on the possibility of alternate endings being shot for the third Poltergeist film?

?I don?t know about that. What I did, is what I saw on screen if there were other endings it must have been done because Gary Sherman wasn?t happy. Gary is a good director and has also remained a good friend.?

What was your favorite moment from the set, being a new actress and working with a director like Steven Speilberg? What was the main thing you took away from it?

?That I had worked with the best! After that I got Anguish, well after that I got Sixteen Candles and I?m still very good friends with that cast that came from. I just had this fortune because I just kept working with the best. Before I did Poltergeist, I did the Flintstones and worked with Paul Reubens who played my brother and went on to become Pee Wee. I felt like I had been given the rare opportunity to work with the best in all disciplines.?

I read that you had a very eerie situation where you had a jolt and then found out that your mother had passed away

?My mother had been ill 5 weeks following open heart surgery and was alive but not with us for those 5 weeks. I went home every weekend to Oakland, CA and I did not have that experience. The director did Gary Sherman was taking pictures with a still camera and over 1 picture there was a very diaphanous shadow and it scared a few people. It didn?t scare me. If that was her spirit descending it didn?t bother me I have a superb relationship with my mother which is why I?m a healthy woman today a healthy old woman. I don?t recall any happenings.?

Could you expand on your first impression of the set when you first got there? What did you think being new to the biz?

?I thought it was okay. I could function there. I didn?t feel it was too different from some of the strange jobs in my life from when I was young and traveling abroad and took all kinds of jobs. I was excited by it I thought it was kind of new and loved the opportunity to go to the commissary. Some good food!?

Did you learn anything from the set?

?I learned that I had better keep my mouth shut and ears open because I had a rare opportunity to learn!?

Are you working on any upcoming projects?

?I do a Cabaret act every other year. Those are autobiographical evenings where I attempt to sing appropriate songs to support the stories I tell. One is coming up October 19th and 20th. I always do them in the wonderful supper club in LA called Gardenia.?