I love a kooky old person – every time I meet someone with that kind of personality I look forward to being able to have a dozen cats and eat ice cream for breakfast, the kind of things you can’t do when you’re younger. When you’re old people say “oh, she hasn’t got much longer to live, let her have her fun” which is really quite depressing when you think about it. When you’re young they say “Get rid of the cats and get a man!” which is a bit sad too.

Anyway, when I grow old I want to be like Shirley Maclaine except with cats instead of 12 dogs:

Veteran actress Shirley Maclaine is convinced her pet dog can communicate with her. The Terms Of Endearment star owns 11 other canines but insists her relationship with rat terrier Terry is so unique, pet and owner understand one another. She says, “I talk to her and she answers me. I have serious discussions with her and I’m convinced that on some level she really listens. “She is selective about the questions she answers, though. For instance, she likes the question, ‘What shall we do next in the kitchen?’ Other questions she just thinks are a waste of time.”

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Is there an old saying with something along the lines of ‘You aren’t crazy until they answer back’? Although she hasn’t crossed over the line to actually claiming that the terrier speaks, she just communicates.

As soon as I read this two thoughts came to mind. The first was that I suspect Shirley Maclaine lives alone, as in without any human companionship. I was right, although according to Wikipedia she shares a birthday with Barbara Streisand and they celebrate together every year.

The second was that there’s another dog lover in Hollywood that I can really see heading down that path of talking to the animals and generally seeming a bit strange – Denise Richards. Here’s a link to a video of Denise on “The Dog Whisperer”

Note by Celebitchy: Shirley Maclaine published a book in 2003 about her psychic relationship with her dog called “Out on a Leash: Exploring the Nature of Reality and Love.” The first paragraph, available on Amazon.com describes how she knows she’s capable of unconditional love because of the way she relates to her dog in both the serious and playful times. Critics have panned the book as rambling and odd. I found this critique from Publisher’s Weekly particularly humorous:

The latest addition to actress MacLaine’s New Age/autobiography oeuvre (Going Within; My Lucky Stars, etc.) is an excellent example of what can happen when a book exists because of its author’s fame instead of her dedication to the craft of writing. Wandering, incoherent and self-congratulatory, MacLaine’s 10th book will not earn her new fans. The book alternates between MacLaine’s own voice and that of her dog, Terry, with whom the author communicates in “humanimal,” which, she says, is a “purer, more direct form of language” than English. Her devotion to Terry is somewhat unnerving; she calls the pet her “heart” and her “new daughter”; later she explains “I know Terry senses my thoughts” and avers that Terry is “holy.” MacLaine uses Terry’s ‘voice’ to point out what a good actress “Mistress Mother” is, to reveal their past lives together in ancient Egypt, and to articulate the opinions that “we never die” and that “nothing is evil.” In her own voice, MacLaine shares more of her belief system-an apparent combination of Nostradamus’ predictions, Hopi and Mayan prophecies, Edgar Cayce’s channelings, Egyptian mythology and the Bible. Along the way, we get brief glimpses of MacLaine’s life that might have proved interesting if they had been developed (e.g., “I missed a lot in my daughter’s life but I did it to avoid imposing on her”), as well as her disconnected musings on nature, the Iraqi war (“I see signs that we are on the cusp of a new and devastating reality”), and dog and human sex. MacLaine’s books have consistently sold well; no doubt those readers who enjoyed her previous volumes will find Terry’s musings on life fascinating as well.

[Publisher’s Weekly review found on Amazon.com]

Yeah, she’s crazy all right, but at least it’s her own brand of crazy and she’s not a cult member. I agree that you can have like a silent communication with your pets where you know what they want and how they’re feeling. Maclaine takes it a bit too far, though. Maybe that’s something she should keep to herself, but she’s never really hesitated to share her spiritual beliefs with anyone who will listen or buy her books.

Maclaine is shown on 12/11/06 at the Dreamgirls Premiere, thanks to PRPhotos. The inset photo is from the cover to her book.